Pac-12 gymnastics heads to first-ever neutral site championship at the Maverik Center

SAN FRANCISCO - For the first-time ever, the Pac-12 Women’s Gymnastics Championships will be held at a neutral site. The Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah will be the site for the 33rd annual event on Saturday, March 23.  The seedings and rotations are set for this year’s championships as UCLA earned the No. 1 seed based on its 197.885 RQS, followed by No. 2 UTAH with its 197.375 RQS.

Live scoring for both sessions will be available on the Pac-12 website at: https://pac-12.com/womens-gymnastics/championships.  Teams and student-athletes from both sessions are eligible for the team and individual competition. Both sessions will be carried live on Pac-12 Networks. Tickets are available at https://pac-12.com/tickets.

Looking Ahead: OREGON STATE will be one of four regional hosts for the NCAA Gymnastics Regionals, April 4-6. Regional competition will consist of nine teams, three all-around competitiros and four individual specialists per event (all of who are not on qualifying teams).

THIS WEEK IN PAC-12 GYMNASTICS

• Six Pac-12 teams are ranked in the WCGA Top 25 heading into this week’s Pac-12 Gymnastics Championship.
• Kyla Ross of No. 2 UCLA completed the “Gym Slam” (earning a perfect 10 on bars, beam, floor, and vault) with her first-career perfect 10 on floor exercise, while Katelyn Ohashi finished her Pauley Pavilion career with a perfect score on floor in UCLA’s meet versus Utah State. In their final home meet of the season, the Bruins bid farewell to legendary head coach Valorie Kondos Field, who is retiring after her 29 seasons.
• No. 16 CALIFORNIA enters the Championships hot as it powered its way to a program-record 197.575 in its final meet of the regular season.
• UCLA’s Katelyn Ohashi and California’s Toni-Ann Williams are two of six finalists for the AAI Award, which is presented to the most outstanding senior female gymnast in the country. The award winner will be announced at the NCAA Championships.

PAC-12 TEAM NOTES

ARIZONA - The Arizona GymCats hosted their final home meet of the regular season against No. 4 LSU where they posted a season-high home score of 196.225 on Senior Night.  The GymCats ultimately fell to the Tigers, 198.175-196.225 ... Arizona is tied for sixth in the Conference going into the Pac-12 Championship and has an overall record of 7-10 for the season.

ARIZONA STATE - With a strong 196.550 team total, No. 21 Arizona State took down No. 14 BYU (195.825) and West Virginia (195.750) in the final home meet of the year to finish the regular season with a winning record (11-10), for the first time since 2014, when the Sun Devils went 8-6 ... Arizona State has posted three wins over a ranked opponent so far this season.

CALIFORNIA - No. 16 California powered its way to a program-record 197.575 team total to end the regular season Sunday afternoon at Haas Pavilion ... Cal topped Illinois (196.175), San Jose State (194.450) and Sacramento State (192.100) to post a perfect record at home for the first time since 1994 ... Cal goes into the Pac-12 Championship with a 12-5 overall record and will compete in Session 2 of the championships.

OREGON STATE - No. 15 Oregon State secured first place at Gill Coliseum for the third straight outing, scoring 196.550 to defeat Iowa, North Carolina, and Seattle Pacific on Friday ... The meet marked the final regular season home meet for seniors Mariana Colussi-Pelaez, Mary Jacobsen, and McKenna Singley ... The Beavers finish the regular season with a 12-3 overall record ... After competing in the Pac-12 Championship, OSU will return home to host the NCAA Regionals on April 4-6.

STANFORD - Sophomore standout Kyla Bryant will look to post her eighth all-around crown at the Pac-12 Championships on Mar. 23 ... The young Cardinal team of five freshmen and six sophomores finished the regular season with an overall 6-9 record and will compete in Session 1 of the championship.

UCLA - The Pac-12 will bid farewell to Head Coach Valorie Kondos Field as she leads UCLA in her last season coaching the Bruins.  Over her 29 years at the helm, Kondos Field has guided her teams to a record of 528-121-3 and all seven of its NCAA Championships ... Kyla Ross completed the “Gym Slam” with her first-career perfect 10 on floor exercise and ninth 10 overall this year, while Katelyn Ohashi provided the grand finale to her Pauley Pavilion career with a perfect score on floor ... Ross set a new school record with a 10 in her seventh straight competition, and looks to post her eighth on Saturday as the Bruins compete in Session 2 of The Pac-12 Championship.

UTAH - MyKayla Skinner and MaKenna Merrell-Giles stole the spotlight on No. 8 Georgia’s senior day, placing one-two in the all-around by scoring 39.675 and 39.600, respectively ... Skinner also won floor with a 9.975 and Merrell-Giles captured beam with a career-high 9.95 ... The Ute’s ultimately fell to the Bulldogs in a hard-fought meet, 197.525-197.450 ... Utah, which finished the regular season with a 10-3 record, has scored 197.000+ in every meet to set a school record.  Prior to this season, the record for consecutive 197 scores was seven ... No. 6 Utah will compete in Session 2 at the Pac-12 Championship.

WASHINGTON - The Washington GymDawgs earned a quad-meet win in their final meet before the Pac-12 Championships, putting up a season-best 196.975 against UC Davis, Illinois, and Yale ... Washington earned its highest bar score since 2004 with a 49.575 ... Madison Copiak recorded a score of 9.975 on bars, putting up the best bars score by any individual GymDawg since 2004 ... Washington will compete in Session 1 of the Pac-12 Championship.