Gymnastics Hosts NCAA Central Region Championships
4/8/2005 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
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Alabama will compete with five other teams with an eye on advancing to the NCAA Championships held in Auburn, Ala. The six regionals which will be held around the country Saturday night are the only route to the national championships, making them arguably the most pressure packed meets of the season.
"As a sport, we're pretty different from basketball up until this meet," Alabama head coach Sarah Patterson said. "But from this meet forward we're very similar. You have to get it done on that particular night if you want to advance. We don't have to be perfect Saturday, but we do have to be very, very good."
The top two teams from each regional will advance, filling out the 12-team field at the final site. Alabama is looking to win its 20th regional title and advance to its 23rd consecutive NCAA Championships.
The top-18 teams in the nation are seeded into the six regionals with the rest of the field coming from that region. Alabama, ranked No. 4 nationally, is the top seed at the central region, No. 9 Iowa State, from the North Central region, is the second seed, followed by No. 16 Utah State, also from the North Central region. Rounding out the field from the Central region, No. 21 Auburn, No. 23 Kentucky and No. 27 Kent State. There will also be five individual all-arounders in attendance from teams that did not make the regional field. They will also be vying for NCAA berths.
The Crimson Tide, hosting its ninth regional, has already competed against three of the five squads gathering in Tuscaloosa this season, including Iowa State and conference foes Auburn and Kentucky. Kent State was at the 2003 regional hosted by the Tide.
Alabama junior Ashley Miles is the two-time defending regional vault and floor exercise champion. She also won three events at last months Southeastern Conference Championships, the vault, uneven bars and floor exercise. Senior Shannon Hrozek is the defending NCAA regional uneven bars champion. Freshman Terin Humphrey comes into the meet having already shared the SEC uneven bars title with Miles.
Tickets are available through the Alabama Ticket Office (205.348.2262) and online at www.rolltide.com.
