Quest Begins for National Bid
April 03, 2009 10:27 AM | General
April 3, 2009
Southeast Regional Notes
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| Mehgan Morris |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The No. 21 West Virginia University gymnastics team looks to earn a bid to the NCAA National Championship, as it competes at the 2009 Southeast Regional on Saturday, April 4, at 6 p.m., at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, N.C.
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 championship in Lincoln, Neb., on April 16-18. Event winners at the regional championship will also advance to the national championship (in that event only) if they are not part of a qualifying team or one of the all-around qualifiers.
The Mountaineers (15-8 overall, 10-2 EAGL) qualified for their 26th regional appearance since 1983 on the strength of their 195.390 regional qualifying score. The squad finished fourth (194.825 points) at the 2008 Southeast Regional. WVU last visited NC State for the regional competition in 2004 and finished in fourth place with 195.275 points.
WVU enters the meet as the No. 4 seed. Four-time defending, and nine-time overall, NCAA Champion, No. 1-ranked Georgia, earned the region’s top seed. No. 12-ranked Penn State captured the second seed, while No. 13 Nebraska holds the third seed. Regional host and 2009 EAGL champion NC State is seeded fifth, while conference foe North Carolina is the sixth seed.
WVU is 1-3 against the field this season.
“We know going in to this meet that we will be facing a strong field,” Coach Linda Burdette says. “It’s going to be a challenge, but we just have to perform our routines like we do every day in practice.”
The Mountaineers make their return trip to Raleigh after taking second place at the EAGL Championship on March 21. The team was narrowly edged by the Wolfpack, 195.70-195.50.
“Obviously, Georgia has been in this situation many times before, and has performed well,” Burdette says. “They are a veteran team that knows what it takes to get to nationals.
“On the other hand, I think that we match up very well with Penn State and Nebraska, and we may have a slight advantage over them, having just competed at Reynolds Coliseum two weeks ago.”
The Mountaineers last qualified for the NCAA National Championship in 2000, where they finished in 12th place. Though the team has not qualified since, WVU has sent individual competitors to the championship five of the last eight seasons. The last individual qualifier was All-American Janáe Cox in 2007, and the last event champion was All-American Kristen Macrie on floor in 2001.
WVU enters the regional following an impressive showing at the EAGL Championship, in which four Mountaineers took home six first-place awards.
Senior Mehgan Morris, the 2009 EAGL Outstanding Senior Gymnast, finished first on the bars and the floor and was the meet’s top all-around performer with 39.30 points. The Belle, W.Va., native has scored 39.00-plus points in each of the last six meets. Additionally, she ranks fifth regionally on the floor and in the all-around, eighth on the uneven bars and No. 21 on the balance beam.
Junior Shelly Purkat finished first at EAGLs on the beam with a season best 9.875 score. The Edina, Minn., native ranks No. 19 regionally on the apparatus. Classmate Kiersten Spoerke, the Mountaineers’ beam anchor, ranks No. 15.
Junior Chelsi Tabor and freshman Tina Maloney tied for first on the vault at the conference championship with 9.90 points. The score matched Tabor’s season-high and is a career-best for Maloney. Tabor ranks fifth regionally, while Maloney is No. 21.
Sophomore Amy Bieski matches Morris’ four regional rankings, as the Nanticoke, Pa., native is No. 10 on vault, No. 12 on floor, No. 13 in the all-around and No. 23 on bars.
Three additional Mountaineers enter tomorrow’s meet with regional bars rankings. Sophomore Naja Johnson ranks No. 18, while senior Erica Watson and freshman Nicole Roach are tied at No. 23.
Fans can follow the Mountaineers in action this weekend, as live stats will be available HERE, and free live streaming will be available HERE.
