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NOTE: USA Gymnastics hosts two collegiate championships to complement the NCAA National Championships. The USA Gymnastics Men’s Collegiate Championships (March 27-28, College of William and Mary) has two categories: varsity for Division I, II, or III, four-year institutions with varsity gymnastics teams; and collegiate for two- or four-year degree-granting schools with club gymnastics. The USA Gymnastics Women’s Collegiate Championships (April 9-11, Southern Connecticut State University) is for Division I, II and III schools with less than seven-and-a-half full scholarships. For more information, click here
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., March 24, 2009 – April is the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s championships month, with six women’s gymnastics regionals on April 4, followed by the men’s and women’s gymnastics national championships on April 16-18. The women’s national championships are at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, with the men’s at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, in Minneapolis.
The six women’s regionals will be held in the following locations; all meets begin at 6 p.m. in the respective time zones:
- Central Regional, St. John Arena, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio;
- North Central Regional, Carver-Hawkeye Arena, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa;
- Northeast Regional, Coleman Coliseum, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Ala.;
- South Central Regional, Barnhill Arena, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Ark.;
- Southeast Regional, Reynolds Coliseum, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C.
- West Regional, Bank of America Arena, University of Washington, Seattle, Wash.
Regionals. Each regional features six teams, five all-around competitors and one individual specialist per event (all of whom are not on a qualifying team). The top 36 teams are selected for regional competition according to the regional qualifying score (RQS). The RQS is based on a team’s, an all-around competitor’s and an individual event specialist’s six best regular-season meet scores, three of which must be contested at an away meet. To obtain the RQS, the high score is eliminated and the remaining five scores are averaged.
The top 18 teams will be seeded, and the remaining regional competition spots will be filled in order of regional qualifying scores. Teams will be kept within their respective regions as much as possible, and movement to the next closest region will be made according to the RQS. Regional hosts will remain in their respective regions, as well as all-around competitors and event specialists.
Each regional has one session of six rotations with four events and two byes. All-around gymnasts will compete after the teams in each event. The specialists compete after the teams on their respective events.
Nationals. The top 12 teams and 12 all-around competitors and event specialists (all of whom are not on a qualifying team) will advance to the NCAA championships for women’s gymnastics, April 16-18, at the University of Nebraska’s Devaney Center in Lincoln, Neb. The competing teams and student-athletes will be announced on April 6. The top two teams and the top two all-around competitors (who are not on an advancing team) from each regional competition automatically qualify for the NCAA championships. Event winners at the regionals advance (in that event only) if they are not part of a qualifying team or the all-around qualifiers, and individual event specialists must have a minimum RQS of 9.4.
The competition schedule is: April 16 – team preliminaries and all-around finals, 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.; April 17 – Super Six (team) finals, 6 p.m.; and April 18 – individual event finals, 6 p.m.
The top six teams in the prelims advance to the Super Six team finals. The top four individuals, plus ties, on each event in the team prelims advance to the individual event finals.
All-session ticket packages are now available by phone at 1-800-8BIGRED (1-800-824-4733) or 402-472-3111, or online at www.huskers.com. The all-session package is $30 per person for reserved seating, and $22 per adult and $18 per child/senior citizen for general admission. Single-session tickets, which are available at the Devaney Center on competition days only, are $12 per person for reserved seating, $9 per person for general admission for the first three sessions and $10 per person for general admission for the final session.
For more information on the qualification procedures and format for the women’s championships, view the 2009 NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships Handbook at www.ncaa.org/wps/ncaa?ContentID=36602.
Qualifier. A total of 12 teams compete in the National Qualifier, which is scheduled for April 16. The Big Ten Conference and Eastern College Athletic Conference champions receive automatic berths, and the remaining 10 teams are chosen according to the National Qualifying Average (NQA). The top six all-around competitors who are not members of a qualified team, and the top six individuals on each event not selected as part of a team or for the all-around will also compete in the National Qualifier. No more than 12 competitors may represent any one institution.
The NQA is based on a team’s, an all-around competitor’s and an individual event specialist’s four best regular-season meet scores, two of which must be contested at an away meet. The high score is eliminated and replaced with the conference meet score, which is included twice. These five scores are averaged to obtain the NQA.
Nationals. The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, is hosting the 67th National Collegiate Men’s Gymnastics Championships at the Sports Pavilion. The first day of competition is the National Qualifier, which has two sessions. The top three teams from each National Qualifier session advance to team finals for a total of six teams. The top six all-around gymnasts (three from each session) who are not members of a qualified team and the top six gymnasts for each apparatus (three from each session) who are not selected as part of a team or the all-around also advance to the championships.
The competition schedule for the NCAA Championships is: April 16 – National Qualifier, 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.; April 17 – team finals and all-around finals, 7 p.m.; and April 18 – individual event finals, 7 p.m.
Both all-session and single-session ticket packages are on sale now through the University of Minnesota Athletics Department. Tickets may be purchased in advance at the ticket office at Mariucci Arena, over the phone by calling 612-624-8080 or 800-UGOPHER, or online at www.gophersports.com. On competition days, tickets can be purchased at the Sports Pavilion ticket window. All-session adult tickets, which include four competition sessions, are priced at $35, with all-session student tickets available for $25. Single-session tickets are priced at $15 for adults and $8 for students. Special single-session packages for groups of 15 or more are also available and are priced at $5 per ticket.
For more information on the qualification procedures and format for the men’s championships, view the 2009 NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championships Handbook at www.ncaa.org/wps/ncaa?ContentID=36602.