Michigan State University
NCAA Regionals
Gymnastics Claim Fifth At NCAA Regional Championships
4/12/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
April 12, 2003
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Michigan State gymnastics team finished fifth at the NCAA Central Regional Championships at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Ala., with a score of 194.650. It is the Spartans' highest placing at an NCAA Regional since 1997, when MSU also finished in fifth-place.
Host Alabama won the meet with a score of 197.550. Auburn and Central Michigan tied for second with scores of 196.350. In the NCAA tie-breaker rule for a team to advance to the NCAA Championships, the sixth-scores are counted. With that rule, Auburn advanced by a margin of 1.55. Oklahoma finished fourth with a 196.300, followed by the Spartans. Kent State rounded out the competition, with a sixth-place score of 193.950.
Freshman Sarah Alexander (Kernersville, N.C.) was the top Spartan finisher at the regional championships. She was a part of a six-way tie for fifth-place on the floor exercise with a 9.875. She garnered scores of 9.800 on the uneven bars and balance beam, as well as a 9.700 on the vault to tally an all-around mark of 39.175.
The score placed Alexander sixth in the all-around and as the No. 3 gymnast that is not a part of an advancing team, she will serve as the Central Region's alternate at the national championships.
The Spartans opened the night on the uneven bars and it was Alexander, who led the team with a 9.800. Sophomore Kristen Merritt (Racine, Wis.) posted the squad's second best score of the night with a 9.775 , while sophomore Jennifer Yarbrough (Williamston, Mich.) and senior Julie Devaty (North Olmstead, Ohio) each posted a 9.725.
Michigan State moved onto the balance beam, where Alexander and Devaty tied for the team lead, as they each scored a 9.800. Senior Ilene Cohen (Wantagh, N.Y.) finished with the Spartans' second best mark of the night on the event, a 9.700.
After taking a bye in the rotation, Michigan State returned to the competition on the floor exercise holding a fifth-place mark. With Alabama serving a bye during the fourth round, the Spartans took advantage of the home crowd of nearly 5,000. Alexander once again led the team with a 9.875. Devaty and sophomore Nicole Anderson (Kenosha, Wis.) finished second with a 9.850.
In the Spartans' last rotation of the night, they moved to the vault and as a team, posted a 48.625. In her final meet, senior Christy Linder (Fremont, Ohio) posted a 9.750, tying with sophomore Anna Hunsinger (Elizabethtown, Ky.) for the best score of the night by a Spartan.
Players Mentioned
