The Race to Regionals:  Week of March 6th

March 6th, 2006

Nationally, #1 Georgia remains in the top spot by a wide margin (.65), but ranks 2-12 are separated by only .525 from top to bottom!  Florida remains in the second spot, while #6 Utah (#3 last week) had the weekend off and was surpassed by Alabama, Iowa State, and Oklahoma.

The teams ranked 1-15 all look to be in good position to retain seeded berths to Regionals.  #16 Penn State, #17 Oregon State, and #18 Kentucky are in a week-to-week battle with #19 Denver.  #20 Arkansas and #21 Minnesota are looking more threatening than they did last week, but these teams would still have half a point of ground to make up to sneak into seeded position.

Among the teams in position qualify for unseeded positions to Regionals, it is interesting to note that three of the six regions (Northeast, South Central, and Southeast) appear to have little potential for change between now and the end of the season.  The Central, North Central, and West Regions races are more dynamic.

Central Region

Seeded teams:
#3 Alabama
#7 LSU
#13 Auburn
#18 Kentucky

Unseeded teams currently in position to qualify to Regionals:
#26 Michigan State
#27 Ohio State
#39 Eastern Michigan

Next in line:
#41 Western Michigan
#42 Kent State

Alabama, LSU, and Auburn continue to appear to be locks for seeded berths.

This week’s big Central Region news is Kentucky’s rise from #19 to #18, which means that one more unseeded berth would be available.  If Kentucky is able to maintain this position, there will be an intense battle for the final unseeded Central Region berth. Eastern Michigan (192.135), Western Michigan (192.07), Kent State (191.97), and #43 Central Michigan (191.865) are separated by only .27 from top to bottom.  Having competed twice this weekend, Eastern Michigan was able to drop both a 186 and a 189 from its RQS, leaping over the rest of these teams in this week’s rankings. 

Michigan State (193.47) and Ohio State (193.38) appear to be securely in position for unseeded berths to Regionals.

As things stand now, the following would the individual qualifiers to Regionals:

All-Around-
Cherisse Marier, Western Michigan
Carrie Mayle, Kent State
Heather Carroll, Western Michigan
Jillian Kowalski, Kent State
Jennifer Sturgis, Western Michigan
(Next in line- Jessica Neel, Central Michigan)

Vault-
Mattie Crawford, Central Michigan

Uneven Bars-
Kristin Peters, Kent State 

Balance Beam-
Danielle Espinoza, Central Michigan

Floor Exercise-
Amy Cucinotta, Kent State
 

North Central Region

Seeded teams:
#4 Iowa State
#6 Utah

Unseeded teams currently in position to qualify for Regionals:
#19 Denver
#21 Minnesota
#22 Brigham Young

Next in line:
#31 Southern Utah
#32 Utah State

Iowa State and Utah remain essentially locks for seeded positions to Regionals, while Denver has fallen from #18 to #19 this week.  This is very bad news for three top 36 teams that may not make Regionals: Southern Utah (193.03), Utah State (192.805), and #34 Iowa (192.575). 

Denver (194.605) is still very much in the hunt to pull into the top 18 (.175 behind #18 Kentucky), but Minnesota (194.31) would have a harder time (.47 behind Kentucky).  Brigham Young (193.945) did well to replace a low 190 with a mid 194 this week and secure themselves an excellent position for an unseeded berth.

As things stand now, the following would the individual qualifiers to Regionals:

All-Around-
Jessica Parenti, Utah State
Leah Sakhitab, Southern Utah
Liz Grajewski, Iowa
Meagan Lewis, Utah State
Sheena Shaw, Southern Utah
(Next in line- Ashley Sharpe, Southern Utah)

Vault-
Kortny Williamson, Iowa

Uneven Bars-
Ashley Sharpe, Southern Utah

Balance Beam-
Rachel Tanner, Southern Utah

Floor Exercise-
Kortny Williamson, Iowa
 

Northeast Region

Seeded teams:
#9 Michigan
#16 Penn State

Unseeded teams currently in position to qualify for Regionals:
#28 New Hampshire
#44 Pittsburgh
#50 Rutgers (should be #51; CSUF missed Troester deadline and should be #50)

Next in line:
#58 Yale
#60 Cornell 

This is a very stable region, with only one question mark: will Penn State be able to hold on to its seeded berth? 

It doesn’t seem that any rankings will change within the top five spots of the Northeast Region between now and the end of the season.  Michigan will remain seeded, and New Hampshire (193.11) and Pittsburgh (191.845) are solidly in position for unseeded berths.  Rutgers (190.885) would have a hard time catching Pittsburgh, but will almost certainly not be caught by Yale (188.375) or Cornell (186.865).  So, as long as Penn State (currently a healthy .525 ahead of #19 Denver) remains seeded, New Hampshire, Pittsburgh, and Rutgers will receive the unseeded berths. 

As things stand now, the following would the individual qualifiers to Regionals:

All-Around-
Alina Liao, Yale
Kimberly So, Yale
Kelly Gurney, Rhode Island U.
Julia Zimmerman, MIT
Emily Petkun, Pennsylvania
(Next in line- Emily Rinaldo, Rhode Island U.)

Vault-
Miki Seltzer, Yale

Uneven Bars-
Cathy Schnell, Cornell

Balance Beam-
Lauren Tatsuno, Yale 

Floor Exercise-
Miki Seltzer, Yale

South Central Region

Seeded teams:
#5 Oklahoma
#11 Nebraska
#12 Missouri
#14 Arizona State
#15 Arizona

Unseeded teams currently in position to qualify to Regionals:
#20 Arkansas
#24 Illinois-Champaign
#35 Illinois-Chicago

Next in line:
#46 Northern Illinois
#48 Southeast Missouri

With an incredible five teams in seeded position (and all with very good chances to stay there), this is clearly the deepest region.  Arkansas (194.35) has .43 to make up on #18 Kentucky if it wants to become seeded, which is not out of the question but is still a sizeable deficit. 

Illinois-Champaign (193.77) and Illinois-Chicago (192.455) seem to be safely ahead of their nearest competitor, Northern Illinois (191.575).  This means that the South Central region will probably not have a change in qualifying teams.

As things stand now, the following would the individual qualifiers to Regionals:

All-Around-
Sandra Blake, Southeast Missouri
Alison Ezell, Southeast Missouri
Cheryl Berezan, Illinois State
(These are the only three gymnasts from this region with all-around RQS who are not on a qualifying team.)

Vault-
Meaghan Koshman, Illinois State 

Uneven Bars-
Maureen Grimaldi, Southeast Missouri 

Balance Beam-
Jennifer Naughton, Northern Illinois

Floor Exercise-
Bethany Plapp, Northern Illinois
 

Southeast Region

Seeded teams:
#1 Georgia
#2 Florida

Unseeded teams currently in position to qualify to Regionals:
#23 West Virginia
#25 North Carolina
#29 North Carolina State

Next in line:
#38 Maryland
#40 George Washington

With Georgia and Florida as two virtual locks for seeded Regionals berths and a .82 difference between final qualifier North Carolina State (193.08) and next-in-line Maryland (192.26), the Southeast Region looks nearly set for the post-season.  Maryland or George Washington (192.115) would have to perform at a whole new level for the last three weeks of the season, and North Carolina State would have to really stagnate in order for there to be any change.

West Virginia (193.87) and North Carolina (193.54) should accompany North Carolina State as the three unseeded competitors in the Southeast Regional.

As things stand now, the following would the individual qualifiers to Regionals:

All-Around-
Rachel Martinez, Maryland
Christina Ghani, Towson
Rachel Colon, Maryland
Erin Aiken, George Washington
Decelia Willacy, Towson
(Next in line- Cristina Lindo, Towson)

Vault-
Angela Ferg, Maryland

Uneven Bars-
Cristina Lindo, Towson

Balance Beam-
Alex Gatch, Maryland

Floor Exercise-
Jess Guilbert, George Washington
 

West Region

Seeded teams:
#8 Stanford
#10 UCLA
#17 Oregon State

Unseeded teams currently in position to qualify to Regionals:
#30 San Jose State
#33 Sacramento State
#36 Washington

Next in line:
#37 Boise State
#47 California

The race in the West Region is one of the most interesting, with the four teams ranked 30-37 fighting for only three Regionals berths. Another factor in that race is whether #17 Oregon State can hang onto its seeded berth.  If not, there could be only two unseeded spots for San Jose State (193.08), Sacramento State (192.68), Washington (192.29), and Boise State (192.285).

Stanford and UCLA look very secure in their seeded berths, while Oregon State is only .28 ahead of #19 Denver.

As things stand now, the following would the individual qualifiers to Regionals:

All-Around-
Jessica Kelley, California
Jessica Portlock, Alaska
Lauren Agostino, Alaska
Sarah Sullivan, Seattle-Pacific
Brittany Hoffman, Cal State-Fullerton
(Next in line- Britani Pittullo, California)

Vault-
Kea Cuaresma, Boise State 

Uneven Bars-
Joanna Bennett, California

Balance Beam-
Lindsay Ward, Boise State

Floor Exercise-
Katie Dinsmore, Boise State