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Show January 14, 2011 3 THE DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE Gymnastics rivalry: underrated, but one of the most competitive W hen a program is as successful as Utah gymnastics, competing against the best teams in the country is a week-in and week-out battle. Co-head coaches Greg and Megan Marsden have made a habit out of scheduling the toughest competition available year in and year out, and 2011 is no different. With eight of Utah's II regular season meets coming against teams that are ranked in the Top 25, facing No. 6 Georgia this weekend is just like any other meet. I mean, it couldn't possibly be any bigger than the season-opening win against the preseason No. 1 UCLA Bruins, right? Wrong. When Utah and Georgia get together for their 46th regular-season meet Saturday in Athens, Ga., it will be the latest installment of what is one of the most underrated, yet best all-around rivalries in college athletics. Although the Red Rocks-Gym Dogs rivalry might lack the 8o,000plus sized crowds of college football, or the multi-million dollar television contracts of college basketball, the nation's top collegiate gymnastics rivalry deserves to be mentioned right alongside the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry in football and the Duke-North Carolina rivalry in basketball. Although you might be shaking your head at the thought of such a notion, hear me out. First, we have to think about what makes rivalries great in the first place. Some rivalries are built on proximity, such as UNC-Duke, which are separated by only Is miles. Others are built on competitive balance, such as Ohio 214 4111 r • BRYAN CHOUINARD Sports Editor State-Michigan—until recently. You also have to account for a number of other factors, such a tradition (Army-Navy), religion (Utah-BYU), longevity (Michigan-Notre Dame) and characters (Mike Krzyzewski and Dean Smith). Although Utah-Georgia lacks the proximity factor—more than 1,90o miles separate the campuses—it more than makes up for the distance in almost every other category. Utah and Georgia have experienced prolonged dominance, that is not only unmatched in any other rivalry, but it also might be unmatched in any other college sport. The two programs combined have won 20 of the last 35 national championships, as well as more then boo combined All-Americans. The Utes have never missed nationals, and Georgia has only missed nine. Of the 20 national championships between the two programs, there's a split right down the middle, to a piece. That would be like Michigan and Ohio State sharing roughly 25 national championships a piece. Although many of the biggest football rivalries date back to the early 19oos, gymnastics has a much shorter history as a NCAA sanctioned sport, but since the beginning, it has been Doodle in class? Put your pen to work. The Daily Utah Chronicle is hiring talented editorial cartoonists. Contact: 6.6eifussecnronicre.utah.edu all Utah and Georgia. Not only do the two programs share a common and intertwined history, but until 2009, the programs were also led by the two most iconic collegiate gymnastics coaches in the history of the sport, Greg Marsden and Suzanne Yoculan. Marsden is the only coach Utah's program has ever known, and Yoculan led the Gym Dogs from 1983 till she announced her retirement in 2009. With a combined 62 years of coaching, the two coaches built their respective programs from the ground up into what they are today. That would be like Florida State's former coach Bobby Bowden and current Penn State coach Joe Paterno going head-to-head in the Bowl Championship Series every two years, when in reality, the two coaches have only four national championships collectively. Again, the Utah-Georgia rivalry will never get the attention or publicity it deserves, but it is still the most complete and competitive rivalry in college sports. b.chouinard@chronicle.utah.edu Event Utah StatS Georgia 49.275 48.725 48.875 48.825 195.700 Vault Bars Beam Floor Total 48.975 48.775 48.900 48.925 195.575 RED ROCKS continued from Page 2 by three All-Americans: Hilary Mauro, who earned All-American honors on balance beam in 2008; Cassidy McComb, on the floor in 2008; and Kat Ding, who earned uneven bars honors in 2009. Last season, Mauro and Ding were Southeast Conference individual champions on vault and bars. "This is a good way to measure ourselves," Marsden said. "Georgia is always a good challenge." The Red Rocks will also be on the road next weekend, as they travel to compete against No. II Nebraska on Jan 22. k.price@ chronicle.utah.edu DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES? Top 10 reasons to Join the Brighton Ski Patrol 10. Volunteer & give back to your community 9. 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