|
Title
Quest
by
Mike Morrow
Gymnastics is
to Utah what wrestling is to Iowa. Or basketball is to Indiana.
Big.
These days,
Utah's biggest athlete may be an elf-like gymnast from Colorado
Springs. With a little extra effort, Theresa Kulikowski stretches
to 5-foot-5, but she continues to tower over her opponents, leading
the University of Utah to yet another spot in the NCAA championships.
She's a champion
on and off the court, someone who embodies the term "student-athlete"
(she has a straight-A average at Utah) and is now within reach of
even greater acclaim.
Utah, with the
NCAA's most successful record, is a 10-time national champion and
is headed for its 27th consecutive NCAA final, April 18-20, in Tuscaloosa,
Ala., where they will join 11 other teams – Georgia, Nebraska,
Michigan, Arizona, Alabama, UCLA, Stanford, Louisiana State, Oregon
State, Florida and Minnesota.
The top three
teams from two qualifying sessions will advance to the Super Six
finals on April 19, with the individual finals on April 20.
Utah, ranked
fourth nationally, is likely to contest No. 1 UCLA and No. 2 Alabama
for the team title, though the Utes are bringing only eight athletes.
Poetry in
motion
Women's gymnastics is a much different show than men's gymnastics.
It is an elegant demonstration, almost poetic, with more of an emphasis
on beauty than brawn. It's chic to be a champion.
The chic Kulikowski
was the NCAA all-around champion in 1999 and the NCAA balance beam
champion in 1999 and 2001. In addition, she has earned a number
of national team honors.
Seniors Deidra
Graham and Shannon Bowles, both six-time All-Americans, also are
expected to do well.
Strength
in numbers
Meanwhile, the numbers keep adding up for Utes' coach Greg Marsden,
a seven-time NCAA coach of the year and the only coach to win 700
or more matches.
"We seem to
be on a roll right now after struggling in the middle part of the
season with consistency. Everyone now seems to be much more relaxed
and competing with a lot of confidence. I think we're as healthy
a team as you can expect to be at this point in the season," said
Marsden.
"It really says
something about how far women's gymnastics has come when you look
at the results from regionals and see how many teams had a legitimate
chance to qualify for the championships," said Marsden, whose teams
regularly compete before home crowds of more than 10,000 (more than
14,000 attended the Utes' regular season finale with BYU). "More
and more teams are becoming competitive and it has become increasingly
difficult to qualify for the championships."
Marsden's teams
have won more than 90 percent of their games in his 27 years in
Salt Lake City and have not lost a home meet in 22 years at Huntsman
Center. His wife, the former Megan McCunniff, a two-time NCAA all-around
champion, has been his assistant coach for 17 years.
"The sky is
the limit for this team," Marsden said. "This is the most talented
team, depth-wise, we've ever had. The only weakness is they are
all perfectionists and want every routine, every time, to be perfect.
I preach to them to just go out and relax and let their talent flow."
Perfection is
elusive, though Kulikowski did score a 10.0 on the balance beam
in the NCAA Regionals in Corvallis, Ore.
Oh! Danny's
boy
Austin Ainge, a Phoenix area high school standout who has been
away on an LDS mission for two years, will attend BYU and play for
the Cougars as a freshman next season. BYU also has signed 6-foot
Kevin Woodberry, a transfer from national JC champion Dixie College
in St. George, Utah, to play point guard.
Ainge is the
son of former BYU and NBA player Danny Ainge.
Click
here to sign up for Meridian's FREE email updates.
© 2002Meridian
Magazine. All Rights Reserved.
|
