BATON ROUGE — After defending their title as the Central Regional champions the LSU gymnastics squad earned the No. 4 overall seed and will compete in the first session of the NCAA Championships at 1 p.m. CDT April 16 in the University of Nebraska’s Bob Devaney Sports Center in Lincoln, Neb., the NCAA announced Monday.
LSU (21-5) earned the No. 4 seed with a 393.635 National Qualifying Score (NQS), which was calculated by adding LSU’s Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) of 196.760 to the 196.875 score the Tigers earned at the Central Regional.
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.
Joining the Tigers in the first session as part of Group A will be No. 1-seeded Georgia, No. 5 Florida, No. 8 Oklahoma, No. 9 Stanford and No. 12 Penn State.
The rotation for the meet was also set, and LSU will begin on beam, followed by a bye, floor, vault, another bye and bars.
The second session that begins at 7 p.m. April 16 will feature No. 2 Utah, No. 3 Alabama, No. 6 Oregon State, No. 7 UCLA, No. 10 Arkansas and No. 11 Illinois.
If LSU finishes in the top three in the session, then the Tigers will earn their second straight berth in the Super Six that will begin at 6 p.m. April 17 and will be broadcast by CBS on a tape delay basis.
TEAM COMPETITION:
Team Region Regional Score National Qualifying Score
Georgia Southeast 197.700 394.955
Utah West 197.675 394.865
Alabama Northeast 197.000 393.925
Stanford South Central 196.200 393.025
LSU Central 196.875 393.635
Florida North Central 196.775 393.490
UCLA North Central 196.625 393.205
Oregon State Central 196.800 393.320
Oklahoma Northeast 196.600 393.065
Arkansas South Central 196.300 392.740
Penn State Southeast 195.800 392.040
Illinois West 196.700 392.715
ALL-AROUND INDIVIDUAL QUALIFIERS:
Qualifiers Region Regional Score
Jessica Lopez, Denver North Central 39.600
Sarah Shire, Missouri Northeast 39.450
Thomasina Wallace, San Jose State West 39.400
Rebecca Best, Ohio State Central 39.350
Adrianne Perry, Missouri Northeast 39.350
Kylie Stone, Nebraska Southeast 39.200
Christina Lenny, Kent State Central 39.175
Kelley Hennigan, Denver North Central 39.150
Sarah Curtis, Michigan South Central 39.150
Meghan Morris, West Virginia Southeast 39.125
Elise Wheeler, Southern Utah South Central 39.125
Veronica Porte, San Jose State West 39.000
INDIVIDUAL EVENT QUALIFIERS:
Bars: Region Regional Score
Becky Bernard, Michigan South Central 9.900
Floor: Region Regional Score
Taylor Seaman, North Carolina State Southeast 9.950
Kylee Botterman, Michigan South Central 9.900
Sarah Tomczyk, Arizona South Central 9.900
In the 2008 championships, the Georgia Bulldogs won their fourth consecutive championship title with an overall score of 197.450. The Bulldogs have won the title nine times in 25 championship appearances and are now tied with Utah for most championship titles earned. Utah finished second with a score of 197.25, followed by Stanford in third (196.750), Florida in fourth (196.700), LSU in fifth (196.350) and Alabama in sixth (196.125).
Preliminary team and all-around competition will be conducted in two sessions Thursday, April 16 at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. The top three teams from each session will advance to the Super Six competition Friday, April 17 at 6 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 Saturday, April 18 at 6 p.m.
For more information about the women’s gymnastics championships, log on to www.NCAA.com.