Kent State University
NCAA
Gymnastics Set for NCAA Morgantown Regional on Saturday
3/31/2017 4:40:00 PM | Gymnastics
NCAA Morgantown Regional Championships Central Page
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The Kent State gymnastics team will compete at the NCAA Morgantown Regional inside of the WVU Coliseum on Saturday at 4 p.m.
The Golden Flashes finished the regular season with a Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) of 195.720, which ranked 31st in the country, to qualify for their ninth NCAA Regional in the past 10 seasons.
Of the six NCAA regional competitions being held Saturday, only the Morgantown and Champaign Regionals feature five top-25 teams. No. 6 Alabama, No. 7 Michigan, No. 18 Southern Utah, George Washington and host West Virginia join Kent State to complete the competition field.
The top two teams and the top two all-around competitors (who are not on an advancing team), as well as all event winners, will receive an automatic berth to the NCAA National Championships in St. Louis, Missouri, April 14-15, hosted by the University of Missouri, Columbia, and the St. Louis Sports Commission.
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.
LAST TIME OUT
Kent State posted a 194.850 to finish sixth at the Mid-American Conference Championships on March 18. The Golden Flashes' beam lineup impressed with a 49.200, which is just 0.050 off the season-high set last week against Ball State, to edge out Western Michigan's 49.175 for the best score of the meet.
Junior Rachel Stypinski won the all-around title with a 39.500, which ties the program record at the conference championship meet that was set by Marie Case in 2014 and ranks sixth overall. Stypinski also won the beam title and finished in a six-way tie for first on bars. Her third 9.950 of the season on beam set a program MAC Championships record. She also matched her career-high on bars with a 9.900.
The Boyertown, Pa. native earned MAC Championship All-Tournament Team honors for the second time of her career. She was the only competitor to earn a 10.000 score from a judge, doing so on beam, and was one of only two competitors to earn a 9.900 or higher on multiple events.
In addition to Stypinski, sophomore Kennedy Plude delivered her best beam routine as a collegiate and scored a career-high 9.900 to tie for third. Senior Milena Fabry nearly matched her career-high, tying for 13th with a 9.825. Junior Ali Marrero scored a 9.775 and senior Jordan Hardison earned a 9.750 to round out the scoring for the Flashes.
Kent State had three gymnasts finish in the top-20 on bars. Sophomore Dara Williams matched her career-high of 9.825 for the second straight meet to tie for 14th and senior Skyelee Lamano tied for 20th with a 9.775.
On floor, Stypinski led the way with a 9.875 to tie for sixth. Hardison was right behind, tying for 10th with a 9.850. Freshman Jade Brown scored a 9.800 in her conference championship debut to finish 24th.
Stypinski and Williams both scored a 9.775 on vault to tie for 15th.
FOLLOW THE FLASHES
Be sure to follow the Kent State gymnastics team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for news and updates about the squad. Live meet updates will be available through Twitter.
Players Mentioned
