Florida Gymnasts in NCAA North Central Regional
Monday, March 29, 2010 | Gymnastics
The No. 4 University of Florida gymnastics team will travel to Salt Lake City, Utah, as the top seed in the NCAA North Central Region, set for Saturday, April 10. Start time is set for 8 p.m. (ET) in the University of Utah's Huntsman Center. The NCAA Gymnastics Committee announced the fields for each of the six 2010 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 22-24 at the University of Florida's Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Last year, UF won its fifth consecutive regional title at the NCAA North Central Region held in Iowa City, Iowa, and finished fourth at the NCAA Championships in Lincoln, Neb. The Gators have advanced to nationals 27 times in the 28-year history of the NCAA Gymnastics Championships. Utah is the nation's only team to qualify for each of the 28 previous NCAA Championships.
No. 10 Utah and No. 16 Auburn are the other seeded teams at the NCAA North Central Regional. Florida has faced both of the seeded teams during the 2010 season. The Gators took the Feb. 26 dual meet at Auburn (196.80-195.70). At last weekend's Southeastern Conference Championships, UF won its seventh league title with a team total of 197.05 and Auburn was fifth (195.575). In UF's regular-season finale on March 19, the Gators defeated Utah 197.55-196.50 in Gainesville, Fla.
No. 19 Boise State, No. 22 Denver and No. 23 Washington round out the field for the Salt Lake City site. Denver head coach Melissa Kutcher-Rinehart is a Florida graduate and was a freshman on the Gators' 1989 Southeastern Conference championship team. For the second consecutive year, 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 22. A random draw will be used to determine competition session if the host team does not qualify.
| 2010 NCAA North Central Region Competition Order | ||||||
| Vault | Bye | Bars | Beam | Bye | Floor | |
| I | Auburn Lyndsie Boone, Utah State | Boise State Brittany Dutton | Washington Jackie Dillon, Utah State | Denver Meghan Hargens, Wisconsin-Stout | Florida Heather Heinrich, Utah State | Utah Jenna Dudley, Air Force |
| II | Utah Jenna Dudley, Air Force | Auburn Lyndsie Boone, Utah State | Boise State Brittany Dutton | Washington Lisa Wong, Air Force | Denver Meghan Hargens, Wisconsin-Stout | Florida Heather Heinrich, Utah State |
| III | Florida Heather Heinrich, Utah State | Utah Jenna Dudley, Air Force | Auburn Lyndsie Boone, Utah State | Boise State Brittany Dutton | Washington | Denver Meghan Hargens, Wisconsin-Stout |
| IV | Denver Meghan Hargens, Wisconsin-Stout | Florida Heather Heinrich, Utah State | Utah Jenna Dudley, Air Force | Auburn Lyndsie Boone, Utah State | Boise State Brittany Dutton | Washington Michelle Denise, Air Force |
| V | Washington Gabi Hooper, Wisconsin-La Crosse | Denver Meghan Hargens, Wisconsin-Stout | Florida Heather Heinrich, Utah State | Utah Jenna Dudley, Air Force | Auburn Lyndsie Boone, Utah State | Boise State Brittany Dutton |
| VI | Boise State Brittany Dutton | Washington | Denver Meghan Hargens, Wisconsin-Stout | Florida Heather Heinrich, Utah State | Utah Jenna Dudley, Air Force | Auburn Lyndsie Boone, Utah State |
| 2010 NCAA Gymnastics Regional Fields (with national rank) | |
| North Central (Salt Lake City, Utah) – April 10 | |
| Florida | |
| 10. | Utah |
| 16. | Auburn |
| 19. | Boise State |
| 22. | Denver |
| 23. | Washington |
| Northeast (University Park, Pa. ) – April 10 | |
| 2. | Oklahoma |
| 11. | LSU |
| 14. | Penn State |
| 33. | Maryland-College Park |
| 34. | Ohio State |
| 35. | New Hampshire |
|
| |
| Central (Lexington, Ky.) – April 10 | |
| 1. | Alabama |
| 12. | Nebraska |
| 13. | Illinois-Champaign |
| 20. | Kentucky |
| 24. | Central Michigan |
| 27. | Michigan State |
|
| |
| South Central (Columbia, Mo.) – April 10 | |
| 5. | Georgia |
| 8. | Oregon State |
| 15. | Missouri |
| 25. | Minnesota |
| 29. | Iowa |
| 36. | North Carolina |
|
| |
| Southeast (Morgantown, W.Va.) – April 10 | |
| 6. | Stanford |
| 7. | Michigan |
| 18. | Southern Utah |
| 28. | Kent State |
| 30. | West Virginia |
| 31. | NC State |
| West (Los Angeles, Calif.) – April 10 | |
| 3. | UCLA |
| 9. | Arkansas |
| 17. | Iowa State |
| 21. | Arizona |
| 26. | Brigham Young |
| 32. | Arizona State |
