March 24, 2009
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 24 Kentucky gymnastics team will head to the NCAA Central Regional Championships in Columbus, Ohio, hosted by Ohio State University. The meet is scheduled for Saturday, April 4 in the St. John Arena with a 7 p.m. ET start time.
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.
Joining the Cats and the No. 17 Buckeyes are No. 5 LSU, No. 8 Oregon State, No. 22 Kent State and Michigan State.
The top two teams and the top two all-around competitors (who are not on an advancing team) from each regional will receive an automatic berth to the national championships in Lincoln, Neb., April 16-18, hosted by the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. In addition, the 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 the all-around qualifiers.
Last season Kentucky traveled to Baton Rouge, La., for the Central Region meet which Ohio State and Kent State both attended.
UK will begin the meet on the vault. Previously at the Southeastern Conference Championships, the Wildcats ended on the event with a season high-tying 49.225 counting five scores of at least 9.800. As the Cats proceed in Olympic order, they will have two byes, one before the uneven bars and one after the balance beam.
Multiple season and career-highs earned at SEC’s on Saturday help keep the Cats on the right track to advancing to Nationals.
Tickets for the Central Region Championships are available in person or by contacting the UK Ticket Office at 1-800-928-2287. You may also obtain tickets via phone by calling TicketMaster (1-800-745-3000). Tickets will not be available at Ticketmaster outlets.
