Michigan State University Athletics
Gymnastics Selected to Lexington Regional
3/29/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
March 29, 2010
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State gymnastics team has earned its 13th overall and fourth consecutive NCAA Regional appearance when it qualified for the Lexington Regional. The Spartans enter the regional hosted by the University of Kentucky as the No. 6-seed. MSU will face Alabama, Central Michigan, Illinois, Kentucky and Nebraska on Saturday, April 10 at 6 p.m. ET inside Memorial Coliseum.
"We are very excited to be participating in the Lexington Regional NCAA Championships," said head coach Kathie Klages. "With the health of our team improving over recent meets, we were able to add some gymnasts back into the lineup. Now that they have had a few competition opportunities and gained some experience at the Big Ten Championships, we anticipate a great showing at the regional competition. Our goal is to hit 24 for 24 routines like we did at the Big Ten Championships. With the excitement, passion and heart that our men's basketball team has shown, this team hopes to follow in their path as we also look to close out the year strong."
The top two teams in each regional will advance to the NCAA Championships on April 22-24 in Gainesville, Fla. Along with the top two teams, the top two all-around competitors, not associated with the first and second place teams, and the individual event champions, will qualify for Nationals.
MSU is currently ranked No. 27 in the latest GymInfo rankings with a Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) of 195.110. Last weekend the Green and White finished tied for fourth with Minnesota at the Big Ten Championships with a score of 195.350. Seniors Nicole Curler and Rochelle Robinson became the school's first four-time All-Big Ten selections they were named the first and second team, respectively. Joining the Spartans seniors was junior Kelsey Morley who earned her second straight appearance on the All-Big Ten list with a second team selection.
The Spartans will be joined in Lexington by the top-seeded Alabama and the No. 2 seed Nebraska. The Crimson Tide are currently ranked No. 1 in the latest rankings with a RQS of 197.250. The Cornhuskers are ranked 12th with a RQS of 196.355. Rounding out the competitors at Kentucky will be No. 3 Illinois (196.255 RQS), the host No. 4 Wildcats (195.600 RQS) and No. 5 Central Michigan (195.365 RQS).
For ticket information, visit the Kentucky athletic site, www.ukathletics.com.
Players Mentioned
