During the preseason, Utah gymnastics coach Greg Marsden declared that as Ashley Postell went, so went the Utes. His words came true Friday in the Huntsman Center, when Postell won the all-around and Utah beat No. 1 Georgia, 196.300-196.200 before a crowd of 13,339.
Marsden’s prophetic statement referred to his All-America senior’s showing at the past two NCAA Championships, when she placed second in the all-around to Georgia’s Courtney Kupets and Utah placed second to Georgia as a team.
Until the very end of the 2008 season opener for both teams, it appeared as though history would repeat itself, as Georgia led by a relatively comfortable 147.525-147.275 margin. But two falls by the three-time defending NCAA champions on the balance beam cracked the door for Utah. Even so – in a large part due to steps out of bounds on two Ute routines – Georgia held a two-tenths of a point edge going into Postell’s routine. The 15-time All-American erased that and more with a 9.90 score that pushed the Utes ahead on the final routine of the night.
In addition to her second straight all-around victory over Kupets (Postell won the all-around during team finals at last April’s NCAA Championships), the senior won the balance beam with a 9.90 and tied for first on the floor (9.90). …
Ute coach Greg Marsden was pleased with the victory, which snapped an eight-meet losing streak to the SEC rival that dated back to the first round of the 2003 NCAA Championships. “It wasn’t pretty, but it was a win. …
University of Florida opened with 197.125, by the way, at another competition.
