For the Washington gymnastics team, last weekend’s NCAA West Regional gymnastics championship in Berkeley, Calif., was, at least in some ways, a replay of the Pac-10 championship at Arizona State two weeks ago.

Coach Joanne Bowers was named the West Region Coach of the Year, an award comparable to her Pac-10 Coach of the Year accolades at Arizona State, which she shared with Stanford’s Krysten Smith. Sophomore Ashley Houghting, who won a share of the Pac-10 vault title, distinguished herself again by tying for third in valut, while Seattle-native Kristina Baskett, who competes for Utah, won first.

The Huskies fought in the team competition like they had all season, giving their best performance and always hoping for an upset. The results were mixed, though, matching this season’s pattern.

A rough start on balance beam ended Washington’s quest for one of the two-team berths to the championships, which will take place in Salt Lake City April 26-28. Although the team came back and, as senior Chelsea Bakken put it, “rocked” vault and floor, their final score of 193.3 wasn’t enough to overcome No. 7 Utah or No. 6 Nebraska, who grabbed the two berths to the championship.

In other ways, the night was better than the Pac-10 championships, notably for Bakken, who quietly earned an individual berth to the NCAA championship, fulfilling a long-held dream.

Bakken is the lone Husky to advance to the NCAA championships, where she will compete as an individual in the all-around competition. It will be her first appearance at nationals in her four years at Washington.

“It was like a shock,” Bakken said. “We all thought we were done.”

Bakken’s road to the championship has not been smooth. After spraining her ankle during training in January, Bakken was forced to sit out the only meet she’s ever missed as a Husky, and was limited to competing only on bars and beam for several weeks while the ankle healed.

At the Pac-10 championship, Bakken was able to add floor exercise to her repertoire, and Saturday she was finally ready to compete on the vault again.

“We didn’t know she was going to do vault until today,” Bowers said after the competition Saturday night. On vault, a gymnast gains momentum by running down a runway, hitting a springboard and flinging herself into the air, performing assorted flips and twists before landing. The landing, which is an important factor in the athlete’s score, can be punishing on the ankles, and many gymnasts limit the number of vaults they practice in order to prevent a potential injury.

Saturday night, Bakken performed a solid vault and scored a 9.75. She also received a 9.8 on bars, a 9.7 on beam and a 9.775 on floor, for a combined total of 39.025 in the all-around. She finished eighth in the all-around, but NCAA rules stipulate that the top two all-around performers from schools that don’t qualify to the championships as a team are awarded individual berths to compete at the championships.

This wasn’t made clear to Bakken until after the meet, when Bowers told her she had qualified as an individual.

“I didn’t believe her at first,” Bakken said.

Although she’s excited to be going to nationals, she said she’s sad to be the only one to fulfill what has been a team’s dream for the entire season.

“Going without the team sucks,” she said. Nevertheless, Bakken knows she won’t really be competing alone at nationals.

“They’ll be there with me in spirit,” Bakken said.

Reach reporter Blythe Lawrence at sports@thedaily.washington.edu.