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Women¡¯s Gymnastics Earns Second Seed In NCAA West Regional
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., March 28, 2005 -- The 11th-ranked Penn State women¡¯s gymnastics team (23-5) earned the second seed in the NCAA West Regional Championships, slated for April 9 in Seattle, Wash. The Nittany Lions join No. 2 UCLA, No. 14 Central Michigan, No. 24 and host Washington, Stanford and Boise State in the field for the NCAA West Regional Championships. The top two teams in each of the six regionals advance to the NCAA Championships, hosted by Auburn April 21-23.
¡°We are very excited to be a part of the NCAA Regional Championships,¡± said head coach Steve Shephard. ¡°We look forward to some great competition in Seattle and our team is ready for the challenge of competing to get to the national championships.¡± The Nittany Lions open up the meet on the beam, advance to a bye, compete on floor and vault in the next two rotations and have a bye in the fifth rotation before ending the evening on the bars. Penn State will be looking to advance to its 21st NCAA Championships and its first appearance since 2000 when the Nittany Lions finished seventh. Penn State is one of five Big Ten teams to be selected to the NCAA Regional Championships, as No. 20 Minnesota and Iowa will participate in the North Central Regional hosted by Utah and No. 8 Michigan and Illinois will participate in the South Central Regional hosted by Nebraska. The Nittany Lions narrowly missed claiming their first Big Ten title ever on March 26, falling to 13-time champion Michigan by the slimmest margin ever in Big Ten Championships history, 0.125. Senior Kate Stopper (Reinholds, Pa.) brought home the floor exercise crown with a 9.850 while freshman Kristal Uzelac (Johnstown, Pa.) claimed the title on the bars with a career-high-tying 9.925 and earned the crown on the beam with a career-high 9.950 as the last competitor on the last event for the Nittany Lions. Uzelac finished second in the all-around with a career-high 39.425. In addition to the top two teams advancing to the NCAA Championships, the top two all-around performers who are not on an advancing team will receive an automatic berth to the national championships. The individual event winners at the regional championships will advance to the national championships in that event only if they are not part of a qualifying team or one of the all-around qualifiers. For more information on the Penn State women¡¯s gymnastics team, please visit www.GoPSUsports.com. West Region Teams North Central Region Teams South Central Region Teams Central Region Teams Northeast Region Teams Southeast Region Teams
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