Florida Gymnasts in NCAA North Central Regional
Monday, March 23, 2009 | Gymnastics
The No. 6 University of Florida gymnastics team will travel to Iowa City, Iowa, as the top seed in the NCAA North Central Region, set for Saturday, April 4. Start time is set for 7 p.m. (ET) in the University of Iowa's Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The NCAA Gymnastics Committee announced the fields for each of the six 2009 NCAA Region Championships sites Monday.
The top two teams and the top two all-around competitors (who are not on an advancing team) from each region site advances to the NCAA Championships, set for April 16-18 in Lincoln, Neb. The Gators advanced to nationals 26 times in the 27-year history of the NCAA Gymnastics Championships. Last year, UF won its fourth consecutive regional title at the NCAA Southeast Region held in Gainesville and finished fourth at the NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga.
No. 8 UCLA and No. 18 Minnesota are the other seeded teams at the NCAA North Central Regional. This is the third time in the last four years that UCLA joins Florida as a region's top two seeded teams. UF and UCLA also met in 2006 at the South Central Regional in Fayetteville, Ark., and last year in Gainesville for the Southeast Regional. UCLA is the alma mater of UF Head Coach Rhonda Faehn and she earned All-America honors while competing for the Bruins.
No. 20 Denver, No. 23 Iowa State and No. 28 Iowa round out the field for the Iowa City site. Florida will start the meet with the bye before floor.
The top 18 teams, nationally, based on regional qualifying score (RQS) were paired into the six regions (three per region). Each region site contains one team each from the nation's No. 1-6, No. 7-12, and No. 13-18 ranking positions. The final three spots in each regional were filled from teams ranked 19-36 by RQS. The committee tried to keep those teams within their own region as much as possible.
In addition five all-around competitors (who are not on a qualifying team) and one individual specialist per event advance to each of the six regions. The all-around competitors and event specialists came from within the region.
The National Qualifying Score (NQS) determines the pairings for day one of the team competition at the NCAA Championships. The NQS is calculated by adding a team's RQS and score from the regional meet. Teams will be ranked 1 to 12 based on the NQS. Teams 1, 4, 5, 8, 9 and 12 will be placed in Group A; and teams 2, 3, 6, 7, 10 and 11 placed in Group B. The NCAA Championships' host team and its corresponding group will compete in the second session on April 16. A random draw will be used to determine competition session if the host team does not qualify.
| 2009 NCAA North Central Region Competition Order | ||||||
| Vault | Bye | Bars | Beam | Bye | Floor | |
| Iowa State Meghan Hargens, Wisonsin-Stout | Denver Lyndsie Boone, Utah State | UCLA Abbey Rogers, Air Force | Iowa Kaylee Gallup, BYU | Florida Jenna Dudley, Air Force | Minnesota Nicki Felley, Utah State | |
| II | Minnesota N. Felley, Utah State | Iowa State Meghan Hargens, Wisonsin-Stout | Denver Lyndsie Boone, Utah State | UCLA Abbey Rogers, Air Force | Iowa | Florida Jenna Dudley, Air Force |
| III | Florida Jenna Dudley, Air Force | Minnesota Nicki Felley, Utah State | Iowa State Meghan Hargens, Wisonsin-Stout | Denver Lyndsie Boone, Utah State | UCLA Abbey Rogers, Air Force | Iowa Erica Huelsmann, Utah State |
| IV | Iowa Jackie Dillon, Utah State | Florida Jenna Dudley, Air Force | Minnesota Nicki Felley, Utah State | Iowa State Meghan Hargens, Wisonsin-Stout | Denver Lyndsie Boone, Utah State | UCLA Abbey Rogers, Air Force |
| V | UCLA Abbey Rogers, Air Force | Iowa | Florida Jenna Dudley, Air Force | Minnesota Nicki Felley, Utah State | Iowa State Meghan Hargens, Wisonsin-Stout | Denver Lyndsie Boone, Utah State |
| VI | Denver Lyndsie Boone, Utah State | UCLA Abbey Rogers, Air Force | Iowa Nicole Simoneau, Utah State | Florida Jenna Dudley, Air Force | Minnesota Nicki Felley, Utah State | Iowa State Meghan Hargens, Wisonsin-Stout |
| 2009 NCAA Gymnastics Regional Fields (with national rank) | |
| North Central (Iowa City, Iowa) – April 4 | |
| 6. | Florida |
| 7. | UCLA |
| 18. | Minnesota |
| 20. | Denver |
| 23. | Iowa State |
| 28. | Iowa |
| Northeast (Tuscaloosa, Ala. ) – April 4 | |
| 3. | Alabama |
| 9. | Oklahoma |
| 15. | Missouri |
| 32 | Central Michigan |
| T35. | New Hampshire |
| T35. | Maryland |
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| Central (Columbus, Ohio.) – April 4 | |
| 5. | LSU |
| 8. | Oregon State |
| 17. | Ohio State |
| 22. | Kent State |
| 24. | Kentucky |
| 26. | Michigan State |
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| South Central (Fayetteville, Ark.) – April 4 | |
| 4. | Stanford |
| 10. | Arkansas |
| 16. | Michigan |
| 25. | Arizona |
| 31. | Arizona State |
| 27. | Southern Utah |
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| Southeast (Raleigh, N.C.) – April 4 | |
| 1. | Georgia |
| 12. | Penn State |
| 13. | Nebraska |
| 21. | West Virginia |
| 29. | North Carolina State |
| 30. | North Carolina |
| West (Seattle, Wash.) – April 4 | |
| 2. | Utah |
| 11. | Auburn |
| 14. | Illinois |
| 19. | Boise State |
| 33. | Washington |
| 34. | San Jose State |
