No. 12 Cougars Finish Regular Season at No. 5 Utah
FIRST TIME
After scoring above a 197 for the first time in school history and breaking the school record for the second time this season, the BYU gymnastics team will finish the regular season on Friday when they travel to Salt Lake to meet the University of Utah in the Chrysler/Plymouth/Jeep Showdown.
The Cougars, at 10-4 on the season, met the Utes earlier this season, recording a then season-high 196.025 in the Marriott Center. Utah scored a 197.225 to take the victory.
RECORD-SETTING SEASON
This season has been a record-setting season for the Cougars. They have set school records twice, once against Missouri with a 196.900 and then last week with a 197.325.
The Cougars have also set new team records on every event. They broke the previous vault record of 49.025, set in 1998, with a 49.100 against Missouri and Utah State.
On the bars, BYU scored a 49.475 against Missouri to break the old record of 49.300, set in 1999 against Southern Utah.
Last week the Cougars scored a 49.275 on the beam, breaking the old record of 49.150, set in 1993 against Utah State.
And, on the floor, the Cougars have set the record three times this season, scoring a 49.525 against Missouri and at Utah State, then breaking that record with a 49.575 last week. Kim Little also set a new school record on the floor with a 9.975 against Utah State last week.
BYU's Kelly Parkinson also set a new school record in the all-around competition with a 39.625, breaking her old school record of 39.550.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Cougars moved up from No. 18 to No. 12 in the rankings after last week's performance. Utah dropped from No. 2 to No. 5 in the rankings. Parkinson is ranked No. 5 in the all-around with a regional qualifying score of 39.430, while Utah's Theresa Wolf is No. 4 with a 39.465. Utah is the best team in the nation on the balance beam with a 49.370 average.
LITTLE SENIOR
Last week was the last home meet for Senior Kim Little. Little has been raising the standard for BYU gymnastics since she arrived as a freshman in 1998.
Fittingly, in her last home meet, she broke the school record on the floor routine with a 9.975, a record she had previously tied with a 9.950. Little is the only senior on this year's team.
REGIONALS
The regional seedings will be announced on Monday, March 26. The teams will be divided into six regions, with six teams in each region.
Unlike last year, there will be three teams seeded to each region instead of only two. The three seeded teams will be placed in one of the six regions in the country. The three non-seeded teams in each region will be teams from that specific region. The top two teams in each region will advance to nationals held in Athens, Georgia on April 21.
TELEVISION
The meet will betelevised live on KJZZ. Former Ute NCAA Champion and 1988 U.S. Olympian Missy Marlowe will provide the color commentary and Steve Brown will call the play-by-play. This will be BYU's fourth meet of the year to be televised. Meets against Iowa State, Utah and Utah State in Provo were all on KBYU-TV and BYU-TV.
ALL--AROUND
Parkinson has participated in the all-around in every meet this year except at Utah State, where she only competed in the bars and beam, due to a sore back. Last week Parkinson set a new school record with a 39.625 and ranks No. 5 nationally.
Jeni Lopez and Kim Little have also competed in the all-around. Lopez competed in the first three meets with a high of 38.200 against Air Force and Little has competed in the last four meets with a high of 39.000 against Utah State.
