Chippewas head to regionals
Mike Dzikowski
The meet begins at 6 p.m. at Maravich Assembly Center.
CMU qualified with a regional score of 195.09 and is ranked No. 25 in the nation. Other schools competing will be No. 6 LSU, No. 7 Iowa State, No. 15 Florida, New Hampshire and Illinois State.
The top two teams advance to the NCAA Championships at Tuscaloosa, Ala., April 18-20. The top individuals in each event also will advance to nationals.
“We are not going down there for an appearance,” said Head Coach Jerry Reighard. “If we don’t beat the teams that advance, we are going to scare the pants off them.”
This will mark the third time CMU has qualified for the NCAA regionals. The squad finished third in 1999 at LSU with a score of 193.55 and fourth in 2000 at Alabama with a 193.2.
Reighard said it will take a school record team score, a score above 196, to advance to nationals.
“That’s what the end of the season is for,” Reighard said. “It’s a great opportunity for us to turn in a peak performance.”
The school record is 195.95, scored in 2001 at Kent State.
Reighard said the first and second routines are important in order to build score, which will be the decisive factor.
“If we can stay on the events, we can reach that record score,” he said. “But the meet boils down to which team stays on the balance beam.
“All we can do is compete our hearts out.”
Central has a favorable rotation, he said. The team will begin with a bye, then bars, another bye, followed by beam, floor and finishing on vault.
LSU and Florida are out in the last rotation when scores will be the highest.
“It was just luck of the draw,” Reighard said.
Laura Chow was the only member of the Chippewas to compete at the NCAA regionals last year.
