LEXINGTON, Ky. ? The No. 20 Kentucky Wildcats head to Baton Rouge, La. for the NCAA Regional competition hosted by LSU. The meet is scheduled for Saturday April 12 in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center at 3 p.m.
A total of six schools will be competing at the central regional competition. Missouri, Kent State, Ohio State, and Stanford are among the other institutions.
Kentucky most recently participated in the 2008 SEC Gymnastics Championships in Duluth, Ga., all seven conference schools are ranked in the top 20. UK finished seventh with the school?s best total since 2004?s competition.
No. 6 Stanford most recently won the PAC-10 championship. Also winning their conference championship was the No. 26 Kent State Golden Flashes, claiming the team?s 10th Mid-American conference win.
Missouri, ranked 18th nationally, placed third at the Big 12 championship and No. 33 Ohio State finished seventh at the Big Ten competition. UK has previously defeated Ohio State, one of the schools included in the Wildcats eight-meet win streak. The Cats beat the Buckeyes, 195.275-193.400.
LSU and Kentucky, SEC rivals, have met twice this year. During the regular season, the Wildcats took on the Tigers in Baton Rouge but were defeated. At this year?s SEC Championship, No. 6 LSU placed fourth behind Georgia, Alabama, and Florida.
In order to qualify for regionals, only the top 36 universities could advance. Individual event specialists who had minimum Regional Qualifying Scores (RQS) of 9.4 or higher were also able to qualify. One event specialist was named per event with an alternate; there are also five all-around competitors, all of which are from schools not placing in the top 36.
For an individual or school to advance the NCAA Nationals held in Athens, Ga. at Georgia, teams must place in the top two positions. Any gymnast not on an advancing team but who place in the top two for the all-around, or are event winners, will also advance to nationals.
Tickets are available for $3 to $7 on LSUsports.net, at the LSU Athletics Ticket Office or by calling (225) 578-2184. For complete coverage of Kentucky gymnastics, please visit www.ukathletics.com.
