WVU to Host EAGL Champs
March 28, 2008 06:14 PM | General
March 28, 2008
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| Mehgan Morris |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The 2008 East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) Championships, featuring all eight conference schools, will take place at the West Virginia University Coliseum Saturday, March 29, at 4 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for youth and senior citizens. Admission is free for EAGL students with a valid student ID.
The EAGL returns to Morgantown for the first time since 1996, when the Mountaineers claimed the inaugural meet title. WVU has claimed five EAGL team titles with the last coming in 2004 in Pittsburgh.
“We are excited to have this great event here,” Head Coach Linda Burdette says. “Our girls are ready to compete for the league championship. This group of seniors hasn’t been able to enjoy winning one yet, so there is a lot of motivation for them as well as the whole team.”
West Virginia (16-8) had a perfect 9-0 league record this season, topping each school with the exception of NC State as the two teams did not meet during the year. WVU currently ranks second in the EAGL with a team regional qualifying score (RQS) of 194.605, behind defending league champion and favorite NC State.
The Mountaineers are led by junior all-arounder Mehgan Morris, who ranks second in the league with a RQS of 39.09 in the all-around. The Belle, W.Va., native has tallied over 430 points this season, bringing her career total to 1,076 points. Morris was twice named the league’s gymnast of the week and is favored to claim her first EAGL individual title on the uneven bars.
“Despite her fall last week on bars, Mehgan was able to practice this week so she will be in the lineups,” Burdette says.
Sophomore gymnast Chelsi Tabor and senior gymnast Jaime Gold also figure to have a shot at winning the individual championship on the vault. Tabor tied NC State’s Brittney Hardiman for the league best this season with a 9.860 RQS on the event. Gold is a two-time first team all-EAGL vaulter, who has shown her brilliance before as she has twice notched a 9.9 while at WVU.
Freshman and EAGL Rookie of the Year candidate Amy Bieski ranks in the conference’s top three on the floor exercise with a 9.87 RQS. Bieski earned the league’s weekly rookie award five times in 2008, before garnering the EAGL Gymnast of the Week honor this past week. Bieski is also a likely all-arounder, having competed nine times her rookie season.
The emergence of junior Erica Watson has helped boost WVU’s scores during the second half of the season. Shortly after her entry into the lineup, the team downed 11-straight opponents, before falling to Ohio State last week. Watson has competed on all four events in the last six meets, including totaling a career-best 39.325 points in the all-around against North Carolina on Feb. 15.
The friendly confines of the WVU Coliseum have been good to the Mountaineer gymnastics program over the year. WVU is 231-46-2 (.831) all-time at home, including a 6-2 mark this season. West Virginia has averaged 195.446 points over the past 11 EAGL Championships.
