Gymnastics: EAGL Championships on Saturday
March 22, 2006 11:05 AM | General
March 22, 2006
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 22-ranked West Virginia University women’s gymnastics team will compete in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) Championships on Saturday, March 25, at the Louis Brown Athletic Center in Piscataway, N.J. The eight-team meet hosted by Rutgers University will begin at 6 p.m.
West Virginia (17-6) is the top-ranked team in the EAGL entering the meet as the Mountaineers are sporting a 194.535 regional qualifying score (RQS). No. 24 North Carolina (17-8), the league’s reigning champion, is ranked second in the league with a 194.355 team RQS.
The Mountaineers, holders of a record five EAGL championships in the 11-year history of the league, have not won the meet since 2004 after tying for second place with Maryland last year with a team score of 195.2. North Carolina won last year with a 195.975 team score in the meet held at the Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, N.C.
WVU gymnasts vying for individual championships include junior Janáe Cox, who is looking to add to three career EAGL titles. Cox is the defending champion on the balance beam and in the all-around with scores of a career-high 9.925 and a season-high 39.45 in last year’s meet.
North Carolina’s Courtney Bumpers tied Cox for the all-around and the two gymnasts return this year to defend their titles as the No. 1 and 2 ranked all-arounders in the league, respectively. Bumpers is the nation’s 16th-rated all-arounder with a 39.335 RQS, while Cox is 32nd with a 39.135.
West Virginia freshman Mehgan Morris is the favorite on the uneven bars as she is ranked 20th in the nation and first in the EAGL on the event with a 9.87 RQS, while Cox is the league’s second-ranked gymnast on the bars with a 9.85 RQS.
After the EAGL Championships, West Virginia will await a bid to one of the six NCAA regional meets, which will be held April 8. The top two teams at regionals will make up the 12 teams at the NCAA Championships held April 20-22 in Corvallis, Ore.
