Gymnastics headed to Seattle NCAA Regional

INDIANAPOLIS – BYU women's gymnastics is headed to Seattle, Wash., on April 5 for NCAA regional competition, the NCAA announced on Monday.

The Cougars are one of 36 teams in the nation to make it to one of six regional sites. It is the 23rd time in 26 years and the fifth straight time BYU has reached the NCAA regionals. This season, the Cougars have scored above 196 four times, including a season-high 196.425 against Denver in January.

BYU will compete with Alabama, Nebraska, Boise State, Denver and Washington in the Seattle regional. The Cougars have already faced Boise State, Denver and Washington this season. BYU beat Washington on March 7 in the Smith Fieldhouse with a 196.125 score. The Cougars finished behind Denver and Boise State in last weekend's Mountain Rim Gymnastics Championship at the Marriott Center. Alabama won the Southeastern Conference title over defending national champion Florida, while Nebraska finished second in the Big Ten Championships.

"If we could have gone anywhere, that's where we would have gone," BYU head coach Brad Cattermole said. "We've seen all those teams. We know what they do. It's just a matter of going in and hitting our routines. If we hit like we're capable of doing we can compete."

The top 18 teams are seeded nationally, based on regional qualifying scores. Teams are organized into pods and placed geographically at one of six sites. The National Championships will be held April 18-20 in Birmingham, Ala.