The field for the 2016 USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate National Championships was released on Monday afternoon. The national event will be held on April 8-10 at Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Mo.
The teams that earned a spot in the nationals were Bridgeport, Lindenwood, Brown, Seattle Pacific, Cornell, Texas Woman's, Yale, and Air Force. Individuals from Pennsylvania, West Chester, Southern Connecticut, and Centenary will also be in action throughout the weekend.
The national championship event will begin on Friday, April 8, with the team semifinals. The first session will include Bridgeport, Seattle Pacific, Cornell, and Air Force, and the evening session has Lindenwood, Brown, Texas Woman's, and Yale. The top two teams in each session will advance to Saturday's team finals. The top five individuals in each event for the two Friday sessions will also advance to the individual finals, which will take place on Sunday afternoon.
Bridgeport enters the competition as the top seed after finishing with a regional-qualifying score (RQS) of 194.575. The Purple Knights, which won the ECAC Division II Championship, captured the USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate Team Championship for six straight seasons from 2009-2014.
Lindenwood, the host school, is the defending national champions after capturing the title last year in just its third year as a program. The Lady Lions won last week's MIC Championships, and enter with a RQS mark of 194.310.
Lindenwood and Bridgeport, which finished one-two at last year's national event, will be the two favorites. The two teams have met once earlier this year, with Lindenwood winning by over a point in St. Charles. The Lady Lions have the highest score in 2016 between the two schools with a 195.325, but Bridgeport has the higher average with a 193.938.
Brown will be the third seed, followed by Seattle Pacific. Brown has a RQS score of 193.515 and finished second at last week's ECAC Division I Championships. Seattle Pacific finished third at last year's national event and will enter with a RQS of 193.340.
The last two national champions not from Bridgeport and Lindenwood are the fifth and sixth seeds. Cornell, the 2009 co-champion, is fifth after winning last week's ECAC Division I Championship. It enters with a RQS of 193.010. Texas Woman's has won a record eight USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate team titles, with its most recent coming in 2008. It has a RQS of 192.790.
Yale and Air Force will round out the team participants. Yale has a RQS of 192.025, and Air Force has a 191.895 RQS.
One of the top individuals to watch is West Chester's Majesta Valentine, who is one of the favorites to win the all-around title. Cornell will be led by Kaitlin Green, who enters with the highest qualifying score on the beam. Among the top gymnasts to watch on Pennsylvania is Elyse Shenberger who was co-champion at last week's ECAC Division I Championships on the bars. Centenary is led by all-arounder Ashley White.
The first semifinal on April 8 will take place at 2 p.m., followed by the second semifinal at 7 p.m. The team finals on April 9 will start at 7 p.m., and the individual finals on April 10 will start at 1 p.m. Tickets are $15 for a day pass, or $30 for an all-event pass, and they can be purchased at www.lindenwoodlions.com.
