The win was the first for third-ranked Utah over the three-time defending national champions since the 2003 NCAA preliminaries, a string of eight losses. The Gym Dogs have been Utah's biggest rival in recent years, with the Utes finishing second to Georgia at the last two NCAA Championships.

"It's nice to have that win right off the bat against Georgia," junior Kristina Baskett said.

It came in surprising fashion.

The Utes trailed by 0.25 going into the final rotation, where Georgia was on the balance beam and Utah finished on floor. Usually the beam is considered the most difficult event for teams, since it is only four inches wide, leaving little room for error. However, Georgia coach Suzanne Yoculan predicted it was going to be one of Georgia's strengths in 2008.

"I guess I was wrong," she said afterward.

It started out well for the Gym Dogs, with Georgia's first two gymnasts scoring 9.75 and 9.85, then Tiffany Tolnay fell and scored 9.375. Georgia still would have won if the remaining three gymnasts hit, but shockingly, former Olympian Courtney Kupets fell on her mount and scored just 9.300.

That fall, just the third in Kupets' college career, meant the Utes would win if Ashley Postell hit her floor routine. Oblivious to the situation, Postell finished off Utah's floor rotation with a 9.900. That score gave the Utes a 49.025 on the event while Georgia ended with a 48.675 on the beam.

"No one had any idea what the scores were or anything all night," Postell said. "We just wanted to go out and do the best we could and not worry about the outcome."

Postell's floor score also tied her for top honors on that event with Georgia's Courtney McCool and gave her the all-around title with a 39.525. Baskett was second with a 39.1.

While Utah's gymnasts downplayed the victory, pointing out it was just the first meet in a long season, Utah coach Greg Marsden didn't hide his feelings over finally beating his longtime rival.

"It's always sweet to win," he said. "They are ranked No. 1 and we are ranked No. 3 and they are the three-time defending champion and they've had our number for several years now, how could you not want to win that meet?"

Prior to the meet Yoculan didn't hide how much her team wanted the win; afterward she was searching for the positives in a loss.

"I'm glad we met Utah," she said. "If we would have won with the falls that we had, that is the kind of false security we don't need, that is why we try to compete against the best teams in the country. This loss will make our team a lot better than the win will make Utah."

The Utes probably would disagree with such a comment. They are tired of losing to the Gym Dogs and are tired of talking about last year's disappointing beginning. Hopefully a win over Georgia can set the tone for a better season, one that already is reaping the rewards of hard work in the preseason.

"It was much better than we were a year ago," Marsden said. "The first of the season, we'd have a bad event and come apart."

That didn't happen on Friday, even after the Utes started with a shaky uneven bars rotation that had several breaks and put the Utes behind early. Such mistakes have the Utes already looking forward to the improvements they can make, even while they enjoy the victory.

"It's the first meet of the season," Postell said. "We have a lot of things we can improve. We just wanted to come in and hit right now and not worry about the hard stuff."

The hard stuff might already be behind them.

lwodraska@sltrib.com

* IN SHORT: Utah upsets Georgia for its first win over the Bulldogs since 2003.

* KEY MOMENT: Senior Ashley Postell scored a 9.9 on the floor to clinch the win for Utah.

sltrib.com/sports

2008: vs. Georgia, W, 196.300-196.200

2007: vs. UCLA, W, 196.325-195.975

2006: vs. UCLA, W, 194.875-193.85

2005: vs. UCLA, W, 197.675-197.300

2004: vs. UCLA, W, 197.35-196.375

2003: vs. UCLA, L, 197.225-196.75

* Vault: Courtney Kupets (Georgia) and Katie Heenan (Georgia) 9.875

* Uneven bars: Courtney Kupets (Georgia) 9.95

* Balance beam: Ashley Postell (Utah) 9.9

* Floor: Ashley Postell (Utah) and Courtney McCool (Georgia) 9.9

* All-around: Ashley Postell (Utah) 39.525

* 15,238: vs. Cal State-Fullerton, Feb. 11, 1991

* 15,168: vs. Boise State/Washington, March 6, 1993

* 15,072: vs. BYU/Utah State/SUU, Jan. 20, 1992

* 14,978: vs. Penn State, March 9, 1992

* 14,679: vs. BYU, Jan. 21, 1994