Feb. 19, 2013

THIS WEEK
Sunday, Feb. 24 -- at No. 25 West Virginia, vs. New Hampshire, vs. Towson (Morgantown, W.Va.), 2 p.m. 

With the halfway point in the season passed, the No. 3-ranked University of Michigan women's gymnastics team (9-1, 5-1 Big Ten) begins a three-week stretch of road meets this Sunday (Feb. 24), facing No. 25 West Virginia (6-5), New Hampshire (9-3) and Towson (7-7) in a quad meet in Morgantown, W.Va. The meet will begin at 2 p.m. at Cary Gym.

RANKINGS

Michigan remains at No. 3 in this week's GymInfo/Troester rankings (196.939) for the fourth consecutive week. The Wolverines have been ranked in the top three every week this season, including No. 1 on two occasions (Jan. 11 and Jan. 21) and also No. 2 (Jan. 14). The top two spots in the rankings continue to be held by Florida (197.296) and Oklahoma (197.171), respectively. 

The Wolverines rank among the top 10 nationally in all four events, including tops in the nation on floor exercise (49.346). They are also ranked third on balance beam (49.125), fourth on uneven bars (49.261) and eighth on vault (49.207). Individually, senior Katie Zurales and junior Joanna Sampson are ranked seventh (39.400) and eighth (49.375), respectively, in the all-around.

Including its scores from last Saturday's meet against Penn State, Michigan upped its scoring averages in four areas: team average (196.867 to 196.939), vault (49.188 to 49.207), uneven bars (49.242 to 49.261) and floor exercise (49.300 to 49.346).

The rankings, which are determined by season scoring average, are released every Monday. The rankings will switch over to Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) on Monday, Feb. 25. The RQS is important for two reasons. First, in the Big Ten, the teams with the highest four RQS scores will compete in the evening session (6 p.m.) of the Big Ten Championships on March 23 in East Lansing, Mich. Second, the top 18 teams will be seeded on a national basis (determined by RQS) for NCAA Regionals.

The Wolverines also raised their RQS from 196.770 to 196.905. A team's RQS is calculated by taking its six highest scores, three of which must be from road meets. The highest score is dropped and the remaining five are averaged. The team's RQS for this week is based on its results from the following meets:

1. 197.375 - Feb. 16 vs. Penn State
2. 197.350 - Jan. 19 vs. Illinois
3. 196.925 - Feb. 8 at Ohio State
4. 196.900 - Jan. 12 vs. Nebraska
5. 196.775 - Jan. 26 at Minnesota, vs. Central Michigan, vs. Iowa State
6. 196.575 - Jan. 4 at Cancun Classic

Michigan continues to build their level of gymnastics starting the season at a 196.575 at the Cancun Classic in the beginning of January to a 197.375 against Penn State on the 16th of February, and they are looking to progress further all the way to Super Six and to win a national championship--and this is the team to do it.