The nation’s best female collegiate gymnasts begin their quest for national NCAA titles at 12 p.m. ET on Friday, April 15, at the 2011 NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships, April 15-17 at the Wolstein Center in Cleveland, Ohio. The field of 12 teams and 16 individual athletes advanced from six NCAA Regional Championships. Fans can follow the action live online at the following live streaming links or check out ncaa.com.

The 12 schools vying for the coveted team title are (listed in rank order) the University of Alabama, University of California-Los Angeles, University of Oklahoma, Oregon State University, University of Florida, University of Michigan, University of Georgia, University of Utah, University of Nebraska, University of Arkansas, University of Illinois, and Kent State University.

Fifteen former U.S. Senior Women’s National Team members are on the roster to compete at the NCAA Championships. 2008 Olympic team silver-medalist Samantha Peszek of UCLA and 2008 U.S. Olympic Team alternate Corrie Lothrop of Utah are expected to compete in the championships. UCLA’s Vanessa Zamarripa is on the current U.S. Senior Women’s National Team but is injured and will not compete. The field also features six world medalists: 2007 World team gold-medalists Shayla Worley of Georgia and Peszek; 2010 World team silver-medalist Mackenzie Caquatto of Florida; 2006 World team silver-medalists Ashley Priess of Alabama and Nastasha Kelley of Oklahoma, as well as the team’s alternate Jacquelyn Johnson of Utah.

Other former senior national team members in the field are: Kayla Hoffman and Geralen Stack-Eaton, Alabama; Olivia Courtney and Brittani McCullough, UCLA; Alaina Johnson and Randy Stageberg, Florida; Hillary Mauro, Georgia; and Cortni Beers, Utah.

Team semifinal and all-around competition at the 2011 NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships will be conducted in two sessions on Friday, April 15, at 12 p.m. and 6 p.m. ET. Here are the semifinal matchups with seeds (based on National Qualifying Score):

Semi-final Sessions: Friday April 15

Session 1: Friday, April 15, 12 p.m. ET
2. University of California-Los Angeles
3. University of Oklahoma
6. University of Michigan
7. University of Georgia
10. University of Arkansas
11. University of Illinois

Session 2: Friday, April 15, 6 p.m. ET
1. University of Alabama
4. Oregon State
5. University of Florida
8. University of Utah
9. University of Nebraska
12. Kent State

Super Six, Saturday, April 16, 4 p.m. ET

Individual Event Finals, Sunday, April 17, 1 p.m.

The all-around gymnast with the top score from both sessions on Friday will win the all-around title. The top three teams from each semifinal will advance to the Super Six team finals on Saturday, April 16, at 4 p.m., which will air tape-delayed on CBS, Saturday, May 14, at 3 p.m. ET. The top four individuals in each event (plus ties) from both of Friday’s sessions will compete in the individual-event competition Sunday, April 17, at 1 p.m.

The top two teams and the top two all-around competitors from each Regional received automatic berths to the national championships. In addition, the event winners at each Regional Championship advanced to the national championships (in their specific event) if they were not part of a qualifying team or the all-around qualifiers.

The process for determining rotation pairings for first day’s sessions of the NCAA Women’s Championships team competition is based on a National Qualifying Score (NQS) calculated by adding the Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) to the score achieved at regional competition. Teams are ranked based on the NQS from 1 to 12. Teams 1, 4, 5, 8, 9 and 12 were placed in Group A; and teams 2, 3, 6, 7, 10 and 11 placed in Group B. The host team and its corresponding group will compete in the second semifinal.

In the 2010 championships, UCLA won its sixth NCAA women’s team title with an overall score of 197.725. Oklahoma finished second with a score of 197.250, followed by Alabama in third (197.225), Stanford in fourth (197.100), Florida in fifth (197.000) and Utah in sixth (196.225).