The NCAA announced the seeding for the 2008 National Collegiate Women's Gymnastics Championships on Monday. Utah received the fifth seed of the 12 qualifying teams.
A new format, introduced this season, determines a team's National Qualifying Score by adding each team's Regional Qualifying Score -- an average of a select six regular season meets -- to its regional competition score.
Although Utah's RQS placed them second in the country throughout most of the season, the team wound up with the fifth seed after the NQS was calculated.
Nationals begin April 24 in Athens, Ga. Utah will compete in Group A in the evening. Joining the Red Rocks will be three-time defending national champion and host Georgia, Stanford, Michigan, UCLA and Denver-seeds one, four, eight, nine and 12, respectively.
Competing in the afternoon are Florida, LSU, Alabama, Oregon State, Oklahoma and Arkansas.
The top three teams in each group will advance to the Super Six on April 25. The winner of the Super Six will be the national champion.
Also announced was each team's competition rotation. Utah drew the same format it experienced in regional competition-bye, bars, beam, bye, floor and vault.
Jon Gilbert
