March 22, 2004
Champaign, Ill. - Regional selections for the 2004 National Collegiate Women's Gymnastics Championships were announced on Monday by the NCAA and Bob Starkell's Fighting Illini squad earned a bid to the South Central Regional in Tucson, Ariz. The regional invite is the first under Starkell, who is in his fifth season with the Illini. Illinois' last regional bid was in 1999, when Starkell was an assistant coach under Lynn Brueckman.
"It's a great feeling for this team to have to the opportunity to compete at NCAA Regionals at the University of Arizona," said Starkell of heading to regionals. "We've been extremely close to making the NCAA Championships but have narrowly missed these past few years. This year, the team has worked extremely hard to get back to this point. It's a very exciting time for this Fighting Illini squad."
Six teams, five all-around competitors (who are not on a qualifying team) and one individual event specialist per event were named to each of the six regions. 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 Los Angeles, California, April 15-17, hosted by the UCLA. In addition, the event winners at the regional championships will advance to the national championships (in that event only) if they are not part of a qualifying team or the all-around qualifiers.
Joining the Illini in Tucson will be No. 5 Utah, No. 8 Florida, host - No. 18 Arizona, No. 25 Arkansas and Illinois-Chicago. Illinois is currently ranked 39th in the nation with a Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) of 195.245, the highest in school history.
Also joining the teams in the South Central Regional are five all-around competitors and one specialist for each of the four events. The all-around gymnasts are Christina Campos (Northern Illinois), Ashley Godwin (SEMO), Tara Boldt (SEMO), Dannielle Dacey (Northern Illinois) and Whitney Albright (Illinois State). Event specialists include Kelly Kramer (Northern Illinois) on vault, Erin MacNabb (Texas Women's) on uneven bars, Lisa Klein (Illinois State) on beam and Alexis Traylor (SEMO) on floor exercise.
Each of the six regionals is made up of three teams ranked among the top-18 in the nation, based on RQS. The top 18 teams were seeded and assigned to the six regional sites (three per site), while the remaining three team slots at each regional site were filled by the next three highest-ranking teams within that respective region. The South Central Region had five teams in the top-18 (No. 13 Nebraska, No. 15 Oklahoma, No. 16 Missouri, No. 17 Arizona State and No. 18 Arizona), meaning those five, plus the next three teams in the region (Arkansas, Illinois and UIC) all received regional bids. The top five all-around gymnasts and the top event specialist in each event - not on a qualifying team - were then invited to their respective regional championships. Complete regional assignments can be found at www.ncaasports.com/gymnastics/womens.
This is Illinois' 16th trip to the NCAA Regional Championships, but is just the third since 1991. Illinois' best finish at a regional meet is fourth on several occasions, most recently in 1987. The Illini have never qualified for the national championships.
"This is an important step for this program and hopefully for success in the future," said Starkell. "Our main goal this whole year was to make it to this point and get invited to the first round of post-season championships. Hopefully we can compete well, make some noise and then use it as a stepping stone for more success in the future."
NCAA South Central Regional - April 3, 2004 at Tucson, Arizona (University of Arizona)
Qualifying Teams (RQS)
1. Utah (197.575)
2. Florida (197.355)
3. Arizona (196.785)
4. Arkansas (196.235)
5. ILLINOIS (195.245)
6. Illinois-Chicago (194.975)
