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INDIANAPOLIS — Fourth-ranked Utah gymnastics secured the top seed at the Salt Lake City regional to begin its quest for a championship.
As host of one of the six regional sites, the Red Rocks knew they’d compete in front of their home crowd. They learned their seeding and competition during the NCAA.com selection show Monday afternoon.
Joining Utah, in order of seed, are No. 9 California, No. 16 Auburn, BYU, Stanford and Southern Utah. The Cougars qualified for the NCAA regional round for the 27th time in 29 years.
Utah has already competed against BYU and California this season. The Red Rocks opened their season against their in-state rival, capturing a 197-194.275 win. Utah and California have met twice this season, most recently last week in the conference championship where the Red Rocks placed second ahead of the third-place Bears. The Bears beat the Red Rocks in the regular season, edging them by a mere 0.05 of a point at the end of February in Berkeley.
Utah, which has never missed an NCAA championship, is one of 36 teams in the postseason and will compete in nationals for the 43rd-consecutive year if it finishes as one of the top two teams in its region.
A total of six regions — Columbus, Ohio; St. Paul, Minnesota; Raleigh, North Carolina; Salt Lake City; State College, Pennsylvania; Tuscaloosa, Alabama — consist of six teams each and will be narrowed to 12 teams to compete in St. Louis on April 20. The semifinals will be conducted in two sessions, with the top three teams from each advancing to the Super Six on April 21 to decide the national champion.
The Salt Lake City regional takes place Saturday, April 7, at 4 p.m. MDT.
