March 24, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.; March 24, 2014 - The NCAA announced on Monday (March 24) the participants for the 2014 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Regional Championships and the Penn State women's gymnastics team found out the other five team's they will host on April 5 inside historic Rec Hall.
The No. 15 Nittany Lions will host No. 1 Florida, No. 12 Oregon State, No. 23 New Hampshire, Kentucky and Maryland, with the top two teams earning a berth into the NCAA Championship field on April 18-20 in Birmingham, Ala.
Six teams, five all-around competitors - who did not qualify with a team - and one individual event specialist per event were named to each of the six predetermined host sites.
The top two teams and the top two all-around competitors who are not on an advancing team from each regional site will receive an automatic berth to the national championships. The top two teams from the University Park, Fayetteville and Seattle regionals will compete in one session of the semifinals, and the top two teams from the Minneapolis, Athens and Baton Rouge regionals will compete in the other session.
In addition, the event winners at each regional site will advance to the national championships (in that event only) if they are not part of a qualifying team or an all-around qualifier.
Penn State will host an NCAA Regional for the 14th time in school history in 2014 and the first time since 2010. The Nittany Lions are coming off of a fifth place showing at the Big Ten Championships. The Blue and White sat in first place through three rotations of the evening session of the Big Ten Championships, but wobbled on balance beam and took home a fifth place showing with a score of 196.475.
Senior Kassidy Stauder (Palmerton, Pa.) earned All-Championship distinction after tying for second on the uneven bars and was named a First Team All-Big Ten performer by the conference. Stauder tied for fifth overall in the all-around with a score of 39.425, marking the fourth time this season she has broken the 39.400 mark in the competition.
Freshman Emma Sibson (Allen, Texas) posted a pair of 9.900 scores, while junior Krystal Welsh (Bowie, Md.) posted a two 9.900 marks on her way to a career-best 39.500 in the all-around to finish fourth overall at the championships. Senior Lindsay Musgrove helped anchor the floor exercise lineup with three straight 9.900 scores, which helped Penn State post the seventh highest score in school history on the event.
Top-seeded and defending national champion Florida will enter the University Park Regional after claiming a second place showing behind Alabama at the Southeastern Conference Championships last weekend with a team score of 197.700. Junior Kytra Hunter claimed the titles on the balance beam and floor exercise, while sophomore Bridget Sloan defended her all-around title with a score of 39.700.
Oregon State finished fifth with a score of 196.275 at the Pac 12 Championships last weekend in Berkeley, Calif. and surpassed the 49.000 point mark on three of the four events. The Beavers were led by Chelsea Tang's 39.325 in the all-around, which included a 9.900 on the uneven bars, which placed her tied for fourth at the championships.
New Hampshire recorded the fifth highest score in program history to capture the EAGL Championship with a score of 196.375 last weekend. Erin Machado won the individual floor exercise title with a score of 9.900 and Meghan Pflieger made the All-Tournament team with an all-around score of 39.150. She was also first team on balance beam and floor exercise, while earning second team on vault.
Kentucky finished sixth overall at the Southeastern Conference Championships last weekend, placing second in the opening session of the championships with a team score of 195.075. Senior Audrey Harrison, redshirt junior Kayla Hartley and junior Shannon Mitchell earned All-SEC honors, with Harrison earning her first career honors thanks to a 39.125 in the all-around.
Maryland collected a team score of 195.700 to place second behind New Hampshire at the EAGL Championships last weekend. The Terps had the only outright individual event champion of the meet when junior Stephanie Giameo won the balance beam with a score of 9.900. Senior Karen Tang tied for first on the uneven bars last weekend at the EAGL Championships with a 9.875 score.
All-arounders that qualified for the University Park Regional (listed by RQS) are Brittney Harris (Pitt), Lissette La Fex (Bridgeport), Diana Walters (Brown), Caroline Morant (Brown), Michelle Shnayder (Brown). The alternate in the all-around will be Morgan Traina of Yale.
Event specialists will be as follows: Vault - Maebelle Pacheco, Pittsburgh, Alt. - Melissa Doucette, Bridgeport; Uneven Bars - Melanie Jorgensen, Cornell, Alt. - Alexandra Chretien, Brown; Balance Beam - Katie O'Rourke, Pittsburgh, Alt. -Lindsay Offutt, Pittsburgh; Floor Exercise - Katie O'Rourke, Pittsburgh, Alt. - Lindsay Offutt, Pittsburgh.
Full details for all six NCAA Regional sites can be found by clicking here.
For information on purchasing tickets for the 2014 NCAA Regional Championship hosted at Penn State University on April 5, fans can visit http://www.gopsusports.com/tickets/w-gym-tickets.html or call 1-800-NITTANY weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
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2014 NCAA Regional Sites
University Park Regional - 4 p.m.
1. Florida
12. Oregon State
15. Penn State
23. New Hampshire
Kentucky
Maryland
Athens Regional - 4 p.m.
6. Georgia
7. Michigan
18. Central Michigan
22. Ohio State
North Carolina State
Rutgers
Baton Rouge Regional - 4 p.m.
3. LSU
10. Stanford
13. Auburn
21. Arizona
Kent State
Iowa State
Fayetteville Regional - 4 p.m.
5. Utah
8. UCLA
17. Arkansas
24. Arizona State
Utah State
UC Davis
Minneapolis Regional - 6 p.m.
2. Oklahoma
11. Illinois
14. Minnesota
19. Cal
Southern Utah
San Jose State
Seattle Regional - 4 p.m.
4. Alabama
9. Nebraska
16. Boise State
20. Denver
25. BYU
Washington