Utah gets the tougher session but the best start time April 18, when it makes its record 21st straight appearance in the NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships at Tuscaloosa, Ala.
The Utes, ranked fourth nationally but with the third-best qualifying score from last Saturday's NCAA regional, will compete in the afternoon session starting at noon MDT with No. 3-ranked Georgia, No. 5 Michigan, No. 6 Louisiana State, No. 8 Nebraska and No. 12 Arizona.
The evening session starting at 6 MDT includes No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 Alabama, No. 10 Stanford, No. 11 Minnesota, No. 13 Oregon State and No. 15 Florida.
The sessions were determined by random draw Sunday to place three regional champions and three runners-up in each.
The top three team finishers from each session April 18 will advance to the April 19 Super Six national championship round.
The early session includes five strong teams, while the evening session has mainly two superpowers. "We're in a tough draw," said Ute coach Greg Marsden, "but they're all tough at this point.
"You just have to be on a roll and be consistent. If we do that, I think we can compete with anybody, and if we don't, then we can't expect to move on."
However, for teams that do advance, the early session is the place to be because there's more time to relax before the Friday finals. "We like that," said Marsden. "We hoped that's where we would compete."
On qualifying day, Utah will begin with the bye before floor and finish on beam — a rotation similar to what it just had at the regional, when it began on floor and had beam as its last event, finishing the night with a bye. Utah was the No. 1-ranking beam team during the regular season.
Utah had a frustrating mid-season but has returned to fine form the past two meets, scoring 198.425 in a home meet against BYU, the second-highest score in NCAA history, and then hitting 197.10 in winning Saturday's West Regional at Oregon State. Only Alabama (197.90) and UCLA (197.45) had higher regional scores, the Tide in the Southeast Region at West Virginia and the Bruins in the South Central at Arizona State.
"I feel like we're on a little bit of a roll," Marsden said, hoping the trend continues for another two weeks. If it does, Utah could bring home its 10th NCAA championship and 11th national title overall. No other school has more than Georgia's five. UCLA is two-time defending champion.
The individual event championships will be held Saturday night, April 20. The all-around title will be determined in the Thursday qualifying meet, when individuals will also qualify for the Saturday finals on vault, bars, beam and floor.
2002 NCAA WOMEN'S GYMNASTICS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Thursday, April 18, qualifying round, (national rank)
Session 1, noon MDT - (3) Georgia, (4) Utah, (5) Michigan, (6) Louisiana State, (8) Nebraska, (12) Arizona.
Session 2, 6 p.m. MDT - (1) UCLA, (2) Alabama, (10) Stanford, (11) Minnesota, (13) Oregon State, (15) Florida.
Friday, April 19
Super Six national championship, top three finishers from Thursday's two sessions.
Saturday, April 20
Individual event championships, top four plus ties from each of Thursday's sessions.
E-MAIL: lham@desnews.com