Louisiana State Coach D.D. Pollock is not exactly a big fan of the new format at this year's NCAA Championships.
Arizona Coach Jim Gault thinks its great, and so does Penn State's Steve Shephard.
But however one feels about the new system, it will undoubtedly breed one of the most heatedly competitive championship meets in history.
Here's a brief-as-can-be summary of how the meet, to be held at Oregon State University, will be run: The even-numbered seeds will compete in one session and the odd-numbered seeds in another session tomorrow night. From there, the top three scores of each session will advance to the "Super Six" on Friday night. Scores will not carry over, so Friday's meet scores will determine the national champion.
The individual finals will be held on Saturday, using the top eight scorers from tomorrow night's sessions.
Got it?
Penn State, seeded 12th, will face these five teams tomorrow night:
No. 2 Utah: There seems to be no end to the flood of outstanding gymnasts Utah Coach Greg Marsden obtains. Senior Kristen Kenoyer, unleashed from the shadow of graduated Olympian Missy Marlowe, has scored a 10 on every event this season. The 12-time All-American also set an NCAA record with a mind-boggling 39.9 in the all-around. But the key to the Lady Utes is once again their mouth-watering depth. Kelly Wolsey has scored above 39 in the all-around six times this season, Aimee Trepanier has 10s on the uneven bars and floor exercise and Suzanne Metz has scored at least a 9.9 on every event -- and by the way, they're all sophomores. Barring a major miracle (or disaster), the Lady Utes should run away with the even-seeded session and challenge Georgia for their second consecutive NCAA title. "Even if one of those teams (Utah or Georgia) falters, they're going to have to falter a lot for another team to catch them," Gault said.
No. 4 Louisiana State: The Lady Lions defeated LSU at Rec Hall in their first meet of the season, 190.6-188.1. However, that was a different Lady Tiger team than the one which scored a 194.7 at the NCAA Central Regional. "We had an outstanding meet -- our best in history," Pollock said. "We only had one small break on floor."
But tomorrow night's meet will not be held on the Lady Tigers' home floor, as regionals were.
Pollock had a plethora of negative energy about this year's championship format. "I think it's a bad system," she said. "We never ask athletes to train hard three days in a row."
No. 6 Auburn: The Lady Tigers fell to Penn State in the Cat Classic earlier this season. However, they also set a school-record at the Central Regional with a 194.2. Lady Tiger Becky Erwin, who scored two 10s on floor this season, captured a school all-around record with a 39.275 at the regional meet.
No. 8 Arizona: The Wildcats have suffered through a number of injuries and misfortune, but still can boast one of the nation's strongest lineups. Arizona scored a 194.15 against Arizona State three weeks ago, led by All-American Stacy Fowlkes. Fowlkes, Kristi Gunning and Jenna Karadbil are the top three of the Wildcats' five all-arounders.
"They have really held up the whole place," Gault said of his all-arounders.
No. 10 Arizona State: This team finished third at the Midwest Regional, behind Utah and Arizona. However, the Sun Devils defeated Arizona with a 194.55 on March 19, and scored a 194.8 earlier in the season. Tina Brinkman has scored 10s on vault and floor in her career, and scored a 39.25 in the all-around at regionals.
Penn State will compete in the late session, beginning at about 10 p.m. on the East Coast.
