Release via Ohio State Athletics

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Meredith Paulicivic, who spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Utah, has been named women’s gymnastics head coach at Ohio State, Shaun Richard, associate athletics director for sport administration, announced Tuesday.

“We are excited to have Meredith be the new leader of our women’s gymnastics program,” Richard said. “Meredith has been an integral part of an elite NCAA program at Utah, along with an elite club program, and we’re looking forward to having her guide our student-athletes to achieve their personal and team goals.

Her charisma and passion for the sport are apparent and we’re excited for her vision to guide us into the future.

A high-level choreographer, Paulicivic recently completed her second season as an assistant at Utah, helping guide the Utes to a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships and a Pac-12 team championship in 2017. As Utah’s primary vault coach, Paulicivic coached Pac-12 vault co-champions Mykayla Skinner and Tiffani Lewis as Skinner went on to become the Fayetteville Regional vault champion and a regular-season All-American.

“I am thrilled to be named head coach at The Ohio State University,” Paulicivic said. “It’s a prestigious honor to lead this program and opportunities like this do not come around often. I’d like to thank Carey Fagan for reaching out to me about the position and Gene Smith and Shaun (Richard) for hiring me.

Everybody was so welcoming during the interview process and I was impressed with the whole department and how supportive the administration is of its coaches, student-athletes and staff. I’m excited to hit the ground running and move forward with my vision.

At Utah, Paulicivic was the primary vault coach while assisting on balance beam and floor exercise while being responsible for the choreography and music selection on beam and floor. In 2016, Paulicivic helped guide Lewis to the Pac-12 floor championship and Baely Rowe and Makenna Merrell to runner-up floor finishes at Pac-12 Championships as the Utes finished fourth nationally as a team on floor exercise.

“I would like to acknowledge Megan Marsden and Tom Farden, my co-head coaches at Utah, for the opportunity to learn how to run a top team,” Paulicivic added. “I’d also like to thank Dr. Chris Hill, the athletics director at Utah, for hiring me back in 2015 and believing in a former student-athlete.”

Prior to her time at Utah, Paulicivic spent a season as an assistant coach at Arizona, helping the Wildcats to a 17th-place finish nationally, the highest team ranking in over a decade. Paulicivic also was head coach at SCEGA Gymnastics from 2007-14, coaching six U.S. National Team members, including world bronze medalist Rachel Tidd. She spent the previous nine years as assistant coach and head choreographer for floor and beam at SCEGA after a one-year stint as assistant coach at University of California.

As a gymnast at Utah from 1991-94, Paulicivic (nee King), competed on a pair of NCAA Championship teams in 1992 and 1994. Paulicivic was a three-time All-American on vault and a team captain as a senior.

A native of Twenty Nine Palms, Calif., Paulicivic graduated from Utah with a bachelor’s degree in exercise and sport science in 1994. Paulicivic and her husband, George, are the parents of two daughters, Blayne and Avery, and a son, Corbin.


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