INDIANAPOLIS, April 4, 2016 – Lindenwood University, the defending champions, will play host to the 2016 USA Gymnastics Women’s Collegiate National Championships, scheduled for April 8-10 at Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Mo. Competition begins on Friday, April 8, with the team semifinals and the all-around. Tickets are $15 for a day pass, or $30 for an all-event pass, and they can be purchased at www.lindenwoodlions.com.

The eight schools competing for the team title are Brown University, Cornell University, Lindenwood University, Seattle Pacific University, Texas Woman’s University, U.S. Air Force Academy, University of Bridgeport and Yale University. Schools with athletes competing for an event or all-around title only are: Centenary College, Southern Connecticut State University, University of Pennsylvania and West Chester University.

The first team semifinal begins at 2 p.m. CT, featuring Bridgeport, Seattle Pacific, Cornell and Air Force, and the evening session starts at 7 p.m., with Lindenwood, Brown, Texas Woman’s and Yale. The top two teams from each session advance to Saturday’s team finals on Saturday, April 9, at 7 p.m. The all-around champion is determined after the two sessions on April 8, with the top five individuals for each event from each of the two Friday sessions qualifying for the individual finals, scheduled for Sunday, April 10, at 1 p.m.

Bridgeport enters the competition as the top seed based on its regional-qualifying score (RQS) of 194.575. The Purple Knights, which won the ECAC Division II Championship, won six consecutive USA Gymnastics Women’s Collegiate Championships from 2009-2014. Defending team champion Lindenwood won last week’s MIC Championships and have a RQS mark of 194.310. After finishing first and second, respectively, last year, Lindenwood and Bridgeport are favored for this year’s title.

Brown is the third seed at 193.515, followed by Seattle Pacific with a RQS of 193.340. Cornell, the 2009 co-champion, enters with a RQS of 193.010, and Texas Woman’s has a RQS of 192.790. Completing the team field are Yale (RQS of 192.025) and Air Force (191.895 RQS).

The USA Gymnastics Collegiate Championships is for Division I, II and III schools with less than seven-and-a-half full scholarships.