Sloanhoffer Paired with Penn State
April 07, 2014 12:38 PM | General
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Hope Sloanhoffer is the 18th Mountaineer gymnast to qualify for the NCAA National Championships, and the first since 2009.
Matthew Caldwell/Oconee Leader
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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University senior gymnast Hope Sloanhoffer will compete alongside No. 12-ranked Penn State at the 2014 NCAA National Championships.
The championships, hosted by the University of Alabama and the Alabama Sports Foundation, will be held at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, April 18-20, in Birmingham, Ala.
Sloanhoffer and the Nittany Lions will compete in the evening session, which also features No. 3 Alabama, No. 4 Florida, the reigning NCAA champions, No. 5 Utah, No. 7 Nebraska and No. 10 UCLA. Additionally, five individual all-around qualifiers also will compete in the evening session: Caitlin Brown (Iowa State), Marie Case (Kent State), Katherine Grable (Arkansas), Alexis Gunzelman (Rutgers) and Amanda Wellick (Arkansas).
Sloanhoffer and PSU’s rotation order is: Bye, Floor Exercise, Vault, Bye, Uneven Bars, Balance Beam. Sloanhoffer will be the final gymnast of the day to compete on the beam, the same event she tied for the win at the 2014 NCAA Athens Regional Championships on April 5 with a score of 9.85.
“I’m excited for Hope to compete with Penn State,” says third-year Mountaineer coach Jason Butts. “I know their staff well, and the team will be a good fit for Hope. PSU has not qualified for Nationals in a few years, so they will be super excited about the competition. I’m also thrilled that Hope will compete in the evening session, as the intensity and energy builds throughout the day and will be great by the time Hope competes.”
Sloanhoffer, WVU’s 18th individual qualifier and first since Mehgan Morris qualified in the all-around in 2009, earned the individual bid on the strength of her second place, 39.175 all-around showing Saturday at Georgia’s Stegeman Coliseum, in Athens, Ga. She and Gunzelman tied for second place and were the top two all-arounders at the championships not on an advancing team. In addition to her winning beam score, Sloanhoffer also scored 9.8 on floor, 9.775 on bars and 9.75 on vault.
With her beam victory, Sloanhoffer, the 2014 Big 12 Conference all-around champion, became the seventh Mountaineer to win a regional event title, and the third balance beam champion.
The women’s gymnastics championships consist of 12 teams and 12 all-around competitors (who are not on a qualifying team). The top-two teams and the top two all-arounder competitors from each of the six regionals have advanced to the national championships. In addition, the event winners at each regional also advanced to the national championships (in their specific event) if they were not part of a qualifying team or the all-around qualifiers.
The top-two teams from the three regionals on the left side of the 2014 bracket will compete in the evening semifinal, as host Alabama is in the group.
Team and individual qualifiers for the 2014 women’s gymnastics championships are as follows:
Team Competition:
Team Regional Regional Score Semifinal Session
LSU Baton Rouge 198.325 Session 1
Oklahoma Minneapolis 197.725 Session 1
Alabama Seattle 197.55 Session 2
Utah Fayetteville 197.3 Session 2
Stanford Baton Rouge 197.275 Session 1
Florida University Park 197.05 Session 2
Nebraska Seattle 196.975 Session 2
Michigan Athens 196.75 Session 1
Penn State University Park 196.725 Session 2
UCLA Fayetteville 196.6 Session 2
Illinois Minneapolis 196.6 Session 1
Georgia Athens 196.375 Session 1
ALL-AROUND INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS:
Qualifiers Regional Regional Score Semifinal Session
Katherine Grable, Arkansas Fayetteville 39.675 Session 2
Chelsea Tang, Oregon State Penn State 39.475 Session 1
Caitlin Brown, Iowa State Baton Rouge 39.4 Session 2
Lindsay Mable, Minnesota Minneapolis 39.4 Session 1
Madeline Gardiner, Oregon State Penn State 39.35 Session 1
Marie Case, Kent State Baton Rouge 39.325 Session 2
Kalliah McCartney, Sacramento State Seattle 39.275 Session 1
Moriah Martin, Denver Seattle 39.225 Session 1
Alicia Asturias, California Minneapolis 39.2 Session 1
Alexis Gunzelman, Rutgers Athens 39.175 Session 2
Hope Sloanhoffer, West Virginia Athens 39.175 Session 2
Amanda Wellick, Arkansas Fayetteville 39.0 Session 2
INDIVIDUAL EVENT QUALIFIERS:
Vault: Regional Regional Score
No qualifier
Bars: Regional Regional Score Semifinal Session
Kelsey Morris, Boise State Seattle 9.95 Session 2
Dallas Crawford, California Minneapolis 9.925 Session 1
Beam: Regional Regional Score Semifinal Session
Hanna Nordquist, Minnesota Minneapolis 9.9 Session 1
Emily Heinz, Central Michigan Athens 9.85 Session 2
Halle Moraw, Central Michigan Athens 9.85 Session 2
Taylor Noonan, Central Michigan Athens 9.85 Session 2
Audrey Harrison, Kentucky Penn State 9.85 Session 1
Kaytianna McMillan, Oregon State Penn State 9.85 Session 1
Floor: Regional Regional Score Semifinal Session
Ciera Perkins, Boise State Seattle 9.9 Session 2
Team semifinal and all-around competition will be conducted in two sessions Friday, April 18, at 2 and 8 p.m., ET. The top-three teams from each semifinal will advance to the Super Six competition Saturday, April 19, at 7 p.m. The top-four individuals in each event (plus ties) from Friday’s semifinals will compete in the individual-event competition Sunday, April 20, at 3 p.m.
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