INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – The University of Kentucky gymnastics team earned its 12th NCAA postseason bid in the last 15 seasons and travels to Louisiana State University as the fourth seed in the six-team Central Regional, Fri., April 7, at 6 p.m. CST.
The No. 20 Cats (14-12) face off against No. 1 seed Oklahoma, host LSU, Penn State, Michigan State and Ohio State, for a chance to reach their first-ever NCAA Championships. Only the top two teams and two all-around competitors (who are not on an advancing team) will advance to the championship meet, April 20-22 in Corvallis, Ore.
Qualification for regional competition is based on a team’s, an all-around competitor’s, and an individual event specialist’s six best regular-season-meet scores (also called the Regional Qualifying Score or RQS), of which three must be at an away meet. The RQS is computed by eliminating the high score and averaging the remaining five scores.
The top 18 teams, nationally, based on RQS, were selected and paired into the six regions (three per region). Each region site has one team each from the nation’s No. 1-6, No. 7-12, and No. 13-18 ranking positions. Alabama, Iowa State, Florida, Oklahoma, Utah and defending national champ Georgia all received No. 1 seeds. The remaining three regional slots were filled from within the region. The all-around competitors and event specialists came from the region as well.
As a program, Kentucky has reached the NCAA Regionals 17 times, including two straight. The Cats? best regional finish came in 1990 and 1996, when the teams placed third.
Season Notes
– Junior Krystle Cook ranks 36th nationally in the all-around (39.130 regional qualifying average). The Austin, Texas native also ranks t-20th on vault (9.885) and t-14th on bars (9.885).
– Freshmen Natalie Rubinstein (t-27th, bars, 9.860) and Heather Hite (t-20th, beam, 9.860) both reside in the rankings.
– As a team, the Cats dropped to No. 20 in the recent GymInfo poll (3/27) after struggling at the SEC Championships last weekend (seventh, 191.150).
– UK is one win away from becoming the first team in program history to reach the 15-win mark.
– This season, the Cats have scored two of the top four highest teams totals in school history (third, 196.250 at Ark. 2/24; fourth, 196.100 at Oregon State Invite 3/17).
– Individual Wildcat gymnasts have recorded 14 9.9s or better this season.
– Kentucky has reached the NCAA Regionals 17 times as a program.
– The Cats missed out on the postseason in 2003 and 2004, but have now earned back-to-back bids.
– UK?s top regional finish was in 1990 and 1996 when the teams finished third.
– Out of the six-team region, Kentucky has faced host LSU and Michigan State in 2006. The Cats fell to second-seed LSU, 195.875-194.250, in Baton Rouge (2/10) and defeated fifth-seed Michigan State, 192.775-189.225, in their season opener (1/6).
