What A Weekend!

So this weekend has been full of NCAA Gymnastics, with Regionals happening all over the country. Every year there is always an upset, and this year was no different!! There were 6 Regionals happening all over the country, and the top 2 teams at each location will qualify to the Championships in Cleavland. Also, the top 2 All Arounders from a non-qualifying team will advance to Nationals, and the event winners at each regional will advance to Nationals, if they are not part of a qualifying team or an all around qualifier.

The Athens Regional, which hosted UCLA (#6); Georgia (#8); LSU (#18);North Carolina State (#26); Maryland (#28); & West Virginia (#29). I wasn't expecting any upsets here, but what did surprise me was UCLA's final score!! A whopping 197.425! That was the highest team score in the nation, for regionals!!! If they perform like this again at the NCAA Championships, they could win again! The full results are as follows:
UCLA 197.425 - qualified
Georgia 196.750 - qualified
LSU 195.350
North Carolina State 194.750
University of Maryland 193.200
West Virginia 192.500
Individual Qualifiers: Kaleigh Diskson, LSU 39.075 & Stephanie Ouellette, NC State 38.95

The Norman Regional hosted gymnastic teams from Oklahoma (#5); Utah (#7); Washington (#17); New Hampshire (#32); Missouri (#33); & .North Carolina (#35). There wasn't any shockers in the meet, Oklahoma and Utah easily qualified. Oklahoma had a huge score of 197.350, almost a full point higher than second placed Utah. Congrats to Morgan Evans (UNC) on winning the all around and qualifying to nationals!

Oklahoma 197.350 - qualifiedUtah 196.475 - qualifiedWashington 195.30
North Carolina 195.225
New Hampshire 194.500
Missouri 194.175
Individual Qualifiers: Morgan Evans, UNC & Aliza Vaccher, Washington 39.25

The most exciting Regional of the weekend would have to be Ann Arbor, which hosted Stanford (#4); Michigan (#9); Ohio State (#16); Iowa State (#21); Minnesota (#23); & Kent State (#24). To the surprise of the gymnastics community, Kent State came out of nowhere and qualified behind Michigan to go to Cleavland. I expected the 2 teams to qualify to be Stanford and Michigan. However, Stanford absolutely fell apart and came in third place (tied with Minnesota), no individual even qualified to Nationals. Congrats to Kent State for qualifying for the first time to Nationals! I love a good Under Dog story, Good Luck at the NCAA's!!

Michigan 197.075 - qualified
Kent State 195.450 - qualifiedOhio State 195.350
Minnesota 195.225
Stanford 195.225
Iowa State 194.800
Individual Qualifiers: Beam: Rebecca Best, Ohio State, AA: Kayla Slechta, Minnesota 39.125 & Michelle Shealy, Iowa State 39.050

The Corvallis Regional hosted teams from Oregon State (#3); Nebraska (#10); Iowa (#15); Southern Utah (#31); San Jose State (#34); & Michigan State (#36). Oregon State easily won the competition with Nebraska coming in second. I am so impressed with Oregon State this year, they are definitely in the running for the title this year!

Final Results:
Oregon State 197.025 - qualified
Nebraska 196.550 - qualified
Michigan State 194.525
San Jose State 194.425
Iowa 193.925
Southern Utah 193.775
Individual Qualifiers: Rebecca Simbhudas, Iowa 39.325 & Houry Gebeshian, Iowa 39.30

The Tuscaloosa Regionals had teams from Alabama (#2); Penn State (#11); Illinois (#14); Auburn (#22); Central Michigan (#25); & Kentucky (#30). Alabama easily crushed the field, with Illinois coming in second.

Alabama 197.275 - qualified
Illinois 195.925 -qualified
Penn State 195.80
Auburn 195.60
Kentucky 195.175
Central Michigan 195.075
Individual Qualifiers: Sharaya Musser, Penn State & Kylie Shields of Auburn

Another exciting Regional was Denver. The teams competing there were Florida (#1); Arkansas (#12); Boise State (#13); Denver (#19); Arizona (#20); & Brigham Young (#27). The shocker here was that #12 ranked Arkansas beat the #1 Florida for the second time this season. Florida almost didn't make it to the finals. Boise State was only .025 of a point behind! That would of been a huge upset!!

Final Results:
Arkansas 196.550 - qualified
Florida 196.425 - qualifiedBoise State University 196.400
Denver 195.625
University of Arizona 195.400
Brigham Young University 194.650
Individual Qualifiers: Beam: Bekah Gher, Boise State University & Jorie Hall, Denver AA: Amy Glass, Boise State & Brianna Springer, Denver

The NCAA's should be very exciting in Cleavland! As much as I want either Florida or UCLA to win the title, how awesome would it be to see Oregon State or Kent State win? And I want to thank Gymnastike for their excellent coverage of the meets this weekend!