Gymnastics: WVU Begins at No. 23
January 06, 2009 04:19 PM | General
January 6, 2009
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| Erica Watson |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University gymnastics team is ranked No. 23 in the GymInfo 2009 Women’s Preseason Coaches Poll.
WVU, the highest ranked EAGL squad, returns to the gym after finishing 23-8 last season and winning its sixth EAGL Championship. The team advanced to the NCAA Gainesville Regional, finishing fourth.
Coach Linda Burdette returns for her 35th season as the Mountaineer leader. With a 597-236-4 record, the longest-tenured WVU coach needs only three more victories to reach the 600-win plateau, making her the University’s first coach to achieve the mark with a WVU team.
Fourteen Mountaineers return from the 2008 season, including two-time EAGL champion senior Mehgan Morris, and classmate Erica Watson and sophomore Amy Bieski, two additional all-arounders.
WVU was ranked No. 22 in the 2008 preseason poll.
Nine-time overall and four-time defending NCAA champion Georgia is ranked No. 1, while Utah is ranked No. 2. Florida, UCLA and Stanford round out the Top five.
All told, six of WVU’s scheduled opponents earned a preseason ranking, including No. 10 Oklahoma, No. 13 Penn State, No. 17 Michigan State, No. 19 Missouri and No. 25 Kentucky, the only other ranked EAGL squad.
WVU opens its season at No. 1 Georgia on Friday, Jan. 9, at 7:30 p.m., at Stegeman Coliseum.
