University of Minnesota Athletics
Four Top-25 Teams Selected for NCAA Regional
3/26/2018 12:00:00 AM | Gymnastics
Buy Tickets Today! // Full NCAA Bracket
The No. 24 University of Minnesota women's gymnastics team is set to host No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 12 Kentucky, No. 13 Denver, Iowa and Iowa State on April 7 at 4 p.m. for the NCAA Regionals.
All-around competitors at the Minneapolis Regional will be Lisa O'Donnell (UW-Whitewater), Tori Erickson (UW-Eau Claire), Brooke Terry (UW-Stout) and Samantha Wiekamp (UW-La Crosse). Individual event specialists will be loaded with representatives from Utah State. On vault will be USU's Mikaela Meyer and Madison Ward. Beam will see Autumn Deharde and Emily Briones from USU. Bars will have USU's Brittany Jeppesen and Air Force's Anna Salamone. Ward and Deharde will also be representing USU on floor.
"Our fans should get very excited about the teams coming to our regional." @alfiegym breaks down the Minneapolis Regional after today's selection show. #Gophers #SkiUMah #LoveTheBattle
Buy tickets here: https://t.co/esNgZTVdbK pic.twitter.com/LvLg2GGuOj-- Minnesota W Gym (@GopherWGym) March 26, 2018
Host sites for Regionals along with Minneapolis include Columbus, Raleigh, Salt Lake City, State College and Tuscaloosa. Advancing from regional competition to the national championships will be a total of 12 teams and 12 all-around competitors and event specialists. The top two teams and the top two all-around competitors (who are not on an advancing team) from each regional will receive an automatic berth to the national championships. In addition, the event winners at each regional will advance to the national championships (in that event only) if they are not part of a qualifying team or an all-around qualifier.
Championships will take place at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, Mo. At the national championships, semifinal team, all-around competition and individual event specialist finals will be conducted in two sessions Friday, April 20. The top three teams from each semifinal will advance to Super Six competition Saturday, April 21.
The Gophers finished the season ranked No. 24 with a 196.250 RQS and a season high of 196.675. They have been hot on bars as of late and are ranked No. 10 with a 49.300 RQS. Lexy Ramler was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Ivy Lu became the Gophers first B1G bars champion since 2002.
This is the 23rd straight year that Minnesota has qualified for NCAA Regionals. The last time they hosted a regional was in 2016 when they advanced to the NCAA Championships.
Make sure to follow Gopher women's gymnastics on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to stay up-to-date on all you need to know for the Minneapolis Regional.
Players Mentioned
