Carolina Gymnastics Continues Into Postseason With Regional Selection
March 28, 2005 INDIANAPOLIS - The North Carolina gymnastics team will compete in the 2005 NCAA Southeast Regional Championships Sat., April 9, at the University of Florida, NCAA officials announced Monday. Carolina qualified for the meet for the fourth consecutive year after winning its second East Atlantic Gymnastics League Championship Friday at NC State. Six teams, five all-around competitors (who are not on a qualifying team) and one individual event specialist per event were named to each of the six regions - West, North Central, South Central, Central, Northeast and Southeast. 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 Auburn, Alabama, April 21-23, hosted by Auburn University. In addition, the event winners at the regional championships will advance to the national championships (in that event only) if they are not part of a qualifying team or the all-around qualifiers. Carolina came within the closest margin possible of advancing to the 2004 nationals, when the Tar Heels placed third, .025 points behind second-place Nebraska at regionals. The year before, Carolina came within .05 points of runner-up Florida, just barely missing the national qualification. Courtney Bumpers advanced to the national finals both years as a result of her all-around performances at regionals. She placed fourth on balance beam in 2003 and won a share of the floor exercise title in 2004, tying with Alabama's Ashley Miles. This year, Carolina will be the fourth seed at the Southeast Regional, behind nationally-ranked No. 5 Georgia, No. 7 Florida and No. 17 Denver. The Tar Heels jumped to No. 25 in this week's national poll on www.troester.com. Before Friday's EAGL Championship, Carolina was ranked 29th. Below are the selections for the 2005 Southeast Regional. Southeast Region Teams All-Around Competitors Individual Event Specialists
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