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Show UDUUU UUUUUlipUUD Gymnnmaslts uiiUkely. championship is story 71 BY DAVID COOPER Chronicle Sports Writer Call it luck, bizarre fate, grace under pressure or just plain courage, but for whatever reason the University of Utah took, the 1994 NCAA Women's !aJU Gl) off 'S4 CHRONICLE PHOTOPaul Roinan - : blood-and-gu- ts I Gymnastics title, they're still laughing all the way td the trophy case. Back ,v in September, when all 10 gymnasts walked through the practice gym doors, it quickly became apparent that the season was going to be different. Different for the Utes meant sicknesses, injuries, new squad, new captains, new judging rules. The type of changes that could take the fun out of gymnastics and turn it into torture. But no, not for these Utes. Somehow all the problems turned into a big joke for the team that began the season ranked No. 3, exactly where they finished 1993, behind Georgia and Alabama. "The biggest thing was to get past all the problems in the preseason," Utah team captain Meredith King said. "Early on we became more of a family than a team." From then on it was decided that the team was going to have fun and laugh off any pain that would come their way, which was a good decision, with injuries following the Utes all the way to the NCAA title. Led .by juniors Suzanne Metz and Almee Trepanier, the Utes started their journey a week early on the road to Washington. Utah began an win streak by crushing the Huskies by more than six points. Utah's home season opened with 14,679 fans in the Huntsman Center against Brigham Young.. Again the Utes breezed through with an easy victory, but small injuries began to take their toll at a all-arou- nd 11-me- et A;; I 7 - fir vT; 1 - J , I-- ; - ) - C I QJ I Mtt'lM AN ; '' . or gradual pace. "We went through a season where we won every meet we came in," Utah coach Greg Marsden said of the year. "But Tempe, Ariz., to face old rival three-straig- Corvallis, Ore., where they had beaten Oregon State only once. The Utes came through with a clutch 194.400-192.62- 5 win over , the Beavers. Arizona To make their road dominance even stronger, Utah returned to" State in what was the Utes closest IP' M event. At the same time, judges in the state of Utah were scoring routines conservatively in comparison to judges in Georgia, Alabama and Oregon. After postat ASU, Utah ing the high-scor- e wasn't able to break the barrier. "I knew we were a good team," 194-poi- 1994 111 Dale 2 128 131 211 Arizona State Arizona 219 Nebraska- 225 312 n wsn KV9i-- V7 - 326 )i , " 1 ' H A H H A H - A H A A A - .. $ , Arizona State Nebraska' ' Arizona Oklahoma - . nf Or) ' -- . N N N " " ' UCLA Florida H H H H H- 'fa -- ,N . .Alaboma Georgia Michigan ' N . - Attendance Score ' '192.200-185.30- 0 1 92.500-185.42- 885 - 192.200-176.17- 5 . 193.700-187.10- 0 194.675-190.50- 0 194.675-194.12- 5 . . 194.625-187.37- 5 .194.625-186.85- 0 195.300-191.67- 5 194.200-192.80- - 0 - 195.150-191.62- 5 W W W W W W W W W W W 6,978 11,200 6,255 1,967 3,543 1,944 . 194.375-190.07- 5 . . . 14,679 6,303 8,055 12,131 755 10,025 5 194.400-192.62- 5 I A , Utah State 422 , H. . Brigham Young Brigham Young 49 when Marsden flipped a starting:value ' ' see "gym" on page fourteen W W W W W W W W W W W W W N . Oregon State Penn State ltah State.,. Minnesota 37 deduction half-point Wl A Florida Utah State 27 In their final regular season meet at BYU, Marsden decided to pull the Utes out of competition after competing in only two events. The decision was made as a protest after a meet referee gave the Utes a nt Site Washington San lose State . Brigham Yoongf' Oregon Stale 121 ht UTAH GYMNASTICS SCOREBOARD Opponent 114 a II were capable of." 9.90 beam .' The season continued with home meets in the score, along with Alysa Frenz 9.825 to seal a HC, which didn't add much 194.675-194.12- 5 Utah win. excitement for the Utes, who hit But in each of the Utah the midseason blahs, And then the unusual hapmeets, the Utes continued to have difficulty in at least one pened. week of the year, Utah made the journey to srv never showed people what we much-neede- d One of the Utes' greatest Hi Marsden said. "I was just frustrated like they were about the things happening. We never had everybody in the same lineup, so we Trepanier landed a Arizona-nativ- e strengths came in their ability to win big meets on the road. In only the third ncmJ) CD 7v' ' regularrseason meet. Going into the last critical event, Utah trailed ASU by only a slight margin and needed a stellar show- ing on the balance beam. The --m mm there just seemed to be something unsatisfying about it, because we never felt like we really reached our potential." "ssr ritUTAH 18 - ; Grinning in the same way they did through the thick and thin of the season, (from left) Meredith King, Suzanne Metz, Megan Marsden, Missy Wells-Tayland Aimee Trepanier celebrate in a press conference following their 1994 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championship victory. 125.800-194.12- 5 194.100-192.87- 5 .194.100-391.87- 5 194.100-190.10- 0 194.100-190.05- 0 194.100-189.80- 0 194.100-188.45- 0 196.400-196.35- 0 196.400-195.85- 0 196.400-195.15- 0 196.400-194.97- 5 '196.400-194.85- ' ' " v' " 11,944 0 NOAA Midwest Regional at Tempe, Ariz. NCAA National Championships at Salt Lake City . ( - Iv) 1994 Meet WashingtonSJS 48.275 48.700 48.300 48.525 Brigham Young Oregon Slate , Florida - Utah State Arizona State ArizonaNebraska Oregon State . Penn State Utah Stale Minnesota CHRONICLE NCAA Championships as the No. 5 seed, PHOTCVPau) their season-hig- h Although the University of Utah entered the and take their ninth national title. of ttZASa was good enough to stun top seeds Alabama and Georgia Rakwz score , '. , r Brigham Young NCAA Midwest Regional NCAA Championships . - 48.600 . , ' UTAH EVENT SCORES VT - - , 48.700 48.825 48.975 48.925 48 875 48.850 ,48.850 48.900 49.525 . ' ' UB 48.625 48.125 48.725 47.800 48.925 49.200 48.575 48.825 49.175 48.875 49.225 48.600 - 48.525 ' 49.325 - BB 48.025 47.700 48.450 '48.475 . - 48.300 48.875 48.250 48.550 47.625 48.050 48.650 00.000 49.025 48.300 FX ' ! ' ' ' . : . 47.275 47.975 . 48.925 48.900 ' 48.850 47.900 48.975 48.950 48.650 48.400 48.425 28.350 47.650 49.250 ' . " ' |