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After years of being dealt difficult draws, Utah's gymnastics team continues to have luck on its side this year.
The Utes, who won the Fayetteville region to advance to the NCAA Championships, will start on the vault, which is called the Olympic rotation and the one considered the most favorable since it is used for home meets.
The fourth-ranked Utes will compete in the afternoon against top-ranked Oklahoma, sixth-ranked UCLA, seventh-ranked Denver, 11th-ranked Washington and 12th-ranked Oregon State at 11 a.m. MDT on April 14.The evening session begins at 6 p.m. MDT and features No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Florida, No. 5 Michigan, No. 8 Alabama. No. 9 Georgia and No. 10 Nebraska.
The top three teams from each session advance to Saturday's Super Six at 8 p.m.
Utah is familiar with most of the teams in its session, having competed against all of them except the Sooners, who are the defending national champions.
Utah's only loss in the Pac-12 was at Oregon State, and Utah beat UCLA and Washington in the regular season before claiming the conference championship. The Utes are 2-0 against Denver, winning a regular-season meet and this past weekend at the regionals.
In addition to starting on vault, Utah's rotation means it will follow UCLA and Oklahoma, making it easier for judges to compare the teams. The Bruins start on a bye then bars, and Oklahoma starts on a bye then bars. Washington starts on the bars, Denver starts on the beam and Oregon State will start on the floor.
In addition to deciding which teams advance to the Super Six, the all-around and individual winners are determined in the semifinals.
While normally it is considered best to be in the evening rotation for the all-around competition, since scores tend to be a bit higher, Utah's MyKayla Skinner benefits from being in the afternoon session since it also includes Oklahoma's Maggie Nichols and her teammate Chayse Capps.
Nichols is the top-ranked all-around gymnast in the country with a 39.785 average while Skinner is ranked second with a 39.68 average and Capps is third with a 39.61 average.
Skinner won the region all-around title on Saturday. The last Ute to win an NCAA all-around title was Theresa Kulikowski in 1999. —
NCAA gymnastics championships
P April 14-15 at Chaifetz Arena, St. Louis TV • ESPN2 and ESPNU
April 14, 11 a.m. MT session
(Starting event next to team)
No. 1 Oklahoma (bye, floor)
No. 4 Utah (vault)
No. 6 UCLA (bye, bars)
No. 7 Denver (beam)
No. 11 Washington (bars)
No. 12 Oregon State (floor)
April 14, 6 p.m. MT session (Starting event next to team)
No. 2 LSU (bye, floor)
No. 3 Florida (vault)
No. 5 Michigan (bye, bars)
No. 8 Alabama (floor)
No. 9 Georgia (beam)
No. 10 Nebraska (bars)
Super Six
April 15, 7 p.m.