SALT LAKE CITY -- The setup was similar to last year, but the results are historically different.

A year after trying to become the first small private school to advance to the NCAA National Championships and missing by 0.025 points - the smallest possible margin - the University of Denver gymnastics team pulled the feat Saturday night at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, finishing second with a team score of 193.900. That qualifies the Pioneers as one of the top 12 teams to Nationals, which will take place in two weekends (Thursday-Saturday, April 19-21) in Athens, Ga.

In addition to the historic accomplishment, the Pioneers very nearly pulled off what would have been the biggest upset in collegiate gymnastics history, as Denver led host Utah throughout most of the meet. The Utes have not lost a regular-season or NCAA Regional meet at home since 1979 - a total of 171 straight competitions. Utah finished with a solid score of 48.675 on the balance beam - an event on which it is the best in the country - to pull out the Regional title with a score of 194.075.

"I'm absolutely thrilled with the outcome tonight," said head coach Melissa-Kutcher Rinehart. "To go through what we had to early in the season, losing Jenny Ebdon [Denver's first All-American in 15 years] to an ACL tear in February, then losing Jacquelin Young to a ligament tear the next week, we needed to regroup. I'm so proud of the student-athletes; people didn't think we could do this, and the coaching staff told the team, 'let them count us out; let them worry about someone else.' I'm just so unbelievably proud. It's the first time in University of Denver history that a women's gymnastics team has made it to Nationals."

Freshman Ashley Shible (Palm Harbor, Fla. / East Lake HS), who broke Ebdon's school record in the all-around the night the All-American went down and then rebroke the record twice more, led the way for the Pioneers by winning the individual all-around title. She scored a four-event total of 39.200 points to earn her seventh all-around title of the season and 23rd overall.

The Pioneers began the night on the uneven bars, and started the first rotation with a solid 49.100. Junior Melanie Schiff (Highland Park, N.J.) tied her season high with a 9.925 to place second, and Shible posted a 9.875 to tie for fourth.

Denver then moved to the balance beam, which has served as the Pioneers' roller-coaster ride all season. Sophomore Michelle Kasuga (Defiance, Ohio / Defiance HS) started off the rotation in fine fashion, scoring a near-career-high 9.750, and freshman Lindsay Fitzgerald (Spring, Texas / Klein HS) and freshman Lindsay Fitzgerald (Spring, Texas / Klein HS) earned the same score to all tie for 13th place.

While the Pioneers and Iowa State sat out the third rotation with a bye, Utah and West Virginia both were forced to count 0.50-point deductions because of falls from the apparatus - Utah on the vault and the Mountaineers on the balance beam. Through two complete event rotations, the Pioneers sat in first place and led Iowa State by .475 and the host Utes by a whopping 1.525 points.

The floor exercise was next for Denver, where the Pioneers totaled 48.575 to stay in the hunt. Shible led the way with a 9.825 to tie for fifth; Kasuga scored a 9.775 to post the second-best score for the Pioneers.

The Pioneers finished up on the vault, an event on which every team had difficulties with over the course of the evening. Denver finished with a season-low 47.650, yet that total was the second-best of the six teams. Shible again led the way for the 13th straight meet with a 9.75, which tied her for second place.

With a bye from competition in the final rotation and the team's score set at 193.900, all that was left was the white-knuckle waiting. West Virginia needed a 49.000 to pass the Pioneers, and the Utes needed a 48.500 on beam. The Mountaineers counted a number of falls and extra steps, giving the Pioneers the nod.

The Pioneers will return to Denver on Sunday afternoon on United Flight #2812, which is scheduled to arrive at Denver International Airport at 12:25 p.m.

DENVER GYMNASTICS - NCAA North Central Regional Championshipsat Salt Lake City, Utah (Jon M. Huntsman Center); ** - advances to NCAA National ChampionshipsFINAL TEAM SCORES: 1. Utah, 194.075**; 2. DENVER, 193.900**; 3. Iowa State, 193.375; 4. West Virginia, 192.400; 5. Utah State, 191.200; 6. Air Force, 190.200.TOP INDIVIDUALS:ALL-AROUND: 1. Ashley Shible (DEN), 39.200; 2. Deidra Graham (Utah), 39.150; 3. (tie), Dinorh Boyd (WV) and Sissy Huey (ISU), 38.950; 5. Kristen Macrie (WV), 38.875; 6. Melanie Schiff (DEN), 38.600. VAULT: 1. Shelley Kringen (ISU), 9.775; 2. (tie), Ashley Shible (DEN) and Veronique Leclerc (Utah), 9.750. UNEVEN BARS: 1. Theresa Kulikowski (Utah), 9.950; 2. Melanie Schiff (DEN), 9.925; 3. Sissy Huey (ISU), 9.900; 4. Ashley Shible (DEN), Shannon Bowles (Utah) and Veronique Leclerc (Utah), 9.875. BALANCE BEAM: 1. Stephanie Schweitzer (ISU), 9.850; 2. (tie), Diedra Graham (Utah) and Melissa Vituj (Utah), 9.825. FLOOR EXERCISE: 1. Kristen Macrie (WV) and Shannon Bowles (Utah), 9.875; 3. (tie), Shelley Kringen (ISU) and Diedra Graham (Utah), 9.850.