Mehgan Morris

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The No. 25 WVU gymnastics team finished in fourth place with 194.825 points Saturday night at the 2008 NCAA Southeast Regional before a crowd of 6,032 at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center in Gainesville, Fla. The score was WVU’s highest at an NCAA Regional since 2004.

Host No. 3 Florida claimed first place with 197.525 points, while No. 9 UCLA was second with 196.625 points. By finishing in the top two slots, the Gators and Bruins advance to the NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga., on April 24-26.

“Obviously, I would have loved to advance, but we performed well tonight in front of 6,000 fans,” Head Coach Linda Burdette said. “We had a few little mistakes here and there, but I was very pleased. We kept getting better each meet this season and we hit 24-for-24 on routines tonight, which we haven't done at a regional in a while.”

No. 15 Nebraska finished third with 196.100 points. EAGL members NC State (193.825) and North Carolina (191.825) finished fifth and sixth, respectively.

Junior Mehgan Morris just missed qualifying for nationals individually by .025. The Belle, W.Va., native totaled 39.200 points in the all-around to finish 10th. Nebraska’s Desire' Sniatynski finished in ninth with 39.225 points in all-around to lock up the final individual qualifying spot for nationals. The Huskers’ Emily Parsons claimed the other individual qualifying spot at nationals with 39.450 points in the all-around.

The Mountaineers opened the night with a bye before heading to the floor exercise in rotation two. Morris notched a team-high 9.8 on floor to lead West Virginia, a score that would tie for 11th. Freshman Amy Bieski had the second highest score on the team with a 9.75, while Shelly Purkat and Erica Watson added 9.7s. WVU compiled a team score of 48.600 points in its first event.

West Virginia scored over 49 team points on the vault for the sixth time in the last eight meets with a composite score of 49.050. Chelsi Tabor vaulted a 9.9 for the second consecutive meet after senior Jaime Gold stuck her vault for a 9.85 to finish with over 1,000 career points. Tabor finished fifth in the vault individual results and the Mountaineers had a 97.650 two-event total.

After another bye, WVU returned to competition on the uneven bars where it would total 48.750 points. Morris posted the team high with a 9.875 and Watson hit for a 9.825 to tie for sixth and 11th, respectively. Freshman Naja Johnson also added a solid 9.775 on bars. That left the Mountaineers a 146.500 point total heading into its final event, the balance beam.

On the beam, WVU rounded out the night with a 48.325 points. Morris and Watson again led the team with a 9.775 and 9.7, respectively. Watson finished the night with 38.975 points in the all-around.

WVU ends the 2008 season over 20 wins for the sixth time in the last eight seasons.

Advancing to the NCAA Championships (April 24-26 in Athens, Ga.)

Teams

Individual All-Arounders (top two all-arounders not on an advancing team)

Individual Event (event winners not on an advancing team)