Gymnasts Clinch NCAA Berth

April 4, 2009

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	Ranking	Record	Final Score
OKLAHOMA	No. 9	17-5	196.600
Alabama	No. 3	19-5	197.000
Missouri	No. 15	20-6	196.000
Central Mich.	NR	19-5	194.925
New Hampshire	NR	19-17	193.650
Maryland	NR	15-19	192.800

Oklahoma Women's Gymnastics Schedule and Results

Event Breakdown	OU	ALA
Vault	49.175	49.100
Bars	49.125	49.225
Beam	48.975	49.350
Floor	49.325	49.325

Event Breakdown	MU	CMU
Vault	48.725	48.650
Bars	49.350	48.875
Beam	49.000	48.825
Floor	48.925	48.575

Event Breakdown	MARY	N.H.
Vault	48.500	48.225
Bars	48.025	48.625
Beam	48.525	48.825
Floor	47.750	47.975

OU	Event Leaders			ALA
Jackson	39.350	AA	39.550	Priess
Root	9.9	Vault	9.9	Hoffman
Vise	9.9	Bars	9.95	Hoffman
3 Gymnasts	9.85	Beam	9.95	Priess
3 Gymnasts	9.875	Floor	9.925	Dennis

MU	Event Leaders			CMU
Shire	39.450	AA	39.050	Simon
Shire	9.825	Vault	9.8	Simon
Hatcher	9.9	Bars	9.85	Simon
Shire	9.9	Beam	9.85	2 Gymnasts
2 Gymnasts	9.85	Floor	9.825	Conlin

MARY	Event Leaders			N.H.
George	38.425	AA	-	-
2 Gymnasts	9.75	Vault	9.725	Turner
Adams	9.8	Bars	9.775	Reibold
George	9.8	Beam	9.825	Steinberg
Brenner	9.75	Floor	9.75	2 Gymnasts

• OU Women's Gymnastics Central | Big 12 Conference
• 2009 Meet Notes |

2009 Photos | Troester
• Rankings | OU Season Highs | Tickets | LNC

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The ninth-ranked OU women's gymnastics squad earned its sixth consecutive NCAA Championships appearance, tallying a 196.600 team score en route to runner-up honors at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

It was Oklahoma's highest team tally at a regional since winning the 2004 NCAA West Regional in Corvallis, Ore., with a team result of 197.100.

No. 3 Alabama, the host squad of the event, posted a team score of 197.000 for the regional title, as the two squads advance to the 2009 NCAA Championships in Lincoln, Neb., on April 16-18. Missouri (196.000),

Central Michigan (194.950), New Hampshire (192.950) and Maryland (192.725) rounded out the six-team field.

“I'm very encouraged with our performance tonight as we came in and gave Alabama all they wanted,” said OU head coach K.J. Kindler. “We hit 24-of-24 routines and had our best floor and vault team performances of the season by far. Our showing on beam was not characteristic of how strong I believe we can be on that event, but in the end it's a big improvement overall over our Big 12 Championships meet.”

Oklahoma won the team title on vault, spurred on by Melanie Root's event-title sharing 9.9, while the Sooners shared floor honors with the Crimson Tide after a season-best-tying 49.325.

Opening the meet on bars, the Sooners posted a team tally of 49.125 for the early lead through one rotation. Hollie Vise tallied a team-high 9.9 from the anchor position, while Big 12 bars co-champion's Megan Ferguson and Ashley Jackson had routines of 9.85 and 9.825, respectively. Haley DeProspero led off with a 9.75, before Root and Jessica Kinder followed in the second and third spots with a pair of 9.775s.

The Sooners held a 0.2 point advantage over third-seeded Missouri (48.925 – floor), while No. 1 seed Alabama started the meet on a bye.

Jackson opened for Oklahoma on beam with a 9.8 before Kristin Smith scored a 9.675. Natalie Ratcliff and Ferguson countered with respective routines of 9.8 and 9.85, while DeProspero anchored the lineup with a 9.85 after a 9.6 from Vise in the fifth position. After a team tally of 48.975 on beam, OU held a 98.100-97.650 advantage over Missouri, as the two squads were the only teams in the six-team field without a bye in one of the first two rotations.

Trailing Alabama 98.425-98.100 after a bye in the third rotation, Oklahoma tallied a season-high-tying 49.325 on floor in earning a share of the event title with the Crimson Tide. OU counted no score lower than 9.85, as Jackie Flanery, Jackson and Smith closed the rotation with back-to-back-to-back 9.875s. Sara Stone led off with a career-high 9.85, besting her previous personal high of 9.825 set in this same building on March 13, while Kinder matched Stone's score.

Oklahoma clinched its sixth-straight NCAA Championships berth with an event-winning 49.175 on vault. Root posted her second-straight vault score of 9.9 inside Coleman Coliseum (career high), as Jackson was right on her heels with a 9.85. DeProspero and Stone both tallied 9.825s, while Ratcliff closed with a 9.775.

The Sooners had a bye in the final rotation and were forced to watch host-squad Alabama on beam to see if they would finish first or second at the Northeast Regional. After a Crimson Tide fall in the first position, Alabama closed with an event-winning 49.350 for the regional title.

“To pull out the scores we did on vault and floor in a regional championships is very encouraging and I am looking forward to even better things at NCAA's,” added Kindler. “Our goal is to be in action on the last night of competition in the team finals and I believe we're on track to make a run for it.”

Jackson (39.350) and Deprospero (39.225) finished fourth and sixth, respectively, in the all-around competition.