2014 NCAA Regional - University ParkApr 3, 2014 by Brittany Norton
Florida Takes on Regionals at Penn State
Florida Takes on Regionals at Penn State
Six regional competitions will take place throughout the country on April 5th, and the top 2 teams from each competition will advance to the NCAA National Championship in Birmingham, Alabama. The top 18 nationally ranked teams are seeded according to their Regional Qualifying Score (RQS). The teams that rank No. 19-36 are divided into three groups (19-24, 25-30, 31-36) and placed geographically.
All-around competitors and event specialists who have individually qualified for regionals without their team will be placed in the regionals closest to their schools location.
The no. 1 ranked Florida Gators placed second in the 2014 SEC Championships behind Alabama by only 0.15. The Gators made a few mistakes including missed sticks, and a fall and an out of bounds deduction on floor. If the Gators hope to win the National Championship for the second year in a row, they will use Regionals as a pressure set to get the kinks out before the main event.
Unless something catastrophic happens (knock on wood!), regionals should not be a difficult competition for Florida and will seem more like a formality than anything. The no. 2 seed in the University Park Regional Competition, Oregon State, has a high team score of 197.100 and Florida’s high is 1.225 higher at 198.325.
Penn State, the host team, is seeded third at their regional competition and 15th nationally. Penn State and Oregon State will be fighting for their chance to join Florida in Birmingham. Penn State’s high score is actually 0.1 higher than Oregon State’s highest team score. However, Oregon State will use their consistency to try to edge out Penn State for the remaining spot.
Florida will begin on a bye before starting the competition in Rotation 2 on bars. The Gators will then rotate in Olympic order going to balance beam, but will have a bye before floor. The competition will end on vault, where it usually begins.
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University Park Regional: April 5th, 4pm
1. 1. Florida
2. 2. Oregon State
3. 3. Penn State
4. 4. New Hampshire
5. 5. Kentucky
6. 6. Maryland