March 29, 2000
TEMPE, Ariz. - Two NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championship births will be awarded at the Region 3 Championships, April 1 at the McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz beginning at 6:00 p.m. Arizona State, ranked 17th with a Regional Qualifying Score of 195.280, will battle for a spot against #5 Nebraska, seventh-ranked LSU, host Arizona, Missouri and Illinois-Chicago. Also competing in Tucson are top gymnasts from Region 3 schools which did not qualify as a team. The two highest soring teams in each of the six regional meets will advance to the NCAA Championships April 13-15 in Boise, Id. In addition, the all-around champion and individual event winners will also advance to Boise if they are not members of one of the qualifying teams.
The Rotation
The Devils drew a competition rotation in which they will open the meet with a bye, then compete on the uneven bars and balance beam before another bye, and finish on the floor exercise and vault. All-aounder Michelle Huston of Illinois State will join the Devils in their rotation.
| V | Bye | UB | Beam | Bye | Floor | |||
| I | LSU | ASU | UA | NEB | MO | UIC | ||
| II | UIC | LSU | ASU | UA | NEB | MO | ||
| III | MO | UIC | LSU | ASU | UA | NEB | ||
| IV | NEB | MO | UIC | LSU | ASU | UA | ||
| V | UA | NEB | MO | UIC | LSU | ASU | ||
| VI | ASU | UA | NEB | MO | UIC | LSU |
Scouting the Regional Opponents
Nebraska has qualified for five of the past six NCAA Championships, and hold the top seed in Tucson with a RQS of 196.675. The Huskers' Heather Brink is the nation's fifth-ranked all-arounder and #2 vault artist. Fresh off a second place tie at the SEC Championships, Louisiana State comes to Tucson with 196.390 RQS and top-10 rankings in three of the four events. Sophomoe Randi Liljenquist ? the nation's 10th-ranked all-arounder ? leads Arizona, which placed seventh at the Pac-10 Championships. Missouri and Illinois-Chicago, the fourth and fifth ranked teams in Region 3, respectively, are both positioned amongst the top-25 in beam competition.
Looking Back at 1999
Last season Arizona State was shipped to State College, Pa., for the NCAA Region 5 Championships, where they placed second behind host Penn State with a score of 195.100. Lea Carver tied for top honors on the balance beam at 9.875, while Elizabeth Reid did the same in uneven bar competition with her 9.925 mark. ASU also got a strong performance from Wendy Ellsberry, who finished fourth as an all-arounder at 38.975. The Sun Devils' second place performance advanced them to the NCAA Championships in Salt Lake City, where they placed fourth overall.
Pac-10 Championship Recap
The 2000 Pac-10 Championships, held March 18 in Tempe, netted a fourth place conference finish for Arizona State and a season high team score of 196.875. In addition ASU had its first individual event winners since 1996 as senior Elizabeth McNabb and sophomore Lea Carver tied a pair of UCLA Bruins for first place on the floor at 9.925.
ASU Head Coach John Spini on the NCAA Regionals
"We're looking pretty good at the right time of the year. I really believe in this team. I think they're going to make it to Nationals with a good statement at the end here."
"On beam we're all we can be, difficulty-wise. You're going to see us step up on vault a little bit. We only have five vaulters, so everything is going to count. And, I think, you're going to see a pretty good bar team out there. So the only thing we're concerned about is keeping this team healthy."
Sun Devil Three-Dot Data
ASU has scored above 195.0 the past three meets ... the Devils rank ninth nationally on the beam with an RQS of 48.915 and 11th on the bars at 49.125 ... individually, Lea Carver is tied for 12th best in the country on beam, holding an RQS of 9.880 ... right behnd her in a tie for 17th is Elizabeth McNabb (9.875) ... McNabb's floor exercise RQS of 9.910 ranks her in a tie for 12th ...junior Kelly Christensen-Cowley earned Pac-10 Gymnast of the Week honors following a stellar meet against Arizona in which she set new career highs on the floor and vault ... senior Elizabeth Reid was released from the team last week by Head Coach John Spini ... in 2000 the Devils extended their home winning streak to 20 meets, during which they have defeated 29 opponents ... ASU was last defeated in Wells Fargo Arena on Feb. 2, 1996 by defending national champion Utah.
Devils Excel in the Classroom
Five Sun Devils were recently named to the Pac-10' s All-Academic Team, keeping alive a strong tradition of scholastic achievement among ASU gymnasts. Senior Elizabeth McNabb earned her second sonsecutive First Team selection and third conference honor overall. Junior Kristin Fanning earned Second Team All-Academic honors, while juniors Becky Acker, Kim Skinner and sophomore Ashley Stewart were Honorable Mention selections. In addition, the Sun Devil gymnastics team had the highest GPA among all women's sports at ASU for the 1999 fall semester.
ASU Inks Two During Early Signing Period
Two elite-level junior gymnasts, Maggie Germaine of Mesa, Ariz., and Amber Giorgianni from San Jose, Calif., will join the Arizona State gymnastics team as freshmen in 2001. Giorgianni comes to ASU with impressive credentials, winning the 1998 Junior Olympic National Championship before placing second last year. Germaine qualified for the same competition as a member of Desert Lights Gymnastics. The native of Mesa will be one of six Phoenix-area gymnasts on the Sun Devil roster next season.