Gymnastics: WVU Ready for NCAA Regional
April 11, 2008 04:30 PM | General
April 11, 2008
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| Mehgan Morris |
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The No. 25 WVU gymnastics team will compete in the 2008 NCAA Southeast Regional at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, Fla., on Saturday, April 12, at 7 p.m.
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 Athens, Ga., April 24-26, hosted by Georgia.
West Virginia qualified as the No. 5 seed in the Southeast Region with a regional qualifying score of 195.010 and is making their 25th NCAA Regional appearance since 1983. WVU took third at the regional a year ago in Morgantown and just missed qualifying for nationals. The Mountaineers last visited Florida for a Southeast Regional in 2005 and took fifth with a score of 193.925.
“We had a good warm-up today,” Head Coach Linda Burdette says. “I am pleased with the effort they have displayed and they should be ready for tomorrow. It should be exciting to see what happens.”
WVU has averaged a score of 194.150 in its last six regional meets since last advancing to nationals in 2000. The Mountaineers have advanced to NCAA nationals three times (1995, 1999, 2000) in the program’s history.
Although WVU has not qualified for nationals as a team since 2000, the Mountaineers have qualified individuals in five of the past seven years (last was Janae Cox in 2007). The last individual regional champion was Kristen Macrie on floor in 2001.
Junior all-arounder Mehgan Morris will lead the Mountaineers after coming off an impressive EAGL Championship on March 29. Morris won titles on the bars and floor as WVU captured its sixth EAGL team title in school history with a score of 196.050.
The Mountaineers have their work cut out for them as three of last year’s Super Six participants at nationals are in this year’s 2008 Southeast Regional field: top seed and third-ranked Florida, ninth-ranked UCLA and No. 15 Nebraska. Those three schools have a combined 66 national championship appearances.
The other two schools participating in this regional meet are EAGL members North Carolina and No. 21 NC State. The Wolfpack took second at the EAGL Championship with a score of 195.475, while the Tar Heels came in fourth at 193.950.
