Pac-12 Women's Gymnastics heads to Maverik Center for 2022 Conference Championships

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SAN FRANCISCO - The 35th all-time staging of the Pac-12 Women’s Gymnastics Championships will be held at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah on Saturday, March 19. 

• All eight Pac-12 women’s gymnastics programs will be in action, with UCLA, Stanford, Washington and Arizona opening in the afternoon session beginning at 12:00 p.m. PT / 1:00 p.m. MT. The evening session begins at 5:00 p.m. PT / 6:00 p.m. MT, featuring Utah, California, Oregon State and Arizona State. Both sessions will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Network, Pac-12.com and the Pac-12 Now app.
• The conference championships will feature five top-25 teams in No. 4 Utah, No. 10 California, No. 12 Oregon State, No. 14 Arizona State and No. 18 UCLA. The four teams competing in the evening session - No. 1 seed Utah, No. 2 seed California, No. 3 seed Oregon State, No. 4 seed Arizona State - all finished the conference slate with identical 5-2 records and shares of the regular-season title.
• The afternoon session will feature fifth-seeded UCLA, sixth-seeded Stanford, seventh-seeded Washington and eighth-seeded Arizona. Seeding is determined by national rankings, which are based on National Qualifying Score (NQS). The Pac-12 champion will be the team with the highest score from the two sessions. Individual champions will also be determined via combined sessions.
• Beginning on vault, Utah, the reigning conference champion, looks to defend its title and is in the second session, as the Utes claimed a share of the Pac-12 regular-season title. Utah has spent most of the season ranked in the top-five nationally and finished the regular season ranked No. 4. The Utes hit the 198-mark twice this season for the first time since 2015. Utah is the only team in the conference that has at least three gymnasts ranked in the top-seven on each event. Utah has hit 249-of-264 routines this season, while eight gymnasts hit every routine. Freshman Olympian Grace McCallum led the Utes to a 10-3 overall record and is ranked nationally in the top-15 in every event; seventh in all-around, tied for eighth on bars, tied for 12th on beam and floor, and tied for 15th on vault.  
• California is also in the second session, as the Bears captured their first-ever share of the Pac-12 regular-season title, and will begin on bars. The Bears finished second at last year's conference championships after posting their best-ever Pac-12 score of 197.375. California started the season undefeated with a 5-0 record in conference action. The Bears finished the season by posting the second-highest score in program history (197.900) while setting a program record on floor (49.600) against Iowa. 
• Oregon State will also compete in the second session after claiming a share of the Pac-12 regular-season title and will begin on beam. The Beavers started the year on a season-high four-meet win streak. Oregon State went on to hit 205-of-216 routines this season and five student-athletes hit every routine. The Beavers have scored a 49.00 or higher in 34 of 36 events and recorded five 197s this season for the first time since 2005. Freshman Olympic gold medalist Jade Carey has anchored the Beavers all season long, earning 41 individual titles, recording 9.9s in 34 routines and posting three perfect 10s. Carey finished the regular season in the top-15 nationally in every event; first in all-around, tied for first in both bars and beam, tied for third in floor and fifth in vault. 
• Arizona State will be competing in the second session for the second-straight year after claiming their first-ever share of the Pac-12 regular-season championship and will begin on floor. The Sun Devils notched a team NQS of 196.880 and a season-high score of 197.800, which was the seventh-highest in program history. During the season, Arizona State had a season-high, four-meet win streak in which they posted 197+ in three of the meets and defeated UCLA for the first time since 2001. Standout junior Hannah Scharf led the Sun Devils with another stellar season as she finished ranked 12th nationally in all-around with five individual all-around titles and 11 total event titles. She posted a total of 10 scores of 9.900 or better and posted career highs in all-around (39.575) and beam (9.950) this season. 
• UCLA has won the most conference championships among the eight member schools with 19 Pac-12 titles. Only one team has ever won the Pac-12 championship out of the afternoon session - Utah in 2014. The championship that season was held in Berkeley, and with host California seeded fifth, the top four seeds competed in the afternoon session, while 5-8 competed in the evening. UCLA has also won conference-best 104 individual titles at the Pac-12 Championships, including four last year.
• Stanford has finished seventh in its last three appearances at the conference championships. Mathematically, the Cardinal is locked into a spot at the 2022 NCAA Regionals. To avoid a play-in meet, Stanford will look to score a 196.700-or-better at the championships to improve its NQS and lock the program into a top-28 seed. The Cardinal finished its 2022 regular season action with a season-high score of 196.975 against Arizona State on senior night, March 4, and a solid 196.325 in its tri-meet with Washington and Utah State March 6.
• Among its fellow competitors in the afternoon session, Washington beat Arizona at home earlier this season with a score of 196.250. The GymDawgs have also faced Stanford twice, both in tri-meets, and have came out on top both times. When the two teams first met at the Metroplex Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, Washington posted a 196.825. Then the Dawgs hosted Stanford with Utah State and won with a 196.875.
• Five GymCats posted career high scores between Arizona's two meets last week. Sophomore Caroline Herry impressed on all her events and shattered her career-high scores. She posted a 9.825 on vault, a 9.90 on beam, and a 9.95 on floor at BYU.
• All eight Pac-12 programs began the season in the 2022 WCGA Preseason Coaches Poll in No. 4 Utah, No. 7 California, No. 8 UCLA, No. 12 Arizona State, No. 17 Oregon State, No. 27 Arizona, No. 33 Stanford and No. 34 Washington. 
• Utah, UCLA and California went 1-2-3 in the Pac-12 preseason coaches poll, while Arizona State, Oregon State, Arizona, Stanford and Washington rounded out the league poll.
• Tickets are still on sale to the general public for the 2022 Pac-12 Women's Gymnastics Championships. Complete ticket information can be found at Pac-12.com/tickets.

Pac-12 in the Road to Nationals Standings - March 14

* Ordered by National Qualifying Score (NQS). Qualification for national competition is based on a team's and an all-around competitor's six best regular-season meet scores, of which three must be away. To obtain the national qualifying score (NQS), the high score is eliminated and the remaining five scores are averaged. In former years, this was known as the Regional Qualifying Score (RQS), which was changed for the 2019 season to reflect the new post-season format.

Olympians Made Here

• The 2022 Pac-12 gymnastics season has featured a strong connection to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, with four Olympic medalists beginning their collegiate careers on Pac-12 campuses this season. Oregon State's Jade Carey (USA) won an individual gold medal in the floor exercise, UCLA's Jordan Chiles and Utah's Grace McCallum were silver medalists in the team competition with the United States, and Utah's Amelie Morgan helped Great Britain to team bronze, its first gymnastics medal since 1928.
• Rounding out the Pac-12 freshmen with Olympic ties are UCLA's Brooklyn Moors, who competed for Canada in Tokyo, and Utah's Kara Eaker and UCLA's Emma Malabuyo, who were alternates for the United States. 

CONFERENCE STANDINGS (Expanded Standings) 

CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

2022 Pac-12 Women's Gymnastics Weekly Awards