Feb. 17, 2003
SALT LAKE CITY -
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QUICKLY
The No. 3 ranked Utah gymnasts (4-2) start the second half of their season this Friday in Corvallis, Ore., where they'll face No. 9 Oregon State (7-3) ... The meet will start at 7 p.m. PST in Gill Coliseum ... OSU is tough at home, where it is 3-0 this season, including wins over No. 1 UCLA and (then) No. 6 Arizona State, two teams which beat the Utes in Salt Lake City ... Utah has won 3 straight ... Friday's meet marks the last of four straight road meets for the Utes, who will return home for the first time in a month on Feb. 28 to host Michigan.
THE RANKINGS
Utah is ranked No. 3 in the latest rankings, issued Feb. 17 and based on total average for the final time this season. Next week, they shift to regional qualifying score. The new top 25 follows: 1. UCLA 197.253, 2. Alabama 196.986, 3. Utah 196.971, 4. Georgia 196.862, 5. Nebraska 196.750, 6. Florida 196.696, 7. Arizona State 196.633, 8. Stanford 196.275, 9. Oregon State 195.954, 10. Michigan 195.575, 11. Denver 195.404, 12. Washington 195.321, 13. Oklahoma 195.300, 14. Louisiana State 195.271, 15. Auburn 195.250, 16. Arizona 195.233, 17. Iowa 194.975, 18. (tie) Penn State and Kent State 194.825, 20. Iowa State 194.687, 21. Ohio State 194.661, 22. Minnesota 194.567, 23. Missouri 194.487, 24. Central Michigan 194.387, 25. North Carolina State 194.379.
LAST WEEK
Sophomore
Annabeth Eberle won two events and placed second in the all-around to lead Utah to a 196.90-194.50 win over No. 13 Arizona in Tucson. Eberle tied her career high on vault (9.925), scored a 9.95 on floor and went 39.575 in the all-around. Also picking up wins for Utah were
Theresa Kulikowski on bars (9.90) and
Melissa Vituj on beam (9.95). Freshman
Kristen Riffanacht tied a career-high on vault (9.90). For the first time this year, every Ute on the roster competed either to count or in exhibition.
UTE NOTES
Melissa Vituj is ranked No. 2 on floor (9.95 average), No. 3 on beam (9.942) and No. 9 in the all-around (39.429). On bars,
Theresa Kulikowski ranks No. 2 (9.95) and
Kim Allan is No. 8 (9.896) ...
Theresa Kulikowski has won bars in all three meets she's competed in this year ...
Melissa Vituj leads the team in victories with 10, followed by
Annabeth Eberle with 8 ... Eberle has scored a 39.625, 39.450 and 39.575 in the all-around in the last three meets ... Every Ute competed at Arizona on Feb. 14, with freshmen
Dominique D'Oliveira,
Crystal Gilmore and
Gabriella Onodi competing as exhibition performers.
SERIES SHORTS
Utah leads 47-5 ... all 5 losses were in Corvallis, where Utah is 12-5 ... Utah holds a 26-4 regular season edge ... Utah has won the last 6 ... OSU's most recent victory was in 1999 in Corvallis ... Utah won both match-ups last year, the first in Salt Lake City and the then at the NCAA regional championships hosted by Oregon State. Utah won the region and OSU placed second.
COMMON FOES
Although Utah has scored better, Oregon State has fared better against their three common opponents this year. Oregon State is 2-1 vs. UCLA, Arizona State and Arizona, while Utah is 1-2. The breakdown follows:
OSU vs. UCLA: Won 195.750-195.475
Utah vs. UCLA: Lost 196.750-197.225
OSU vs. Arizona State: Won 196.325-195.750
Utah vs. Arizona State: Lost 197.150-197.450
OSU vs. Arizona: Lost 194.800-195.775
Utah vs. Arizona: Won 196.900-194.500
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 (768-121-5). In regular season competition, Marsden is 382-53-2. 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.
OSU REVIEW
Ranked No. 9 ... 7-3 ... 3-0 at home, with wins over UCLA and Arizona State and California ... scored season-high 197.025 to beat Cal (194.550) last Friday in Corvallis ... all-arounders are All-American Tanya Ricioli (39.525 best) and Lindsay Nelson (39.325) ... Sixth-year head coach Tanya Chaplin is 87-66-1 (51-37-1 regular season).
MARSDEN SAYS
"I'm looking forward to this meet. It's the last of four straight road meets for us and we've done pretty well so far. We've had one real standout meet (Utah State on Feb. 7) and I'd really like to have another one before we come home for three meets.
"We always like competing up in Corvallis because they get a great crowd and it's a knowledgeable crowd that appreciates good gymnastics. Obviously this is a very good Oregon State team. They've beaten both UCLA and Arizona State, teams we lost to, and we'll need to be at our very best to be competitive on their floor."
