UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The West Virginia University gymnastics team will compete as the No. 4 seed at the 2018 NCAA University Park Regional Championships on Saturday, April 7, at 4 p.m., inside Penn State's Rec Hall.
No. 5-ranked Florida is seeded No. 1, while No. 8 Washington is seeded No. 2. No. 17 Arizona State earned the region's No. 3 seed, and host Penn State and New Hampshire are seeded fifth and sixth, respectively. The Mountaineers are 0-3 against the field this season.
WVU (13-13, 0-6) will open the meet on a bye. The Mountaineers' complete rotation order is BYE-UB-BB-BYE-FX-V.
The top two teams and the top two all-around competitors (who are not on an advancing team) Saturday evening will receive an automatic berth to the NCAA National Championships in St. Louis, Missouri, April 20-21. Event winners also will advance to the national championships (in that event only) if they are not part of a qualifying team or an all-around qualifier.
"This team is ready to go," seventh-year Mountaineer coach
Jason Butts said. "They are ready to compete. They've been tackling their assignments all week. Mentally and physically, they are ready to go. We just have to show up and not let the hype that surrounds a regional championship distract us.
"We've seen a lot of these teams already. We need to compete Saturday like we've been competing all season. The little tenths will become crucial for us. We have to focus on the sticks and the presentation. We also need to build the excitement for the crowd and the judges so everyone can see how much fun WVU gymnastics has on meet day."
The Mountaineers' regional bid is their 39th overall, 35th in NCAA competition and sixth under Butts. WVU has advanced to the NCAA National Championships three times (1995, 1999, 2000).
WVU finished third at the 2017 NCAA Morgantown Regional Championships with a 196.325 mark, earned April 1 at the WVU Coliseum. The finish was the team's best since also finishing third at the 2007 NCAA Southeast Regional in Morgantown with a 194.775 mark. The Mountaineers' final score was a season high and program regional record.
In 2017,
Zaakira Muhammad became the 16th Mountaineer to qualify in the all-around for the NCAA National Championships.
The Mountaineers enter the weekend competing some of their best gymnastics, as WVU has scored 196.0 or better in four of its last six meets, including a season-high 196.775 at Towson on March 18. WVU shows season bests of 49.325 on vault and floor, 49.25 on balance beam and 49.15 on uneven bars.
Most recently, WVU finished fourth at the 2018 Big 12 Gymnastics Championship on March 24 with a 195.625 score.
"I really like our rotation order," Butts added. "I'm glad we get our first bye out of the way early. We'll build momentum on bars and beam, take our next bye and then finish the meet on our two strongest events. We have such a great opportunity to build as the meet progresses."
Junior
Kirah Koshinski paces the Mountaineers on vault and floor and ranks nationally on both events with regional qualifying scores (RQS) of 9.91 and 9.9, respectively. The Berwick, Pennsylvania, native recently claimed her third straight NACGC/W Regular-Season All-America honor with a second team vault recognition, becoming just the second WVU gymnast to earn at least one All-America award in three straight seasons.
Muhammad paces the Mountaineers on bars and in the all-around with RQS marks of 9.835 and 38.96, respectively. The Pennsauken, New Jersey, native has competed in the all-around seven times this season and scored 39.35+ three times, including a career-best 39.575 in a win at Towson.
Junior
Carly Galpin paces WVU on beam with a 9.825 RQS.
