DENVER - The National Collegiate Athletic Association announced today the teams and individuals that qualified to compete for the 2011 National Collegiate Women's Gymnastics Championships, hosted by Kent State University at the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission in the Wolstein Center, April 15-17.
Junior Brianna Springer (Arvada, Colo.) and freshman Jorie Hall (Denver, Colo.) will represent the University of Denver as individuals after turning in top performances in the NCAA North Central Regional Championship this past weekend.
Making her second appearance as an individual at an NCAA Championship for DU, Springer advanced after finishing as the second all-around competitor not on a qualifying team as she posted a score of 39.250. Hall tied with Bekah Gher from Boise State University in the balance beam, scoring a career-best 9.900 and punching her first ticket to nationals.
About the NCAA Championships
The women's gymnastics championships consist of 12 teams and 12 all-around competitors (who are not on a qualifying team) and individual event specialists. The top two teams and the top two all-around competitors from each of the six regionals received automatic berths to the national championships.
In addition, the event winners at each regional also advance to the national championships (in their specific event) if they were not part of a qualifying team or the all-around qualifiers.
The process for determining rotation pairings for day one of the team competition at the site of the finals is based on a National Qualifying Score (NQS) calculated by adding the Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) to the score achieved at regional competition.
Once the NQS is calculated, teams are ranked based on the NQS from 1 to 12. Teams 1, 4, 5, 8, 9 and 12 were placed in Group A; and teams 2, 3, 6, 7, 10 and 11 placed in Group B. The host team and its corresponding group will compete in the second semifinal.
Team and individual qualifiers for the 2011 women's gymnastics championships are as follows:
TEAM COMPETITION:
| Team | Regional | Regional Score | National Qualifying Score |
| Alabama | Tuscaloosa | 197.275 | 394.395 |
| UCLA | Athens | 197.425 | 394.11 |
| Oklahoma | Norman | 197.35 | 394.045 |
| Oregon State | Corvallis | 197.025 | 393.795 |
| Florida | Denver | 196.425 | 393.615 |
| Michigan | Ann Arbor | 197.075 | 393.575 |
| Georgia | Athens | 196.75 | 393.285 |
| Utah | Norman | 196.475 | 393.045 |
| Nebraska | Corvallis | 196.55 | 392.825 |
| Arkansas | Denver | 196.55 | 392.61 |
| Illinois | Tuscaloosa | 195.925 | 391.85 |
| Kent State | Ann Arbor | 195.45 | 390.695 |
ALL-AROUND INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS:
| Qualifiers | Regional | Regional Score |
| Sharaya Musser, Penn State | Tuscaloosa | 39.425 |
| Rebecca Simbhudas, Iowa | Corvallis | 39.325 |
| Morgan Evans, North Carolina | Norman | 39.3 |
| Houry Gebeshian, Iowa | Corvallis | 39.3 |
| Amy Glass, Boise State | Denver | 39.275 |
| Kylie Shields, Auburn | Tuscaloosa | 39.25 |
| Brianna Springer, Denver | Denver | 39.25 |
| Aliza Vaccher, Washington | Norman | 39.25 |
| Kayla Slechta, Minnesota | Ann Arbor | 39.125 |
| Kaleigh Dickson, LSU | Athens | 39.075 |
| Michelle Shealy, Iowa State | Ann Arbor | 39.05 |
| Stephanie Ouellette, North Carolina State | Athens | 38.95 |
INDIVIDUAL EVENT QUALIFIERS:
| Beam: | Regional | Regional Score |
| Rebecca Best, Ohio State | Ann Arbor | 9.9 |
| Bekah Gher, Boise State | Denver | 9.9 |
| Jorie Hall, Denver | Denver | 9.9 |
| Floor: | Regional | Regional Score |
| Katie Valleau, San Jose State | Corvallis | 9.9 |
In the 2010 championships, the UCLA Bruins won their sixth championship title with an overall score of 197.725. Oklahoma finished second with a score of 197.250, followed by Alabama in third (197.225), Stanford in fourth (197.100), Florida in fifth (197.000) and Utah in sixth (196.225).
Team semifinal and all-around competition will be conducted in two sessions Friday, April 15 at noon and 6 p.m. The top three teams from each semifinal will advance to the Super Six competition Saturday, April 16 at 4 p.m. The top four individuals from each session in each event (plus ties) from the preliminary team and all-around competition will compete in the individual-event competition Sunday, April 17 at 1 p.m.
For more information and tickets to the women's gymnastics championships, log on to www.NCAA.com.
- PIONEERS -
