CEDAR CITY, Utah - April 1 - Southern Utah gymnastics will be back on the national stage for the second consecutive year as a team when the Thunderbirds compete in the NCAA South Central Region meet hosted by the University of Arkansas. The T-Birds will enter the meet as the No. 5 seed and will compete against Stanford, Arkansas, Michigan, Arizona and Arizona State.
“We still have not gone 24-for-24 during any meet this season,” head coach Scott Bauman said. “If we go in there and hit our routines we can be a mid 196 team and have a shot of advancing to nationals. All of our girls are excited for this meet and know what they have to do to achieve one of our goals for the season.”
At stake for the Thunderbirds will be a berth at the NCAA National Championships as a team or as individuals. The top two teams will qualify with the top two individuals not associated with a qualifying team advancing to the championships. Individual event champions will also advance to the NCAA Championships April 16-18 in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Southern Utah has drawn a favorable rotation, beginning on vault and ending on floor in what is ordinarily reserved to home teams. The T-Birds are one of only two teams from the state that have qualified for regionals this year and finished the season with a No. 27 national ranking.
Last Meet
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - March 21 - Southern Utah junior Elise Wheeler finished first in the all-around with a 39.325, claiming Western Athletic Conference Gymnast of the Year honors, while the Thunderbirds finished third overall at the meet with a 195.175. Boise State finished first at the meet for the second year in a row with a 196.525 followed by Sacramento State with a 195.350.
Next Meet
Southern Utah has the possibility of continuing its season with a top-two team finish at the NCAA Regional meet. Elise Wheeler qualified for Nationals in the all-around last year.
Media
Media information will be available through www.arkansasrazorbacks.com. The site will offer live video streams of press conferences leading up to the event and live stats during the event.
For the complete release with the latest stats, please click on the link at the top of the page.
