March 24, 2009
Columbia, Mo. -
No. 15 Missouri is headed to the Deep South for the first round of postseason gymnastics, the NCAA announced yesterday afternoon. The Tigers will compete in the Northeast Regional hosted by No. 3 Alabama in Tuscaloosa at 6 p.m. on Sat., April 4.
The bid secures the Tigers' eighth NCAA Regional appearance in a row and 21st in the program's 29-year history. Last year, Missouri posted a 195.100 to place fourth in Baton Rouge, La. behind host LSU, Stanford and Ohio State.
The Tigers won't be the only Big 12 team headed to the Yellowhammer State this year. Missouri is joined by No. 9 Oklahoma, who took first place for the second year in a row at the Big 12 Championship this past weekend. It will be the third meeting this year for the conference rivals, with Oklahoma also taking the victory last month in Norman, 196.375-196.225.
In addition to the No. 3 Crimson Tide and the Sooners, the Tigers will also face Central Michigan, Maryland and New Hampshire. This is also the second meeting with Central Michigan for the Tigers, who finished in second place behind Missouri at the Eagle Invitational in Ypsilanti, Mich. earlier this month.
The Tigers earned the three seed in the regional, behind No. 1 seed `Bama and the No. 2 seed Sooners. Missouri will start on floor, then proceed in Olympic order to vault, bars and end on beam.
Six teams, five all-around competitors (who are not on a qualifying team) and one
individual event specialist per event (who has a minimum Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) of 9.4) were named to each of the six regions.
Missouri will be looking to put together its best meet of the year in order to fulfill their season-long team goal of making the National Championship meet. The top two teams and the top two all-around competitors not on an advancing team from each regional will receive an automatic berth to nationals in Lincoln, Neb., April 16-18, hosted by the University of Nebraska. Event winners at the regional championships will also advance to the national championships (in that event only) if they are not part of a qualifying team or are not all-around qualifiers. Now-senior Adrianne Perry (Columbia, Mo.) advanced last year and ultimately finished 16th on floor, 10th on vault and 37th overall.
Stay with mutigers.com for news and updates going into the NCAA Regionals next weekend.
