BATON ROUGE — The NCAA announced today that Stanford, Missouri, Kentucky, Kent State and Ohio State will travel to Baton Rouge for the gymnastics Regional to be held at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Saturday, April 12.
The meet is scheduled for 6 p.m. CDT. Tickets are available for $3 to $7 on LSUsports.net, at the LSU Athletics Ticket Office or by calling 225.578.2184.
LSU is currently 17-6, after placing fourth at the Southeastern Conference Championships in Duluth, Ga., last weekend. The Tigers are currently ranked No. 7 in the nation. All seven SEC schools qualified for the 36-team field.
Stanford, the Pac-10 Champions, is 21-3 on the season. The Cardinal are ranked No. 7 in the nation with an RQS of 196.730. Two of their three losses came by the hands of No. 9 UCLA. Additionally, they opened the season with a loss against No. 1 Georgia.
Missouri is 11-7 on the season. The Tigers finished third in the Big 12 Championships last weekend in Norman, Okla. Missouri is ranked No. 18 in the nation with an RQS of 195.510. Junior Adrienne Perry captured the Big 12 all-around title, posting a 39.375.
No. 20 Kentucky is 8-13 on the season, after finishing seventh at the SEC Championships last week. LSU has already defeated the Wildcats twice this season ? once in early March and again at the SEC Championships.
Kent State is 17-3 this season. Last weekend, the Golden Flashes captured their 10th Mid-American Conference Championship. They are not ranked in the nation’s top 25.
Ohio State finished seventh at the Big Ten Championships last weekend. They are 6-11-1 on the season.
The region’s top gymnasts on each event and in the all-around whose team did not qualify were invited to the regional competitions.
Central Michigan will be sending Andrea De la Garza and Katie Simon as all-around individual competitors, as well as Vanessa Rodriguez (vault) and Danielle Espinoza (floor) as event specialists.
Bowling Green will send Breanne Guy as an all-around individual competitor, while Jacque Bernhardt will compete as a vault specialist.
Courtney Lesson of Western Michigan and Jolene Worley of Eastern Michigan will compete as all-around individual competitors. Also, Laura Loy of Centenary will compete as an individual event specialist on the beam.
Five other NCAA Regional Championships will be held on April 12, including six-team meets in Corvallis, Ore. (West Regional); Minneapolis, Minn. (North Central); Norman, Okla. (South Central); University Park, Pa. (Northeast); and Gainesville, Fla. (Southeast).
NCAA Gymnastics Central Regional ? in Baton Rouge (LSU, host)
Teams (Seeded in order)
1. Stanford
2. LSU
3. Missouri
4. Kentucky
5. Kent State
6. Ohio State
All-Around Competitors
1. Jolene Worley, Eastern Michigan
2. Andrea De la Garza, Central Michigan
3. Courtney Lesson, Western Michigan
4. Breanne Guy, Bowling Green
5. Katie Simon, Central Michigan
Alt. ? Erin Grigg, Eastern Michigan
Individual Event Specialists
Vault ? Jacque Bernhardt, Bowling Green
Alt. ? Meredith Smith, Centenary (Louisiana)
Uneven Bars ? Vanessa Rodriguez, Central Michigan
Alt. ? Jenna D’Alie, Central Michigan
Balance Beam ? Laura Loy, Centenary (Louisiana)
Alt. ? Danielle Espinoza, Central Michigan
Floor Exercise ? Danielle Espinoza, Central Michigan
Alt. ? Marisa Schneider, Centenary (Louisiana)