Trio Of Purple Knights Get Nod For 2015 NCAA Gymnastics Regionals

Indianapolis, Indiana-The 2015 National Collegiate Women's Gymnastics Championships regional selections have been announced, and University of Bridgeport seniors Sasha Tsikhanovich (Marysville, Ohio) and Caitlin Perry (N. Kingston, R.I..)  plus sophomore Kimberly Stewart (Eastham, Mass.)were among those who hear their names called.  Tsikhanovich will be one of five all-around competitors who are not on a qualifying team to compete in the Morgantown Regional hosted by West Virginia University on Saturday, April 4.  Perry will compete as an individual event specialist in the floor exercise in Morgantown, and Stewart was named an alternate as an individual on the vault.

Six teams, five all-around competitors (who are not on a qualifying team) and one individual event specialist per event [who has a minimum Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) of 9.4] were named to each of the six predetermined host sites.

The top 18-teams are seeded nationally, based on RQS, and placed into the bracket. Teams 19-36 are organized into three pods (19-24, 25-30 and 31-36) and placed geographically at one of the six sites, beginning with teams 19-24 followed by teams 25-30 and then finally teams 31-36. Seeding determined at the time of regional selections will be maintained throughout the championships. All-around competitors and event specialists are assigned to their respective geographic region.

In the event of a tie for the last berth into regional competition and for seeding purposes, the team, all-around competitor or individual event specialist with the highest score, not including the six used to calculate the regional qualifying score, will qualify. If a tie still exists, the process is continued until the tie is broken.

The qualifying teams and individuals are listed below. All regionals will be conducted Saturday, April 4, with start times of either 4 or 6 p.m. local time.

Morgantown Regional (West Virginia, host) – 4 p.m. ET

Teams
1. Florida
2. Stanford
3. Illinois
4. Arkansas
5. New Hampshire
6. *West Virginia

All-Around Competitors
1. Sasha Tsikhanovich, Bridgeport
2. Diana Walters, Brown
3. Majesta Valentine, West Chester
4. Jorden Mitchell, Brown
5. Elizabeth Groden, Rutgers
Alt. – Morgan Traina, Yale

Individual Event Specialists
Vault – Luisa Leal, Rutgers
Alt. – Kimberly Stewart, Bridgeport
Uneven Bars – Jenna Williams, Rutgers
Alt. – Taylor Laymon, Pittsburgh
Balance Beam – Lindsay Offutt, Pittsburgh
Alt. – Claire Jones, Rutgers
Floor Exercise – Caitlin Perry, Bridgeport
Alt. – Lindsay Offutt, Pittsburgh

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 Fort Worth, Texas, April 17-19, hosted by Texas Woman's and the Knight Eady Sports Group. The top two teams from the Norman, Auburn and Ames regionals will compete in one of the semifinals, and the top two teams from the Morgantown, Columbus and Berkeley regionals will compete in the other semifinal.

In addition, the event winners at each regional site will advance to the national championships (in that event only) if they are not part of a qualifying team or an all-around qualifier.

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