BATON ROUGE, La. ? Michelle Gales will represent the University of Kentucky at the 2004 Central Regional Gymnastics Championships on Friday, April 2 in Baton Rouge, La. She will compete as an all-around performer and compete in the same rotation order as Michigan State.

Gales qualified for the regional championships by posting a 39.245 regional qualifying score (RQS), which ranks seventh in the Central Region. The junior posted five consecutive 39.000 or better scores to close out the season.

The top two teams and top two all-around competitors (who are not on an advancing team) from each regional will advance to the NCAA National Championships in Los Angeles, Calif., April 15-17. Gales will also have the opportunity to advance to Nationals if she wins a single event in the meet.

Gales is looking to become the sixth gymnast in Kentucky history to advance to the NCAA Championships and fourth to earn All-America honors. Amie Winn (?90), Tricia Wills (?90), Jenny Hansen (?93-96), Jennifer VanOuter (?93), Robin Ewing (?94) and Aronda Primault (?02) are Wildcats who qualified for the NCAA Championships in previous years. Hansen, Ewing and Primault each earned All-America honors.

Gales? Rotation Order

Rotation 1 ? Vault ? 9.875 career-high
Rotation 2 ? Bars ? 9.925 career-high
Rotation 3 ? Beam ? 9.900 career-high
Rotation 4 ? Floor ? 9.950 career-high
Rotation 5 ? Bye
Rotation 6 ? Bye