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SALT LAKE CITY — The Pac-12 women’s gymnastics championship event has a new location to call home.
The Pac-12 announced Wednesday that West Valley City’s Maverik Center will be the new home of the women’s gymnastics championship event for the next three years. The change is effective immediately. The Maverik Center will host its first championship event on March 23, 2019.
“The Pac-12 is thrilled to bring one of our premier events to the Salt Lake Valley,” Teresa Gould, the Pac-12 senior associate commissioner of sports management, said in a prepared statement. “With a rich tradition of excellence across the sport and a strong following among Utah’s community, we look forward to this showcase featuring some of the top gymnasts in the world competing at Maverik Center.”
The conference is marketing the new location as the “first ever neutral-site host.” Previously, each program around the Pac-12 hosted the event. Utah last hosted the championship at the Huntsman Center in 2015 when it won in back-to-back seasons. Although close to the University of Utah campus, the event will be a neutral site because it is not owned by the university and the athletes do not compete there.
“The Maverik Center of West Valley City is honored to host the Pac-12 women’s gymnastics championship,” Maverik Center CEO Kevin Bruder said in a statement. “Our community looks forward to hosting such an elite and esteemed event.”
The Maverik Center seats more than 9,000 people, which is significantly less than the Huntsman Center, but gives the conference a neutral site location to host the championship event. The ability to feature podium equipment set up also appealed to the conference, according to University of Utah officials.
"Holding our championship on podium at a neutral site will help keep the Pac-12 schools on a level playing field with the other top teams in the nation,” Utah head coach Tom Farden said in a statement. “We are grateful to the Maverik Center and West Valley City for investing in our sport to make this a reality.”
Utah has claimed three championship titles since joining the conference (2014, 2015 and 2017). The Red Rocks narrowly lost out to UCLA in the 2018 Pac-12 championship event but qualified for the NCAA’s Super Six, only to finish fifth. UCLA was named the NCAA champion, narrowly defeating Oklahoma, 198.0750-198.0375.
Exact contract details about the new partnership between the Pac-12 and the Maverik Center have not be released, but the Utah Sports Commission and Visit Salt Lake will be involved in the event, according to the University of Utah.
