MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The wait is over.
 
The West Virginia University gymnastics team opens its 2018 season tonight against No. 2-ranked Florida inside the WVU Coliseum at 7 p.m. It's a Dollar Night, and all tickets and select concessions will be available for $1 each. WVU students are admitted free with a valid WVU Student I.D. Tickets are available for purchase now at WVUGAME.com and also will be available at the WVU Coliseum Gold Gate Ticket Office.
 
"Stick-It" loyalty cards will be available for pickup prior to the meet, and fans will receive their first sticker tonight. A completed card with stickers from each of the first three home meets will earn fans free admittance to the team's home season finale on Feb. 18. Additionally, the first 150 youths Friday night will receive a free leotard t-shirt, and the first 1,500 fans will receive light-up sticks.
 
 
2018 WVU Gymnastics Preseason Notebook
 
Fostering Success
The Mountaineers look to build on their strong finish to the 2017 season. WVU capped last season with a third place, 196.325 showing at the NCAA Morgantown Regional Championships. It was the team's highest finish since placing third at the 2007 NCAA Southeast Regional Championships, also in Morgantown, and the team's score, a season high, topped the previous program regional record of 195.9, earned in 2012.
 
Nine of the 12 returning Mountaineers earned time in at least one lineup at the regional championships, including senior Zaakira Muhammad, who qualified for the NCAA National Championships in the all-around with the top qualification score of 39.325. She finished eighth on floor in the championships' second semifinal session with a season-best score of 9.9125 and earned All-America second team accolades. The mark was a program championship record. She also matched the program's NCAA Championships bars record of 9.8 and finished with an all-around score of 39.0375.
 
WVU capped the season ranked No. 20 in the Road to Nationals Poll, the team's first postseason ranking since 2012 and its highest position since sitting at No. 18 in 2007.
 
Coach Jason Butts returns for his seventh season with the Mountaineers. Since his appointment in 2011, Butts has compiled a 78-52-1 (.599) record and has led WVU to five appearances at the NCAA Regional Championships and a program best, second-place showing at the 2015 Big 12 Gymnastics Championships.
 
Anderson Joins Coaching Staff
Butts announced the hiring of Shea Anderson as assistant coach on July 11. Most recently a three-year volunteer assistant at Eastern Michigan, Anderson oversees the team's vault and floor lineups and also serves as the program's community service outreach director.
 
While at EMU (2014-17), Anderson coached vault and floor and assisted the Eagle Staff with all aspects of practice. She also served as the in-practice strength and conditioning coordinator and coordinated team travel and meals, as well as assisting the recruiting coordinator in evaluations and promoting the program through social media outlets.
 
A four-year letterwinner at Iowa State, Anderson competed on vault, floor and balance beam and owned career highs of 9.85 on vault and floor. She was a three-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll, a two-time ISU Scholar-Athlete, an Academic All-Big 12 honoree in 2012 and an Academic All-Big 12 Second Team honoree in 2010.
 
The One-Two Punch
For the first time in program history, two All-Americans will be featured on the Mountaineer roster.
 
Muhammad earned her first career All-America award with an eighth-place finish on floor in the second semifinal session of the 2017 NCAA National Championships. Muhammad scored a season-best 9.9125 and landed on the second team. She became the first Mountaineer gymnast to earn an All-America honor at the national championships since 2007.
 
Junior Kirah Koshinski earned her second All-America honor in as many seasons in 2017, as she was again named to the NACGC/W Regular Season All-America Second Team for vault.
 
The duo earned a combined 18 event victories and 46 podium finishes in 2017. Muhammad is the top returning point earner, having tallied 478.8875 points as a junior. She also paces WVU with 1,143.4125 career points. Koshinski led the Mountaineers in 2017 with season averages of 9.869 on vault and 9.888 on floor.
 
Koshinski ranks No. 7 in program history with 20 career scores of 9.9 or better, while Muhammad sits at No. 19 with 10 marks of 9.9+.
 
Senior Guidance
The Mountaineers will be led by three seniors in 2018: Robyn Bernard, Jordan Gillette and Zaakira Muhammad. Combined, the trio has competed in 111 career meets. Last season, Muhammad paced WVU with 478.8875 points, while Bernard ranked No. 4 (301.9) and Gillette ranked No. 5 (300.2).
 
Three Gymnasts Ready for Mountaineer Debuts
A trio of freshmen – McKenna Linnen, Sydney Marler and Michelle Waldron – join the Mountaineers this season.
 
Linnen, a native of Canton, Michigan, was a two-year level 10 gymnast at Gym America. She qualified for the 2017 Junior Olympics National Championships and earned back-to-back third-place finishes on beam at the 2015 and 2016 Region 5 Level 10 Championships.
 
A native of New Port Richey, Florida, Marler was a seven-year level 10 gymnast at Suncoast Gymnastics Academy. A three-time Junior Olympics National Championships qualifier, she finished tied for second on bars at the 2015 championships and earned the event title at the 2013 Junior Olympics National Invitational Tournament.
 
Waldron, a native of Sagamore Beach, Massachusetts, was a four-year level 10 gymnast from Cape Cod Gymnastics Center. In 2016, Waldron placed fifth on vault at the Junior Olympics National Championships and earned the event win at the Region 6 Level 10 Championships.
 
Catch Them While You Can!
The Mountaineers are on the move in 2018, as the team only competes at the WVU Coliseum four times, with three straight meets in Morgantown in January to open the season.
 
WVU will face 13 different opponents, including all three Big 12 Conference foes, as well as three teams who qualified for the 2017 NCAA National Championships.
 
The Mountaineers also will face five teams ranked in the 2018 NACGC/W Preseason Poll, including No. 1 Oklahoma, the two-time defending National Champion, and No. 2-ranked Florida. Additionally, WVU will compete against No. 8 Denver, No. 21 George Washington and No. 25 Penn State.
 
WVU opens its season against the Gators on Friday, Jan. 5, at 7 p.m., at the WVU Coliseum. UF finished third at the 2017 NCAA National Championships.
 
Vault Preview
The Mountaineers return one of the most dynamic vaulters in the nation in junior Kirah Koshinski. A two-time NACGC/W Regular Season All-America Second Team honoree, the Berwick, Pennsylvania, native ranked No. 14 nationally in 2017 with a 9.905 regional qualifying score (RQS). She scored 9.9 or better six times, including a career-best 9.95, and earned five event victories. Koshinski paced the Mountaineers with a 9.871 season average.
 
Senior Zaakira Muhammad should precede Koshinski in the lineup. The NCAA National Championships qualifier ranked No. 32 nationally last season with a 9.86 RQS and scored less than 9.825 just once in 14 meets.
 
Senior Robyn Bernard is expected to again open the rotation for the Mountaineers. Bernard finished the 2017 season ranked No. 17 in the Southeast Region with a 9.81 RQS. Also returning to the lineup are sophomores Julia Merwin and Chloe Cluchey, who ranked No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, on the team last year with season averages of 9.765 and 9.758.
 
The Mountaineers expect freshman Michelle Waldron to contribute to the team score, as well as junior Jaquie Tun and sophomore Abby Kaufman.
 
 
Uneven Bars Preview
WVU looks to replace its top two bars workers this season. Junior Tiara Wright, who paced the Mountaineers in 2017 with a 9.828 average, will not compete this year due to injury, while mainstay Alexa Goldberg, who ranked No. 2 last season with a 9.777 average, graduated.
 
Bernard again will compete in the leadoff position. With Wright and Goldberg out of the lineup, she is the team's most consistent gymnast on the event, as she earned a 9.725 average in 2017, scoring less than 9.7 just twice. Muhammad also should provide a big score for the Mountaineers. The Pennsauken, New Jersey, native finished last season ranked No. 13 in the Southeast Region with a 9.84 RQS. She reached the podium four times last year and earned the event win at Pitt on March 3 with a career-high 9.9.
 
WVU also will benefit from the return of Tun. After missing all but the last three meets of the 2017 season due to an injury, the Chattanooga, Tennessee, native looks to replicate her freshman season success, which saw her drop only one bars score in 13 meets.
 
Cluchey, Kaufman, senior Jordan Gillette, junior Carly Galpin and freshman Sydney Marler all could see time in the lineup this year. Marler finished tied for second on the event at the 2015 Junior Olympic National Championships.
 
 
Balance Beam  
Despite the loss of leadoff Goldberg and anchor Brooklyn Doggette to graduation, the Mountaineers are deep on balance beam in 2018. WVU returns its top-three season averages, including No. 1-ranked Galpin, who finished with a team-best 9.775 season average last year. The Boonsboro, Maryland, native has not dropped a score on beam in 14 career meets and owns a career-best score of 9.875.
 
Also returning to the lineup are Gillette and Koshinski, who ranked No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, with averages of 9.718 and 9.708. After earning a career-best 9.875 in her event debut in 2017, Muhammad looks to compete with more confidence in 2018. Additionally, Kaufman looks to build on the consistency she displayed late last year, as she scored 9.725 or better in the final seven meets of her freshman season.
 
Freshman McKenna Linnen is expected to compete immediately, while sophomores Kassidy Cumber and Erica Fontaine should provide depth.
 
 
Floor Exercise
The Mountaineers may be deepest on floor this season, as 12 gymnasts have competition-ready routines.
 
Koshinski anchors the lineup. Ranked No. 23 nationally in 2017 with a 9.905 RQS, she just missed qualifying for the National Championships, finishing second at the NCAA Morgantown Regional Championships with a 9.925 mark. Koshinski earned 9.85 or better in all 13 meets as a sophomore and scored a career-best 9.95 twice. She also collected seven event wins and paced WVU with a 9.888 season average.
 
Muhammad, an All-America Second Team honoree, ranked second on the team with a 9.828 average and 14th in the Southeast Region with a 9.85 RQS. She scored 9.85 or better seven times in 2017, including a season-best 9.9125 at the NCAA National Championships.
 
Cluchey injected the lineup with excitement as a freshman, scoring 9.825 or better in six of the last seven meets of the year, and finished the season ranked No. 23 regionally with a 9.83 RQS. Also returning to the lineup are Gillette and Kaufman, who each own career highs of 9.825.
 
Fontaine is expected to make her event career debut in 2018, while Cumber and Linnen should provide immediate depth.