Utah Utes gymnastics: Red Rocks holding strong at No. 2; BYU, USU, SUU also ranked

There was some movement below them that will complicate the assignments to the NCAA regional competitions — due to be announced at 3 p.m. MDT — but No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Utah and No. 3 Florida stayed in the same places in the final 2008 women's gymnastics rankings dated today.

Southern Utah fell three places to 27th, and BYU dropped a spot to 29th, but both teams will be qualified for a regional assignment. Utah State moved up to 38th from 40th this week but will miss out of the postseason.

Regionals will be held April 12 at Florida, LSU, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Oregon State and Penn State. Those six teams will be sent to their own regionals.

The NCAA uses an S-curve to determine regional assignments, with No. 1 (Georgia) supposed to be sent with Nos. 12 (Auburn) and 13 (Denver) to one regional, No. 2 (Utah) bracketed with Nos. 11 (Arkansas) and 14 (Arizona) and so on. But when Oklahoma dropped from ninth to 10th this week, it left two host teams in the 3-10-18 (Florida/Oklahoma/Nebraska) matchup, meaning those brackets will have to be tinkered with.

In individual rankings, Utah senior Ashley Postell finished as the nation's top all-arounder (39.705 RQS) and vaulter (9.965), but the 10 that she scored in her final regular-season meet Friday wasn't enough to keep her alone atop the beam rankings. She's still No. 1, but Oregon State's Jami Lanz ended with a 9.935 RQS, so they finish tied.

Ute Kristina Baskett is tied for ninth all-around and stayed tied for third on uneven bars, with Postell tied for 12th and SUU's Elise Wheeler tied for 23rd. Baskett is seventh in vaulting. Postell finished sixth on floor with Ute Annie DiLuzio tied for 19th. Ute Daria Bijak is tied for 24th in all-around.

Teamwise, Utah finished first in vaulting, second on beam, fourth on floor and fifth on bars. SUU is 12th on bars and 23rd on beam and BYU is 25th on floor.

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NCAA women's gymnastics final 2008 rankings

March 31, by Regional Qualifying Score

Rank, team....RQS....season average....high score

1 Georgia....197.400....197.125....197.900

2 Utah....197.255....196.944....197.750

3 Florida....197.225....196.893....197.925

4 Alabama....196.870....196.562....197.325

5 Michigan....196.825....196.542....197.600

6 Stanford....196.770....196.236....197.375

7 LSU....196.730....196.312....197.775

8 Oregon State....196.650....196.042....197.200

9 UCLA....196.510....196.027....196.925

10 Oklahoma....196.450....196.008....196.750

27 Southern Utah....194.890....194.483....196.000

29 Brigham Young....194.710....194.173....196.300

38 Utah State....193.575....192.277....194.450

2008 final gym rankings

1. Georgia

2. Utah

3. Florida

4. Alabama

5. Michigan

6. Stanford

7. LSU

8. Oregon St.

9. UCLA

10. Oklahoma

27. S. Utah

29. BYU

38. Utah St.

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E-mail: lham@desnews.com