STANFORD, Calif. -- The Pac-12 Gymnastics Championships take place this coming Saturday, March 18 at Maples Pavilion on campus at Stanford. The event will feature three of the top-10 gymnastics teams in the nation (No. 3 UCLA, No. 5 UTAH, and No. 10 OREGON STATE) as well as gold medalists and other Olympians as they battle for the coveted conference title. UCLA has claimed the No. 1 seed for the event as they seek to defend their 2016 Pac-12 title. 

The seeds for Session 1 are as follows with starting event in parenthesis: No. 5 CALIFORNIA (vault), No. 6 ARIZONA (beam), No. 7 STANFORD (bars), and No. 8 ARIZONA STATE (floor). The seeds for Session 2 are as follows with starting event in parenthesis: No. 1 UCLA (vault), No. 2 UTAH (bars), No. 3 OREGON STATE (floor), and No. 4 WASHINGTON (beam). Competition will proceed in Olympic order.

TEAM BY TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW

UCLA: The top-seeded Bruins are hoping to defend their 2016 Pac-12 title this weekend. The Bruins are seeking their 18th Pac-12 team title; UCLA's 17 conference titles so far are by far the most of any Pac-12 program. UCLA has also dominated individually at Pac-12 Championships, winning a conference-best 88 individual titles. The Bruins have been especially dominant in the all-around, winning 18 titles, including 12 in the last 21 years. UCLA is currently the No. 3 team in the nation and ranked seventh nationally on the vault, second on the bars, third on the beam, and sixth on the floor. The team is highlighted by Team USA gold medalists Kyla Ross and Madison Kocian as well as other standouts like Christine Peng-Peng Lee and Katelyn Ohashi. Kocian is ranked fifth in the nation on the all-around and ninth in the nation on the floor. Ross is ranked first in the nation on bars and tenth in the nation beam. Lee is second in the nation on bars and Ohashi is third in the nation on beam.

UTAH: Second-seeded Utah is looking to re-claim the Pac-12 title after winning it two of the last three years, in 2014 and 2015. Utah has been ranked among the top six teams in the nation all season long and currently sits at No. 5. The Red Rocks finished the regular season with a 10-2 overall record and tied for first in the Pac-12 with UCLA with a 5-1 conference mark. Freshman phenom MyKayla Skinner is the second-ranked all-arounder in the nation, as she has been most of the 2017 season. Skinner is also ranked third nationally on the floor and eighth nationally on the vault. Teammate Baely Rowe is ranked ninth in the nation in the all-around. Utah also leads the conference as a team on vault (fifth nationally) and floor (fourth nationally).

OREGON STATE: No. 10 Oregon State has won the Pac-12 title six times, claiming it last in 2013 and tying for second place in 2016. The Beavers are ranked in the top 20 nationally on all four events, including tenth in the nation on bars. Senior Kaytianna McMillan is the seventh best all-arounder in the nation and the third best in the Pac-12; she scored the first perfect 10.0 by an Oregon State gymnast since 2003 last weekend. Fellow senior and Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year Madeline Gardiner is ranked sixth nationally on the balance beam. The Beavers are looking to keep up their high scoring this weekend, after eclipsing the 197-point mark last week for the third week in a row, the first time since 2013, the Beavers have hit the 197 mark in back-back-to-back meets.

WASHINGTON: Washington has never won the Pac-12 title, but is on the road to changing that, appearing this Saturday in the evening session of the Pac-12 Championship for the first time since the two-session format was introduced. The Huskies have been especially successful on beam this season, ranking tenth nationally and third in the Pac-12 on the event. Junior Hailey Burleson is ranked among the top 20 all-arounders in the nation and Washington is currently ranked No. 15 in the nation.

CALIFORNIA: California is coming off a tough loss to No. 1 Oklahoma this past weekend and will be the top-seeded team in the first session of competition. Despite the loss, the Golden Bears scored the second-highest beam score in school history for the second week in a row. California is currently ranked No. 16 in the nation and has never won the Pac-12 title. The Golden Bears are 4-3 in the Pac-12 and 11-5 overall.

ARIZONA: Arizona has never won the Pac-12 gymnastics title. Last week in the Wildcats' visit to BYU, Arizona earned several new season and career highs, and junior Madison Cindric returned to the all-around competition earning a new season high score of 39.325. The Wildcats are 1-5 in the Pac-12 and 9-7 overall this season. 

STANFORD: Host Stanford has won the Pac-12 title five times, claiming it last in 2008. Stanford has finished fourth or higher in 15 of the past 16 conference championships. Despite being injured much of the season, junior Elizabeth Price ranks fourth in the nation on the uneven bars. The Cardinal is 3-4 in the Pac-12 and 6-11 overall this season.

ARIZONA STATE: The Gym Devils are looking to carry some momentum from their first Pac-12 win (against rival Arizona) since 2014 on into Pac-12 Championships. The Gym Devils closed out the 2017 regular season last weekend, honoring senior and team leader Beka Conrad in her final home meet as a Sun Devil. ASU fell in a tri-meet set-up, totaling a 194.925 to Bridgeport's 195.050 and Sacramento State's 195.275. The Devils are 3-10 overall and 1-5 in the Pac-12 this season. Arizona State has never won the Pac-12 gymnastics title.

CHAMPIONSHIP INFORMATION
EVENT SCHEDULE:

Friday, March 17, 2017
1:00 - 2:40 p.m. PT -- Practice Session #1 (California, Arizona, Stanford, Arizona State)
3:30 - 5:10 p.m. PT-- Practice Session #2 (UCLA, Utah, Oregon State, Washington)
*Practice sessions are open to fans and media. Fans are to enter through the Northwest Entrance of Maples Pavilion and park in the Varsity Lot on campus. Media members should contact one of the media relations contacts listed below for more information. 

Saturday, March 18, 2017
12:00 p.m. PT -- Doors open
1:00 p.m. PT -- Session 1 (California, Arizona, Stanford, Arizona State)
5:00 p.m. PT -- Doors open
6:00 p.m. PT -- Session 2 (UCLA, Utah, Oregon State, Washington)
Approximately 8:30 p.m. PT -- Awards presentation

TICKETS: Single-session and all-session tickets are available at gostanford.com/pac12gymnastics and start at just $5 each.  

LOCATION: Maples Pavilion, Stanford, Stanford University, 655 Campus Drive, Stanford, CA 94305

TELEVISION INFO: Both sessions of the championships will air live on Pac-12 Network. Jim Watson and gold medalist Amanda Borden will be on the call with silver medalist and UCLA gymnastics alum Samantha Peszek reporting from the sideline. Session 1 will air live at 1:00 p.m. PT on Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Bay Area, and Pac-12 Arizona. Session 2 will air live at 6:00 p.m. PT on Pac-12 Network, Pac-12 Mountain, Pac-12 Los Angeles, Pac-12 Oregon, and Pac-12 Washington. Both sessions will also stream live on pac-12.com and the Pac-12 Now app. 

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