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Show !MONDAY, APRIL l , 2001 PAGE14 UNIVERSITY JOURNAL SPORTS SUU gymnasts head · into regional action All FAcuLTy & STudE-NTs! 1 ~% off. youR , TOTAL pRucltAsE. • sltow us youR ST\JdENT OR fAcuhy idENTifiCATiON CARd., ' ~ ~• (GoUAMnW-) Southern Utah University's women's gymnastics squad fell just 0.1 8 points shy of qualifying for its second straight trip to the NCAA North Central Regional meet, but the Thunderbirds will fill all of the meet's at-large positions as five SUU gymnasts will compete in either the all-around or on individual events. SUU finished the season with a school-record regional qualifying score of 193.985, but it wasn't good enough as Air Force finished just ahead of the Thunderbirds. at 194.165, for the region's seventh team slot. "This [SUU's failure to qualify as a team) just makes me sick, literally." SUU Coach Scott Bauman said. ~This is without a doubt the most talented team we've ever had, but we just killed ourselves this year. We had several opportunit!e·s to put up big scores, but we continually shot ourselves in the foot with falls at inopportune times. We were in seventh following our final meet but we knew Air Force had two meets remaining-both in Colorado where they have traditionally scored well-and would close the season strorig. They did, so they're in and we're out; it's that simple." The good news for SUU is the school ~ - will be represented at the regional competition by five athletes, keeping alive its string of 11 consecutive showings in the post-season. Seniors Heather Slack and Suzi Clark both qualified as all-arounders and will compete with top-seeded Utah and second seed Iowa State, respectively. Junior 'Erica Burk qualified for an at-large spot on bars but will not compete because of a chronic back condition; she will be replaced by sophomore Cayce Overstreet. Sophomore Jayme Morgan, who missed qualifying as an all-arounder by one meet {gymnasts must compete in the all-around in a minimum of six meets to qualify), will compete as a specialist on vault and beam, and freshman Sandi Crosby will represent the TBirds on floor. "It's tough competing as individuals. either in the all-around or on the individual events, but we're going to go in there and give it our best shot," Bauman said. ·we have a couple of athletes who have legitimate shots at qualifying for nationals [in at-large positions] and it's too bad Burk can't go because she would have been another.· The regional meet is slated for Saturday at the University of Utah's Jon M. Huntsman Center. ~ - -- - - - - - - -- -- - - ----' |
