There was a major surprise at the University of Missouri as the host school and Oregon State advanced over five-time defending champ Georgia to reach nationals in Gainesville, Fla.
The Florida Gators also qualified for the national meet on their home floor by beating Utah in Salt Lake City by a score of 197.675-196.900. Ashanee Dickerson, Maranda Smith and senior leader Amanda Castillo paved the way for the victory. Utah will also advance as they finished second thanks to outstanding performances from star gymnasts Daria Bijak who did alas havea surprsing fall on floor.
At Penn State, Oklahoma (first) and LSU (second) advanced even though Nittany Lion gymnast Brandi Personett beat out Oklahoma gymnast Hollie Vise (a former Olympian) to win the all around on her home floor with a score of 39.5*
And, at UCLA, the hometown Bruins won with a very impressive 197.825 score thanks to Anna Li (pictured) and Vanessa Zamarripa.
Stanford advanced in West Virginia along with Michigan.
And, Alabama (first) and Nebraska (second) qualified for nationals with their placements at the regional meet in Lexington, Ky.
*- CORRECTION: It was pointed to me by an Oklahoma Sooners gymnastics fan than Hollie Vise did not actually compete on the vault so Penn State's Brandi Personett, the all-around winner at the regional meet, did not actually beat her out. I was concerned that this might cause Oklahoma's governor C. Brad Henry to have this blog banned not only in Norman (he happens to be an OU grad), but also Tulsa, Oklahoma City and Broken Arrow. But, we think that we overted that. I had actually assumed that the governor was a Republican since Oklahoma is a very red state, so much so that I almost didn't bother to wiki him. But, much to my surprise, Gov. Henry is a Democrat! I guess the lesson here is never make assumptions, especially when it comes to the delicate matter of collegiate sports!
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