BATON ROUGE — LSU will enter the Southeast Regional Gymnastics Championships as the meet’s top seeded team, the NCAA announced on Monday. The fifth-ranked Tigers will travel to Morgantown, West Virginia, for the April 14 meet that will be hosted by West Virginia University.
The Tigers will be joined by seeded opponents, UCLA and Auburn, who are ranked No. 8 and No. 17, respectively, as well as North Carolina, North Carolina State and West Virginia.
The meet’s top-two finishers will advance to the NCAA Championships in Salt Lake City, Utah, April 26-28.
“This is going to be a great regional,” said LSU head coach D-D Breaux. “I expect UCLA to be on top of its game and that it will be a fit to the finish.”
LSU owns all-time winning records over each of its opponents, with the exception of UCLA, who leads the all-times series with the Tigers 15-3-1 and has five national titles to its credit.
LSU is undefeated against North Carolina (1-0), North Carolina State (5-0) and West Virginia (7-0) and owns a 54-10 advantage over conference foe Auburn, a team that the Tigers have defeated twice already this season.
In addition to the six teams competing, five individual all-arounders and four event specialists will also be on hand.
Christina Ghani, Jackie Schweitzer and Decelia Willacy of Towson, Brandi George of Maryland and Tricia Long of William and Mary all earned all-around berths.
Individual event competitors will include Angela Ferg of Maryland on the vault, Stevie Waldman of William and Mary on the bars, Talia Tossone of Maryland on the beam and Jess Guilbert of George Washington on the floor.
Competition rotation order was also announced by the NCAA. The Tigers will begin competition on the bars and move directly to the beam before sitting out the third rotation with a bye. LSU then wraps up competition on the floor and vault in the fourth and fifth rotations, respectively, before sitting out the sixth and final rotation with a bye.
“That’s a great rotation for us because we finish on our two strongest events,” said Breaux.
Competition from WVU Coliseum will begin at 5 p.m. (CT).
Southeast Region ? in Morgantown, Virginia (West Virgnia University, host)
Teams
1. LSU
2. UCLA
3. Auburn
4. North Carolina State
5. West Virginia
6. North Carolina
All-Around Competitors
1. Brandi George, Maryland
2. Decelia Willacy, Towson
3. Jackie Schweitzer, Towson
4. Christina Ghani, Towson
5. Tricia Long, William and Mary
Alt. Emily Usle, James Madison
Individual Event Specialists
Vault ? Angela Ferg, Maryland
Alt. ? Alise McDonald, Towson
Uneven Bars ? Stevie Waldman, William and Mary
Alt. ? Allison Dama, Maryland
Balance Beam ? Talia Tossone, Maryland
Alt. ? Rachel Colon, Maryland
Floor Exercise ? Jess Guilbert, George Washington
Alt. ? Stacie Hogan, Towson
West Region ? in Berkeley, California (University of California, Berkeley, host)
Teams
1. Nebraska
2. Utah
3. Missouri
4. Washington
5. Sacramento State
6. California
All-Around Competitors
1. Veronica Porte, San Jose State
2. Alise Blackwell, San Jose State
3. Debra Huss, Seattle Pacific
4. DeAvera Todd, Boise State
5. Sarah Sullivan, Seattle Pacific
Alt. Tanya Ho, UC Davis
Individual Event Specialists
Vault ? Tanya Ho, UC Davis
Alt. ? Carrie Lujan, UC Davis
Uneven Bars ? Yvette Leizorek, Boise State
Alt. ? Jessica Khoshnood, San Jose State
Balance Beam ? Kristin Aldrich, Boise State
Alt. ? Nicole Lim, Cal State Fullerton
Floor Exercise ? Andi Dolinsky, UC Davis
Alt. ? Yvette Leizorek, Boise State
North Central Region ? in Denver, Colorado (University of Denver, host)
Teams
1. Georgia
2. Penn State
3. Denver
4. Brigham Young
5. Minnesota
6. Utah State
All-Around Competitors
1. Elise Wheeler, Southern Utah
2. Leah Sakhitab, Southern Utah
3. Katie Burke, Iowa
4. Kara Pinjuv, Iowa
5. Katie Turcotte, Iowa
Alt. Jennifer Simbhudas, Iowa
Individual Event Specialists
Vault ? Jennifer Simbhudas, Iowa
Alt. ? Shayla Garcia, Southern Utah
Uneven Bars ? Kellie Dangerfield, Southern Utah
Alt. ? Erin Morgan, Southern Utah
Balance Beam ? Kellie Dangerfield, Southern Utah
Alt. ? Shayla Garcia, Southern Utah
Floor Exercise ? Jennifer Simbhudas, Iowa
Alt. ? Tehani Keeno-Douglas, Southern Utah
South Central Region ? in Tucson, Arizona (University of Arizona, host)
Teams
1. Stanford
2. Oregon State
3. Arizona
4. Illinois
5. Arizona State
6. Illinois-Chicago
All-Around Competitors
1. Rikara Turner, Southeast Missouri State
2. Leah Johnson, Northern Illinois
3. Sandra Blake, Southeast Missouri State
4. Bryanna Wong, Southeast Missouri State
5. Whitney Albright, Illinois State
Alt. Jessica Prousa, Illinois State
Individual Event Specialists
Vault ? Meaghan, Koshman, Illinois State
Alt. ? Brittany Parker, Texas Woman’s
Uneven Bars ? Courtney Arno, Texas Woman’s
Alt. ? Jody Yednock, Northern Illinois
Balance Beam ? Jena Nguyen, Southeast Missouri State
Alt. ? Jennifer Naughton, Northern Illinois
Floor Exercise ? Natalie Blum, Northern Illinois
Alt. ? Jena Nguyen, Southeast Missouri State
Central Region ? in Tuscaloosa, Alabma (University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa, host)
Teams
1. Alabama
2. Oklahoma
3. Iowa State
4. Michigan State
5. Ohio State
6. Kentucky
All-Around Competitors
1. Jillian Kowalski, Kent State
2. Jolene Worley, Eastern Michigan
3. Katie Simon, Central Michigan
4. Laura Rogers, Central Michigan
5. Jennifer Sturgis, Western Michigan
Alt. Zu Vuong, Eastern Michigan
Individual Event Specialists
Vault ? Sheena Smith, Central Michigan
Alt. ? Jacquelyn Bernhardt, Bowling Green
Uneven Bars ? Kristin Peters, Kent State
Alt. ? Sheena Smith, Central Michigan
Balance Beam ? Kristin Peters, Kent State
Alt. ? Jessica Suder, Central Michigan
Floor Exercise ? Laci Hendress, Kent State
Alt. ? Amy Cucinotta, Kent State
Northeast Region ? in Ann Arbor, Michigan (University of Michigan, host)
Teams
1. Florida
2. Michigan
3. Arkansas
4. Pittsburgh
5. New Hampshire
6. Rutgers
All-Around Competitors
1. Marissa Rosen, Pennsylvania
2. Alicia Sacramone, Brown
3. Kelly Gurney, Rhode Island
4. Alina Liao, Yale
5. Julia Zimmerman, MIT
Alt. Sarah Bulka, Brockport State
Individual Event Specialists
Vault ? Ananda Fraser, Rhode Island
Alt. ? Colleen Davis, Cornell
Uneven Bars ? Lizzie Lowe, Pennsylvania
Alt. ? Christine McNeill, Temple
Balance Beam ? Jennifer Sobuta, Brown
Alt. ? Noelle Moore, Temple
Floor Exercise ? Miki Seltzer, Yale
Alt. ? Noelle Moore, Temple