NCAA Southeast Regional
April 12, 2007 10:19 AM | General
April 12, 2007
2007 NCAA REGIONAL GUIDE
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| Linda Burdette |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University is serving as host of the 2007 NCAA Gymnastics Southeast Regional Saturday, April 14, at 6 p.m. at the WVU Coliseum.
No. 24-ranked West Virginia (28-9, 17-2 EAGL) qualified as the No. 5 seed earlier this month by claiming second at the EAGL Championships with a season-high score of 195.300 to earn its 24th NCAA Regional appearance since the NCAA first sponsored gymnastics in 1983.
Veteran Mountaineer coach Linda Burdette recognizes that while qualifying for the regionals is always a great achievement, it has in many ways become an afterthought for her program.
“When I first started coaching, our goal was to get to regionals and you try to do it every year,” Burdette said. “Now I expect us to go and I think my team comes into the season expecting to go. It’s a wonderful thing for us.”
West Virginia is led by EAGL Gymnast of the Year Janáe Cox. Cox, a senior, is WVU’s all-time leading scorer needing just 18 points to become West Virginia’s first ever 2,000 point scorer. She was named first team all-EAGL in every event including the all-around.
WVU will be joined in the Southeast Regional by top-seeded and fifth-ranked LSU, No. 8 UCLA and No. 17 Auburn, along with fellow EAGL members No. 22 NC State and North Carolina. In addition, five all-arounders and one individual event specialist per event will compete from non-qualifying teams.
Burdette sees the opportunity to host the Southeast Regional as an advantage for her team in terms of familiarity as well as it being a great opportunity to showcase West Virginia’s tremendous facilities.
“We get to showcase what we have to offer as a site and we have a wonderful staff, so it’s a good opportunity to show off all of the nice things that we have here,” Burdette said. “It is a chance for my athletes to feel really comfortable at home. They will do what they do for a normal home meet so I think it is an advantage for us.”
The top two teams and the top two all-around competitors (who are not on an advancing team) from the Southeast Regional will receive an automatic berth to the national championships in Salt Lake City, Utah, April 26-28. The event is being hosted by the University of Utah.
Event winners at the regional championship will also advance to the national championships (in that event only) if they are not part of a qualifying team or the all-around qualifiers.
On the surface it would appear that as a No. 5 seed West Virginia faces long odds to finish in the top two and advance to the National championships. However, Burdette points out that in gymnastics teams are separated by mere fractions of a point.
“When you look at the scores that the teams are bringing in -- their average scores -- there’s less than half a tenth between us and N.C. State who is right in front of us,” Burdette said.
“I think the teams are closer than they appear. I think it’s very possible for us to qualify,” Burdette said. “In fact, the last time we qualified (2000), we qualified from the fifth position and we ended up finishing second. You never give up and you always believe you have a chance.”
LSU will make its 27th regional appearance in school history as the meet's top top-seeded team after finishing the regular season with a No. 5 national ranking and a regional qualifying score of 196.800.
As a team, LSU wrapped up the regular season ranked among the top 20 in the country on each of the four individual events, finishing No. 2 on both the vault and floor, No. 10 on the bars and No. 16 on the beam.
Individually, LSU has a trio of nationally-ranked all-arounders in junior Ashleigh Clare-Kearney and seniors Kelly Phelan and Nicki Butler.
Second-seeded and No. 8 UCLA will also be making its 27th regional appearance when it competes this weekend. The Bruins battled through an injury-riddled season to win the Pac 10 with a regional qualifying score of 197.200
UCLA is led by Pac-10 Gymnast of the Year and all-around/vault/beam/floor champion Tasha Schwikert. She is currently ranked No. 3 in the nation in the all-around. Schwikert was a member of the 2000 U.S. Olympic team, was team captain of the 2003 U.S. World Championship gold medal team and was an alternate for the U.S. team at the 2004 Olympics.
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| Tynisha Dennis and the Mountaineers will be making their 24th appearance at NCAA regionals.
All-Pro Photography/Dale Sparks |
Auburn enters as the third seed, ranked No. 17 in the country. The Tigers will be making their 16th trip to the regionals this weekend.
Auburn is led by two-time All-American Julie Dwyer. Dwyer, ranked fifth in the nation in the all-around, already has 22 individual titles this year-- five all-around titles, eight beam wins, four on vault, three bar victories and two on floor. Dwyer has made it to nationals in each of her previous two seasons at Auburn in the all-around, finishing 10th each year.
No. 22 N.C. State will compete in its 16th regional as the fourth seed. The Wolfpack is coming off a narrow victory over West Virginia in the EAGL Championships in which they received a regional qualifying score of 195.475.
Junior Leigh Hancock leads the way for N.C State. Hancock earned All-EAGL first team honors this season on both vault and beam.
North Carolina rounds out the field as the sixth seed. The Tar Heels are ranked 30th in the nation and are coming off a third-place finish behind N.C. State and WVU in the EAGL Championships. UNC received a regional qualifying score of 194.925 in that event.
The Tar Heels are led by Senior Christine Robella. Competing in 11 meets this season, Robella has won the all-around six times and has won or tied for first place in at least one event eight times. Robella was named first team All-EAGL on the vault, floor exercise and the all-around.
West Virginia has hosted NCAA Regionals five times since 1983 and last welcomed a regional to the Coliseum in 2002 when the Mountaineers placed third. The last three NCAA regionals held at the WVU Coliseum in 1994, 1999 and 2002 have attracted average crowds of 2,611, including a Coliseum-record 3,492 in 1994.
The Mountaineers have advanced to NCAA nationals three times (1995, 1999, 2000), including one trip after hosting a regional in 1999.
Advanced purchased tickets are $10. Tickets at the gate will be $12. The first 200 WVU students get in free courtesy of Coca-Cola. For tickets call 1-800-WVU GAME or order online at WVUGAME.com.
