However, she has put her Olympic hopes away for now, preferring to concentrate on the collegiate gymnastics season, which begins Friday for No. 3 Utah against top-ranked Georgia at the Huntsman Center.

"It's my last year, and I'm not really thinking about that right now, so it's kind of put aside," she said. "I did a lot of new stuff over the summer, which is good, and even if I don't do the Olympics, the summer helped me because I came back in better shape and ready to work out."

Postell was close to making the 2004 Olympic team, but declined an invitation to the Olympic trials because injuries left her with little time to prepare.

She has added more difficulty to her routines, but would have to add more to make a run at the Olympics.

"She'd have a big uphill battle," Utah coach Greg Marsden said. "But she is capable of doing it. She'd have to get through the season and see how her body feels and her head because she'd have to be 100 percent healthy and 100 percent motivated to make a run at it."

From a judge's view

Sophomore Daria Bijak will perform a front layout vault this year, an unusual vault since most gymnasts perform a Yurchenko. Marsden hopes Bijak doesn't receive the same fate as teammate Postell has in the past when she has competed vaults the judges aren't anticipating. Even though they were more difficult vaults, often she suffered harsher deductions in the eyes of the Utah coaches.

"Daria does a front layout as well as I've seen anyone do it, but I don't know what judges are going to think because right now all they seem to reward is the Yurchenko," he said.

Georgia report

Georgia's roster includes every athlete who contributed to its national title performance here in Salt Lake City last season, but several of those gymnasts might not be at full strength or available at all for Friday's meet.

Junior Paige Burns had to have her appendix removed on New Year's Eve and won't compete, two-time All-American Grace Taylor has a sprained ankle and is questionable, nine-time All-American Katie Heenan won't be in the all-around because of herniated disks in her back, eight-time All-American Tiffany Tolnay is getting over the flu and won't compete in the all-around, and All-American Megan Dowlen won't compete because of a sore Achilles.

Georgia coach Suzanne Yoculan estimates about 14 of Georgia's 24 routines will be performed by the same gymnasts who performed them at the the NCAA Championships last year.

"It's definitely not a good time for us to meet Utah," she said.

Warm welcome?

Yoculan will retire at the end of the 2009 season, which means Friday's meet will be her last at the Huntsman Center.

The outspoken coach has been a target of fans' disapproval before and she anticipates Friday's meet will bring more of the same.

"Maybe they'll honor me by all 15,000 fans booing me," she joked. "That has been my welcome in the past, I guess I'd have to consider it an honor."

Yoculan has coached Georgia to eight national titles in her 24 years.

Her first, in 1987, was won in Salt Lake City, as well as titles in 1999 and 2007.

"Each one has been different, but winning your first one is always special; any coach probably feels that way," she said.

lwodraska@sltrib.com