No. 4 Ranked Utah Gymnastics Team At Utah State This Friday - The Official Athletic Site of the University of Utah

QUICKLY

The No. 4 ranked Utah gymnasts (2-2) continue their month of road meets this Friday in Logan, where they'll meet Utah State (3-2) ... Meet time is 7 p.m. in the Spectrum ... The meet will be televised live by KJZZ-14 ... Utah is coming off a 196.400-194.750 win over Minnesota. Utah State's last meet was on Jan. 24 ... Ute senior All-American Theresa Kulikowski competed for the first time of the season last Saturday after missing three meets with a dislocated rib.

FAN BUS TO LOGAN

The Crimson Club is sponsoring a fan bus to Utah State on Friday. The $39 cost includes a ticket to the meet, bus ride and dinner at Tony Roma's. Call Amy at 585-UTES for more information.

GETTING BETTER

Some injured gymnasts are starting to heal for the Utes, who now have the services of senior Theresa Kulikowski (on bars and beam) and freshman Crystal Gilmore. Kulikowski returned to practice and competition last week and Gilmore was also cleared to resume training last week after sitting out with a back injury. Freshman Dominique D'Oliveira (ankle surgery) is training full bar sets.

THE RANKINGS

The Utah gymnastics team is ranked No. 4 in the nation this week after spending last week at No. 1. The complete Feb. 3 rankings, which are based on total season average, follow: 1. Alabama 196.925, 2. Nebraska 196.837, 3. UCLA 196.808, 4. Utah 196.775, 5. Georgia 196.737, 6. Arizona State 196.475, 7. Florida 196.437, 8. Stanford 195.862, 9. Oregon State 195.665, 10. Arizona 195.581, 11. Michigan 195.395, 12. Louisiana State 195.331, 13. Washington 195.267, 14. Denver 195.206, 15. Oklahoma 194.850, 16. Auburn 194.795, 17. Penn State 194.669, 18. Iowa 194.533, 19. Kent State 194.531, 20. Brigham Young 194.258, 21. Iowa State 194.256, 22. Missouri 194.037, 23. Central Michigan 193.912, 24. Minnesota 193.894, 25. Ohio State 193.875.

LAST WEEK

Senior Theresa Kulikowski scored a 10.0 in her first routine of the season and Annabeth Eberle won the all-around and three events to lead Utah to a 196.400-194.750 win over Minnesota in Minneapolis. Kulikowski received a 10.0 on the bars. Eberle scored a career-best 39.625 to take the all-around and also won vault (9.90) and tied for first on beam (9.90) and floor (9.925). Melissa Vituj tied for first on beam (9.90) and floor (9.925) and Gritt Hofmann tied for first on beam (9.90). Holding down Utah's score were two falls off the bars and two breaks on the beam.

UTE NOTES

The 10.0 by Theresa Kulikowski last week on the bars was the first-ever 10.0 in the UM Sports Pavilion and her 12th career perfect score. It was her seventh career 10.0 on the bars. Kulikowski also competed on beam and scored a 9.60 when a mistake forced her to grab the beam in an otherwise flawless routine ... Kulikowski's next win will be career win No. 100 ... Melissa Vituj's fall off the bars at Minnesota was her first fall of the season and just the seventh of her career. She is 104-111 in career routines ... In the latest national rankings, Vituj is tied for second on floor (9.95 average) and is fifth on beam (9.931) and seventh in the all-around (39.487). Kulikowski is ranked No. 1 on the bars (10.0) ... Junior Kim Allan is emerging as one of the nation's best bar workers. She has scored a 9.95 and 9.925 in her last two routines and is currently ranked No. 9 nationally with a 9.894 average. She probably won't be available on more than bars and beam vs. Utah State, similar to last week, as her Achilles is still sore.

SERIES SHORTS

Utah dominates its series with Utah State, leading 77-3 ... The Utes have not lost to the Aggies since 1979 ... Utah leads 23-2 in Logan and 52-3 in regular season competition.

UTAH COACH GREG MARSDEN

Greg Marsden, the most successful coach in collegiate gymnastics history, is in his 28th year at the U. He is college gymnastics' only 700 win coach (766-121-5). In regular season competition, Marsden is 380-53-2. He has spent his entire career at Utah and has won 10 national championships, double that of any other coach. Four of those titles came in the '90s (1990, '92, '94, '95). Fifteen of his teams have placed in the top-three at the national championships, most recently in 2000 (second). Marsden is a seven-time National Coach of the Year recipient.

AGGIE UPDATE

3-2 ... two wins came over Boise State ... season-best 195.35 in win over BSU on Jan. 24 ... off last week ... freshman Meagan Nelson has 39.50 all-around best, which is the third-best score in school history ... Nelson has been named Western Gymnastics Conference gymnast of the week twice ... Nicole Kilpatrick has 39.175 season all-around high ... Ray Corn is 400-361-2 in his 26th year as head Aggie coach.

MARSDEN SAYS

"Although we had a relatively good start on the road at Minnesota, we certainly have much to accomplish as we continue this series of road meets. Utah State always runs a good competition and it's always a competitive meet. We need to take advantage of this opportunity to continue to develop and improve as a team. "Dominique D'Oliveira is doing full bar routines and landing everywhere except on a competitive surface. Once she sees the doctor this week and has enough repetitions to be confident, we want to get her into the lineup. That could happen as early as this week, but it could be next week, depending on what the doctor says. "Theresa Kulikowski is still bothered on vault and floor by her injury. She's probably at about 80 percent and the pounding of those events is probably what irritates the rib. I can't predict when she may be able to start training those events again or even if she'll be able to get back on those events. "There's a chance that Crystal Gilmore may be available to us this week. Whether we're comfortable enough with the number of routines she's been able to train and whether we'd choose to replace someone in the lineup with her is another matter. I do think she can be there if we need her. "Gabriella Onodi could probably do a beam routine, but it's a matter of replacing someone in the lineup who is already doing a good job."

2003 UTE SCORECARD

Kim Allan, Sr.-Former Canadian National team member will likely be available on just bars and beam at Utah State due to a sore Achilles (Allan tore her Achilles in 2001) ... ranked ninth in nation on bars (9.894 average) ... won bars with career-high 9.95 vs. ASU in her only routine on Jan. 24 ... went all-around in first two meets, scoring 39.10 vs. UCLA and 39.125 vs. BYU ... set new career high on beam (9.90) on Jan. 17 ... has "hit" 11-11 routines this year.

Dominique D'Oliveira, Fr.-South African National team member broke her ankle while home for the holidays ... she could return on bars as early as this week, but more likely next week ... she began training full bar routines in the gym last week.

Annabeth Eberle, So.-Former U.S. National team won her first-ever all-around with a career-best 39.625 on Feb. 1 in Minnesota ... also won vault (9.90), beam (9.90) and floor (9.925) vs. UM ... 10.0 on floors vs. Arizona State on Jan. 24 was first perfect score of her career ... won bars vs. BYU with career-best 9.95 ... 6 wins this year is tied for team lead ... 11 career wins ... has "hit" 13-16 routines this year.

Crystal Gilmore, Fr.-2000 Canadian Olympic team member has yet to compete due to back and leg injuries ... returned to training last week and has been cleared to compete for lineup position ... helped Canada to a best-ever ninth-place team finish in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia.

Gritt Hofmann, So.-Former German National team member continues to excel on beam, where she tied for first against Minnesota with career-best 9.90 ... has moved from lead-off on beam, where she scored 9.875, to No. 3 spot ... also competes on vault and has 9.775 best ... has "hit" 8-8 routines this year after doing just one routine (vault) all last year.

Theresa Kulikowski, Sr.-Former U.S. National team member, 12-time NCAA All-American, three-time NCAA champion and two-time NCAA runner-up saw her first action of 2003 last Saturday and scored a 10.0 in her very first routine ... missed first three meets due to dislocated rib ... competed on bars and beam on Feb. 1 and scored 10.0 on bars (9.60 on beam due to break) ... ranked No. 1 in the nation on bars this week (10.0 average) ... timetable for return on other two events is still unknown ... Utah team captain has won 99 event and/or all-around titles and has 12 career 10.0's ... has "hit" 2-2 routines this year and 139-151 (92%) of her career routines.

Veronique Leclerc, Jr.-Former Canadian National team member and NCAA All-American went all-around in first three meets ... season-best 39.425 all-around score came against ASU on Jan. 24 ... has "hit" 13-15 routines this season and is 86-97 for her career ... 15 career victories.

Natalie Nicoloff, Fr.-Has competed in all four meets, doing season-high three events vs. ASU on Jan. 24 ... scored career highs on all three events in that meet: bars 9.825, beam 9.850 and floor 9.800 ... has "hit" 5-7 routines this year.

Gabriella Onodi, Fr.-Hungarian National team member since 1995 arrived in Salt Lake City on Dec. 25 and began training after one-month layoff following World Championships in late November ... Hungarian national all-around champion from 1998-2000.

Kristen Riffanacht, Fr.-Big scorer on vault, bars and beam ... high scores of 9.875 on vault, 9.850 on bars and 9.875 on floor ... has "hit" 10-12 routines this year.

Melissa Vituj, So.-Six-time All-American is Utah's best all-arounder ... career-tying 39.625 all-around score vs. BYU on Jan. 17 ... won all-around on Jan. 24 vs. ASU with 39.600 ... nationally ranked on floor (2nd-tie, 9.95 average), beam (5th, 9.931) and all-around (7th, 39.487) ... career-bests this year have come on bars (9.875) and floor (9.975) ... has "hit" 15-16 routines this year and is 104-111 (94%) in career routines ... tied for Utah's victory lead (6) ... 12 career victories.

Kylee Wagner, Jr.- 2001 balance beam All-American is back for a second senior season after missing all but the first meet in 2002 with an ankle injury ... has competed on three events in last two meets (vault, beam, floor) ... has 9.80 or better on beam and floor ... has "hit" 9-9 routines this year.