April 1, 2008

FULLERTON, CA - Cal State Fullerton freshmen Alaina Baker (all-around) and Maddie Steinauer (vault) were selected to compete as individuals for the 2008 NCAA Regionals hosted by Oregon State, while junior Jessica Tait was selected as an alternate on beam the NCAA announced.

Regionals begin at 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 12, in Corvallis, Ore. Michigan is the top-seeded team followed by the host Beavers, Michigan State, Washington, San Jose State, and Sacramento State.

Baker will be one of five individuals competing in the all-around while Steinauer will compete on vault only. They become the first Titan individuals to compete at regionals since 2005 when Brittany Hoffman competed as an all-arounder in Seattle, Wash., finishing 14th.

Tait will compete only if California's Bridgette Glass is unable to. Glass is also an alternate on bars.

Baker will begin her all-around on bars in the second rotation, following the top-seeded Wolverines throughout the competition. Steinauer will also compete on vault in rotation two alongside Sacramento State.

Individual event winners at regionals will advance to the national championships (in that event only) if they are not part of a qualifying team or the all-around qualifiers.

Fullerton last had a representative at the national championships in 2002 as Kelly Mathiasen qualified as an individual all-arounder, eventually finishing 13th.

Six teams, five all-around competitors who were not on a qualifying team, and one individual event specialist per event (who has a minimum regional qualifying score of 9.40) were named to each of the six regions. The top two teams and the top two all-around competitors not on an advancing team will receive an automatic berth to the national championships in Athens, Ga., on April 24-26.

2008 NCAA WEST REGIONALS
hosted by Oregon State - Corvallis, Ore.
April 12, 2008 - 6 p.m.

TEAM QUALIFIERS
1. Michigan
2. Oregon State
3. Michigan State
4. Washington
5. San Jose State
6. Sacramento State

INDIVIDUAL ALL-AROUND COMPETITORS
1. Alaina Baker, Cal State Fullerton
2. Sophia Hocini, California
3. Siobhan Luce, California
4. Tanya Ho, UC Davis
5. Jessica Kelley, California
Alt. Michelle Kulovitz, UC Davis

INDIVIDUAL EVENT SPECIALISTS
Vault - Maddie Steinauer, Cal State Fullerton (alt. Michelle Bobonski, UC Davis)
Bars - Lida Gehlen, UC Davis (alt. Bridgette Glass, California)
Beam - Bridgette Glass, California (alt. Jessica Tait, Cal State Fullerton)
Floor - Michelle Kulovitz, UC Davis (alt. Kelsey Fullerton, Alaska Anchorage)