No. 1 Ranked Utah Gymnasts Host No. 13 BYU On Friday - The Official Athletic Site of the University of Utah

QUICKLY

The No. 1 ranked Utah gymnasts (5-0) will host No. 13 Brigham Young (7-1) this Friday, Feb. 11 in the RC Willey-Hilton Shootout ... The meet will start at 7 p.m. in the Huntsman Center ... Utah has been ranked No. 1 in the nation in four of the five regular season polls to date ... The Utes are 2-0 in the Huntsman Center this season, where they have averaged 10,487 fans ... A crowd of around 13,000 is expected for Friday's meet and tickets are still available. They can be purchased at the Utah ticket office, by phone at 581-UTIX or on the Internet at UtahUtes.com. Two-for-one general admission tickets are available at all RC Willey locations.

ON TV

KJZZ will televise the Utah-BYU meet tape-delayed at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 12, leading into the Utah-Colorado State men's basketball game.

NATIONAL RANKINGS

This week's national rankings (by total season average) follow: 1. Utah 196.290, 2. Michigan 196.254, 3. LSU 196.115, 4. Alabama 196.055, 5. UCLA 195.921, 6. Florida 195.845, 7. Georgia 195.480, 8. Nebraska 195.420, 9. Oklahoma 195.185, 10. Iowa State 195.155, 11. Denver 194.900, 12. Arkansas 194.865, 13. Brigham Young 194.850, 14. Central Michigan 194.392, 15. Auburn 194.315, 16. Penn State 194.310, 17. Kentucky 194.255, 18. Southern Utah 194.194, 19. Washington 194.115, 20. Arizona 194.080, 21. Oregon State 193.795, 22. Arizona State 193.735, 23. Ohio State 193.694, 24. Michigan State 193.687, 25. Minnesota 193.665.

UTES IN THE RANKINGS

Freshman Ashley Postell remained No. 2 in the national all-around rankings with a 39.425 season average. Postell is also No. 6 on beam (9.856 average) and No. 7 on floor (9.887). Sophomore Rachel Tidd, the nation's top ranked bar worker for the last two weeks, is No. 4 in the latest rankings with a 9.894 average. She is ranked fifth in the all-around (39.25). Sophomore Nicolle Ford, whose bruised heel will likely keep her out of the all-around lineup for the second-straight week, is currently ranked No. 11 in the nation in the all-around (39.187 average). Ford is ninth on both bars (9.865) and beam (9.850). Senior Annabeth Eberle is tied for ninth on vault (9.865). As a team, Utah is ranked No. 1 on bars (49.155 average), No. 2 on vault (49.155) and beam (48.915) and No. 6 on floor (49.065).

LAST WEEK

Ashley Postell, Rachel Tidd and Annabeth Eberle placed 1-2-3 in the all-around and led a banged up Ute team to a 195.275-194.450 victory at Minnesota. Despite an injury-adjusted lineup, Utah cruised through its first three events and established a nearly one and a half point lead going into the balance beam. There, the replacements didn't fare as well, with both falling. Tidd righted the Utes with a winning 9.825, and Eberle (9.75) and Postell (9.80) prevented further damage, to help the Utes improve to 5-0. Postell and Nicolle Ford tied for first on the bars. It was All-America all-arounder Ford's only event of the night after she bruised her heel in the pre-meet vault warm-ups. Eberle and Tidd tied for first on the vault.

UTE NOTES

Utah's lineup is in flux due to a rash of injuries. Out for a second straight week will be Natalie Nicoloff (elbow), while Gabriella Onodi (ankle) is doubtful. Nicolle Ford (heel) is questionable for every event except bars. Day-to-day are Kristen Riffanacht (hamstring) and Rachel Tidd (back) ... Utah's season-opening 197.675 is the highest score in the nation this season. However, when the rankings move to regional qualifying score on Feb. 21, that score will be dropped from the calculation ... Freshman Ashley Postell is Utah's win leader with 10. Other Ute victors: Ford (6), Annabeth Eberle (6), Tidd (6) and Gritt Hofmann (2) ... Four Utes have gone without a fall so far this season: Postell (17-17), Tidd (12-12), Nicoloff (3-3) and freshman Jessica Duke (2-2).