In the last three Aprils, Postell has won 13 of a possible 15 first-team All-America awards and took second-team honors in the other two.

Her remarkable April 2007, which came on the heels of her least-consistent season as she and senior Nicolle Ford tried too hard to be perfect and make up for a youthful squad, earned Postell Deseret Morning News Athlete of the Month honors.

"I feel really good. I ended the season a lot better than I did last year," said the ever-self-critical Virginian who made finals in every event in the 2006 NCAAs.

"I'm still that kind of person that always wishes I could have done something a little better, but I'm really happy with how things turned out with beam and individual and stuff like that," she said.

Marsden was pleased with Postell's last couple of months for another reason. She came out of her shell. She became somewhat of a vocal leader, and she has learned to verbalize thoughts to him, making it easier for him to coach her.

"That is something that is really hard for me because when I was younger I never really felt comfortable speaking up if I'm hurt or if I'm this. We'd keep that to ourselves a little bit." Postell said.

"It's kind of how it is when you're elite. You don't really speak up because it makes you less of a gymnast when you tell your coach you're in pain, and sometimes the coach is like, 'Oh well that's too bad."'

She would likely be more assertive if she is successful with this summer's bid to return to the elite program.

"It's completely different here," Postell said of Utah. "You're allowed to open up. You're allowed to say how you're feeling that day and talk to the coach if you want to.

"It's kind of taken me a little while, but as the years go on, I've kind of learned. They're really big on saying how you feel and speaking up for yourself. They're nice people, and they make it kind of easy for me.

"There's also part of me that's a little stubborn," said Postell with a laugh. "It's kind of a bad habit."

Ashley Postell file

• Year: Junior

• Hometown: Burke, Va.

• Height: 5-foot-2

• April highlights: Won her first NCAA championship, taking the balance beam title with a score of 9.9375. Won the NCAA West Regional all-around with a 39.65, the highest score at any of the nation's six regionals, thanks to a career-high 9.95 on bars.

2007 Athletes of the Month

• January: Keena Young, BYU basketball

• February: Jaycee Carroll, Utah State basketball

• March: Carlos Boozer, Utah Jazz

• April: Ashley Postell, Utah gymnastics

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E-mail: lham@desnews.com