NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State senior gymnast Sami King was selected to compete in the balance beam competition in the 2015 NCAA Regionals at the University of Oklahoma Saturday, April 4 at 4:00 p.m., in the Lloyd Noble Center.
Head coach Bob Conkling is excited to see King's hard work pay off as she competes alongside the top gymnasts in the country.
"We are very happy for Sami qualifying for regionals a fourth year in a row," Conkling said. "She has been rock solid on the balance beam these past two weeks in training, and is well prepared for the competition. Sami and the coaches are excited for her to compete with the best in the region, along with some of the strongest gymnasts in the country."
This will be King's fourth year competing at the NCAA Regional, as she took 16th place overall as a freshman with a score of 38.450, as a sophomore took sixth with a score of 39.125, and as a junior took 11th place in the balance beam competition with a score of 9.625.
The Canton, Michigan native added another all-conference honor and tied for first place in the balance beam competition at the 2015 Midwest Independent Conference Championships with a score of 9.900. King was named MIC Specialist of the Week in February, after scoring a 9.850 to win the balance beam competition and placed second with a 9.800 on the uneven bars competition in a dual-meet against Air Force Academy. King continued her success as she matched her personal-best score two days later against Lindenwood with a score of 9.900 to win the balance beam competition. King also improved her score on the uneven bars from Friday's competition with a 9.875, placing first in the event.
The top two teams and the top two all-around competitors (who are not on an advancing team) from each regional will receive an automatic berth to the national championships at the Fort Worth Convention Center, April 17-19, hosted by Texas Woman's and the Knight Eady Sports Group. The top two teams from the Norman, Auburn and Ames regionals will compete in one of the semifinals, and the top two teams from the Morgantown, Columbus and Berkeley regionals will compete in the other semifinal.
In addition, the event winners at each regional site will advance to the national championships (in that event only) if they are not part of a qualifying team or an all-around qualifier.
King will compete in the final rotation along with the rest of the team from North Carolina State.
The meet will be broadcast live on FOX Sports Southwest (FSSW) and FOX College Sports Central (FCSC). The broadcast will utilize a four-way split screen to show all routines. The link to an abbreviated channel guide is available at http://www.soonersports.tv/channels, including national providers for FSSW.
Links to live statistics are available at http://soonersports.com/fls/31000/microsites/ncaa/15wgym_ncaa_regional.html.
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