UK Earns 11th Straight Regional Berth, Headed to Columbus, Ohio
March 23, 2015
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky gymnastics team earned its program-record 11th consecutive NCAA Championship berth and will compete in the NCAA Regionals on April 4th in Columbus, Ohio, it was announced today by the NCAA.
Seeded fifth in its regional, UK will make its 27th NCAA Championship appearance. Along with UK and Ohio State, which will host the event, the regional field includes No. 6 Michigan, No. 7 UCLA, No. 18 Arizona and Central Michigan.
“The selection show is always fun for our team, and we look forward to continuing our season on April 4 in Columbus,” UK head coach Tim Garrison said. “The competition will be tough, but that’s something we are used to in the SEC. I know our team is eager for the challenge to try and extend our season.”
The NCAA Regional will be a homecoming for four Wildcats from Ohio. Junior Marissa Beucler and freshman Sydney Waltz hail from Findlay, redshirt freshman Kirsten Canini is from Caroll and freshman Katie Carlisle is a Newark native.
At last season’s regional, the Wildcats broke the school record regional score with a 195.925 to finish fourth. At regionals, Audrey Harrison became the first UK gymnast since 2009 to qualify for the NCAA Championships, when she earned a 9.850 on balance beam to win the event.
All eight Southeastern Conference schools earned an NCAA bid. Along with defending co-NCAA champion Florida, 2015 SEC Champion Alabama and LSU all earned No. 1 seeds. Auburn and Georgia are seeded second, while Arkansas is seeded fourth. Kentucky and Missouri are both seeded fifth.
The top two teams in each of the six regionals will advance to the 2015 NCAA Finals. The finals will be held in Fort Worth, Texas, April 17-19.
For complete news and updates on the Kentucky Gymnastics program, go to UKathletics.com. Breaking news, behind-the-scenes updates and more can be found on Twitter at @UKGymnastics and Facebook at Facebook.com/UKGymnastics.
