LOS ANGELES – The nation’s best female collegiate gymnasts begin their quest for national NCAA titles at the 2013 National Collegiate Women’s Gymnastics Championships at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, Calif., April 19-21. The field includes 17 past members of the U.S. Women’s Senior National Team.
The women’s gymnastics championships consist of 12 teams and 12 all-around competitors (who are not on a qualifying team) and individual event specialists. The top two teams and the top two all-around competitors from each of the six regionals have advanced to the national championships. In addition, the event winners at each regional also advanced to the national championships (in their specific event) if they were not part of a qualifying team or the all-around qualifiers.
The 12 schools vying for the coveted team title are (listed in rank order) the University of Florida, University of Oklahoma, University of Alabama, University of Georgia, Louisiana State University University of California-Los Angeles, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, Stanford University, University of Utah, University of Arkansas, and the University of Illinois.
Team semifinals and all-around finals will be conducted in two sessions on Friday, April 19, at noon and 6 p.m. PT. The top three teams from each semifinal round will advance to the Super Six competition Saturday, April 20, at 4 p.m. The top four individuals in each event (plus ties) from Friday’s semifinals will compete in the individual-event finals on Sunday, April 21, at 1 p.m.
The former women’s national team members who are Olympic, World and Pan Am Games medalists and expected to compete at the NCAA Championships are:
- 2011 Pan American Games gold medalists Bridget Sloan and Bridgette Caquatto of Florida, Brandie Jay of Georgia, and Jessie DeZiel of Nebraska;
2010 World team silver-medalists Mackenzie Caquatto of Florida and alternate Chelsea Davis of Georgia;
2009 World vault gold-medalist Kayla Williams of Alabama;
2009 World beam bronze-medalist, 2008 U.S. Olympic alternate and 2007 World team gold-medalist Ivana Hong of Stanford;
2007 World team gold-medalist Shayla Worley of Georgia;
2006 World team silver-medalist Ashley Priess of Alabama.
Sloan is also a 2008 Olympic team silver medalist, the 2009 World all-around champion, and a 2010 World team silver medalist.
Other former U.S. senior national team members in the field are: Olivia Courtney and Vanessa Zamarripa, UCLA; Kytra Hunter and Alaina Johnson, Florida; Samantha Shapiro, Stanford; and Kaitlyn Clark and Sarah DeMeo, Alabama.
The process for determining rotation pairings for day one of the 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.
Once the NQS is calculated, 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.
Team and individual qualifiers for the 2013 women’s gymnastics championships are as follows.
| Team | Regional | Regional Score | National Qualifying Score |
| Florida | Gainesville | 198.400 | 396.240 |
| Oklahoma | Norman | 197.375 | 394.945 |
| Alabama | Tuscaloosa | 197.400 | 394.815 |
| Georgia | Corvallis | 197.425 | 394.685 |
| LSU | Columbus | 197.275 | 394.455 |
| UCLA | Columbus | 196.950 | 394.150 |
| Michigan | Morgantown | 196.725 | 393.960 |
| Minnesota | Gainesville | 197.100 | 393.715 |
| Stanford | Norman | 196.800 | 393.510 |
| Utah | Tuscaloosa | 196.400 | 393.505 |
| Arkansas | Corvallis | 196.950 | 393.385 |
| Illinois | Morgantown | 196.025 | 392.235 |
| Qualifier | School | Regional | Regional Score |
| Aubree Cristello | Arizona | Columbus | 39.375 |
| Melanie Shaffer | Ohio State | Columbus | 39.325 |
| Chelsea Tang | Oregon State | Corvallis | 39.300 |
| Brittany Harris | Oregon State | Corvallis | 39.125 |
| Bri Guy | Auburn | Gainesville | 39.400 |
| Caitlin Atkinson | Auburn | Gainesville | 39.275 |
| Emily Wong | Nebraska | Morgantown | 39.225 |
| Jessie DeZiel | Nebraska | Morgantown | 39.200 |
| Lauren Rogers | Washington | Norman | 39.375 |
| Sharaya Musser | Penn State | Norman | 39.375 |
| Moriah Martin | Denver | Tuscaloosa | 39.150 |
| Michelle Shealy | Iowa State | Tuscaloosa | 39.050 |
| Event/Qualifier | School | Regional | Regional Score |
| Vault: Brittany Skinner | Nebraska | Morgantown | 9.950 |
| Beam: Sarah Miller | Ohio State | Columbus | 9.950 |
| Floor: Makayla Stambaugh | Oregon State | Corvallis | 9.950 |
* No qualifier on bar
At the 2012 Championships, the Alabama Crimson Tide won its sixth championship title with an overall score of 197.850. Florida finished second with a score of 197.775, followed by UCLA in third (197.750), Stanford in fourth (197.500), Utah in fifth (197.375) and Arkansas in sixth (196.300).
Hunter (39.725, Florida) captured the all-around title and became the first Gator to win the NCAA title and the only Gator to claim two event titles in a single year. Second place was won by Georgia’s Kat Ding (39.650), while Arkansas’ Jaime Pisani (39.625) and Alabama’s Geralen Stack-Eaton (39.600) finished third and fourth, respectively.
Claiming the individual event titles were Florida’s Hunter (vault), Alabama’s Stack-Eaton (beam) and Georgia’s Ding (uneven bars and floor exercise).
Live scoring for this year’s sessions will be available at uclabruins.com. NCAA.com will broadcast Thursday’s semifinals live, and ESPN3 will broadcast both the Super Six Team Finals on Saturday and the Individual Event Finals on Sunday. The team finals will be televised by ESPNU on Apr. 30 at 5 pm PT. Calling the action for ESPN will be two-time Olympic gold medalist Bart Conner and two-time Olympic medalist Kathy Johnson Clarke.