For Immediate Release // Thursday, January, 7, 2016 Contact // Liz Beadle ([email protected]) 2016 PAC-12 GYMNASTICS SEASON GETS UNDERWAY The Pac-12 women’s gymnastics season will get underway this Friday as No. 4 UTAH hosts BYU, No. 18 ARIZONA hosts 2016 PAC-12 CONFERENCE Michigan State, and ARIZONA STATE takes on No. 11 Ne- GYMNASTICS STANDINGS braska and Bowling Green on the first night of the season. Six Pac-12 teams are ranked in the national preseason coaches’ Conference Overall poll, with the highest being UTAH at No. 4. The Conference W L PCT W L PCT returns ten first or second team All-Americans from 2015. As Arizona 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 Arizona State 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 non-conference meets get underway, the Pac-12 will be taking California 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 on the toughest competition in the land. The top three squads Oregon State 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 in the nation will all go head to head with the Pac-12 in com- Stanford 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 ing weeks: ARIZONA STATE and CALIFORNIA will take on UCLA 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 No. 1 Oklahoma, UCLA will travel to No. 2 Florida, and UCLA Utah 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 Washington 0 0 .000 0 0 .000 will host No. 3 Alabama. Pac-12 Conference action will begin Mon., Jan. 18 with WASHINGTON taking on ARIZONA STATE on Pac-12 Networks. Visit www.pac-12.com for more informa- tion. NATIONAL TOP 25 RANKINGS UPCOMING SCHEDULE (RANKINGS REPORTED BY ROAD TO NATIONALS) PRESEASON RANKING Fri., Jan. 8 BYU at #4 UTAH 6 p.m. MT Michigan State at #18 ARIZONA 6 p.m. MT RANK TEAM ARIZONA STATE vs #11 Nebraska, Bowling Green 7 p.m. MT 1. Oklahoma 2. Florida Sat., Jan 9 3. Alabama #22 Ohio State at WASHINGTON 6 p.m. PT 4. Utah 5. LSU Sun., Jan. 10 6. UCLA NorCal Classic: #8 STANFORD, #12 CALIFORNIA, 2 p.m. PT 7. Michigan San Jose State, UC Davis, Sacramento State 8. Stanford #4 Alabama at #6 UCLA 2 p.m. PT 9. Georgia #10 Auburn at #12 OREGON STATE 2 p.m. PT 10. Auburn 11. Nebraska 12. Oregon State 13. Arkansas *All times listed local to site. 14. California 15. Illinois-Champaign 16. Denver 17. Penn State 18. Arizona 19. Boise State 20. Minnesota 21. Kentucky 22. Ohio State 23. Missouri 24. Southern Utah 25. Central Michigan PAC-12 VS. PAC-12 COACHES OTHER CONFERENCES Big Ten ............................................... 0-0-0 ARIZ ................................. TABITHA YIM UCLA ...............VALORIE KONDOS FIELD Big 12 ................................................. 0-0-0 .............................................. 1st season ................................................26th Season East Atlantic Gymnastics League ......... 0-0-0 .................................NCAA Appearances: 0 ...............................NCAA Appearances: 23 Eastern College Athetlic ....................... 0-0-0 Mid-American ..................................... 0-0-0 ASU ..................................... RENE LYST UTAH ................................TOM FARDEN Midwest Independent .......................... 0-0-0 .............................................2nd season .................................................. 1st season Mountain Pacific Sports Federation ..... 0-0-0 .................................NCAA Appearances: 0 .................................NCAA Appearances: 0 Mountain Rim ..................................... 0-0-0 Southeastern ....................................... 0-0-0 CAL ..............................JUSTIN HOWELL UTAH ........................ MEGAN MARSDEN Western Athletic .................................. 0-0-0 .................................................. 4th season .................................................. 7th season Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic ......... 0-0-0 .................................NCAA Appearances: 2 .................................NCAA Appearances: 6 Independent ....................................... 0-0-0 Total-All ......................................... 0-0-0 OSU ............................. TANYA CHAPLIN WASH ......................... JOANNE BOWERS ................................................19th Season ................................................10th Season ...............................NCAA Appearances: 11 .................................NCAA Appearances: 2 WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS SIDS STAN........................... KRISTEN SMYTH ................................................ 15th season *NCAA Appearances denotes NCAA appear- ARIZ ...........................www.arizonawildcats.com ............................................. Danielle Bracamonte ...............................NCAA Appearances: 12 ances made as head coach of current [email protected] school ...................................................... 520-621-4163 ASU ................................www.thesundevils.com .................................................... Kathryn Roberts [email protected] ...................................................... 480-965-1237 UTAH VOTED PRESEASON FAVORITE IN PAC-12 COACHES POLL CAL ..........................................www.calbears.com ....................................................... Mara Rudolph SAN FRANCISCO – In a poll taken by the Conference’s eight women’s gymnastics, UTAH [email protected] was voted the preseason favorite to win the 2016 Pac-12 regular season, the Conference an- ...................................................... 510-643-5846 nounced today. OSU .................................... www.osubeavers.com Utah received 49 points and six first-place votes. The Utes were also voted fourth in the ....................................................... Jason Amberg national preseason coaches’ poll where they received 14 first-place votes. Utah holds the top [email protected] ...................................................... 541-230-0706 spot in the preseason Pac-12 coaches’ poll for the second year in a row after UCLA had domi- nated the No. 1 spot for three years before that. This season, Utah will be looking to capture STAN .................................... www.gostanford.com its third Pac-12 championship in a row, following their back-to-back championship seasons in ........................................................... Greg Marsh 2014 and 2015. ......................................... [email protected] ...................................................... 650-736-7635 UCLA came in second in the Pac-12 poll, tallying 41 points. Additionally, the Bruins are ranked sixth in the national preseason coaches’ poll. UCLA .................................... www.uclabruins.com STANFORD sits in third place in the Pac-12 with 39 2016 Pac-12 Women’s ............................................................. Liza David points in the poll, and received one first-place vote. The Gymnastics Poll ...................................... [email protected] Cardinal are one of three Pac-12 squads ranked in the ...................................................... 310-621-8398 1. Utah (6) ................... 49 national top ten, coming in at No. 8. 2. UCLA ...................... 41 UTAH ............................... www.utahutes.cstv.com 3. Stanford (1) ............. 39 .................................................................Liz Abel OREGON STATE came in fourth place in the Pac-12 4. Oregon Sate ............. 30 [email protected] coaches’ poll with 30 points. Rounding out the poll were 5. California ................. 24 ...................................................... 801-209-6346 CALIFORNIA, ARIZONA, WASHINGTON, and ARIZONA 6. Arizona .................... 21 STATE with 24, 21, 13, and 7 points respectively. 7. Washington .............. 13 WASH .................................... www.gohuskies.com 8. Arizona State ............. 7 ..........................................................Justin Green Six of eight Pac-12 teams are ranked in the top 25 ....................................................jgreen8@uw.edu nationally heading into the 2016 season. No. 12 Oregon ...................................................... 801-473-7376 State and No. 14 California join Utah, UCLA, and Stanford in the top 15. Arizona, Washington, and Arizona State are ranked 18th, 30th, and 36th respectively. PAC-12 ..................................... www.pac-12.com ............................................................. Liz Beadle .............................................. [email protected] The 2016 season is set to begin on Friday, Jan. 8. Pac-12 gymnastics will be featured on Pac- ...................................................... 415-549-2858 12 Networks throughout the season, including the 2016 Pac-12 Championship to take place on March 19, 2016 in Seattle. Visit www.pac-12.com for a full schedule of televised Pac-12 events. PAC-12 GYMNASTICS WEEKLY RELEASE // January 7, 2016 2 WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS ON PAC-12 WEEKLY NOTES PAC-12 NETWORKS Returning strength: Several Pac-12 squads return incredible tal- Pac-12 Networks will begin its fourth season of women’s gymnastics ent from the 2015 season, including 2015 NCAA Vault Champion coverage starting on Friday, January 8 at 5 p.m. with Michigan State at Elizabeth Price of STANFORD. 2015 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Arizona. Toni Ann Williams of CALIFORNIA is also set to make a continued impact for the Golden Bears. Returning All-Americans (first and Pac-12 Networks will air 26 women’s gymnastics meets, five more than second