by Shannon McNamara for MSNsportsNET.com
January 19, 2010

	Amy Bieski

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University gymnastics team’s floor exercise lineup is nationally ranked at No. 17 in the GymInfo Poll.

Through two meets, the Mountaineers’ (3-2, 1-0 EAGL) floor lineup has paced the team, scoring 48.875 at Michigan State and 48.625 at Pitt. The rotation, which has opened both of WVU’s meets this season, boasts a 48.75 average.

Junior Amy Bieski is the lone Mountaineer to earn a top 50 national ranking this week. The Nanticoke, Pa., native is 41st on floor with a 9.8 average.

The Mountaineers’ floor average ranks No. 2 in the southeast region. WVU is ranked sixth overall with a 191.825 average. The team is also ranked fifth (48.412) on vault, sixth (47.625) on bars and eighth (47.037) on beam.

Bieski owns three regional top 25 rankings – No. 8 floor, No. 12 all-around (38.162) and No. 18 vault (9.75). Classmate Naja Johnson also has multiple regional rankings and is 13th on floor (9.775) and 22nd on bars (9.612).

Three additional Mountaineers are ranked on floor: sophomore Tina Maloney (No. 16, 9.762), senior Kiersten Spoerke (No. 20, 9.712) and junior Stephanie Keaton (No. 21, 9.7).

Senior Chelsi Tabor and freshman Alaska Richardson are ranked 18th (9.75) and 22nd (9.712), respectively, on vault, while junior Emily Kerwin is No. 23 (9.6) on bars and sophomore Nicole Roach is No. 21 (9.612) on beam.

WVU is ranked fifth overall in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) and boasts the second-best floor average. Additionally, the team is ranked fourth on vault, fifth on bars and sixth on beam.

The GymInfo Poll rankings are determined by high score for the first week of the season. For the first month of the season, average team scores determine the rankings, then regional qualifying scores (RQS) are used.

The Mountaineers open their home season and play host to EAGL foes No. 23-ranked NC State, George Washington and Maryland on Sunday, Jan. 24, at 1 p.m. at the WVU Coliseum. Sunday is Dollar Day, with all tickets and select concessions priced at $1 each.