Air Force Heads to MPSF Championships
3/16/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Gymnastics
March 16, 2016
The Air Force women's gymnastics team begins its championship season this Saturday (March 19), when it travels to Sacramento, Calif., for the 2016 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships. The Falcons will face conference foes from Alaska, Sacramento State, San Jose State, Seattle Pacific and UC Davis at The Nest, beginning at 6:00 p.m. (PT).
Meet Notes 11: at MPSF Championships 
MEET INFORMATION
Live stats will be available for the championship meet via http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=121842. Air Force has a bye during the opening rotation and will begin the competition on the floor exercise during the second rotation. The Falcons will compete on the vault during the third rotation and have another bye during the fourth, before concluding the competition on the uneven bars (fifth rotation) and balance beam (sixth rotation).
A LOOK AT THE CONFERENCE
UC Davis and Sacramento State currently lead the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation with matching regional qualifying scores of 194.790. San Jose State is ranked third with a 194.650, while Seattle Pacific (fourth, 193.240), Alaska (fifth, 192.455) and Air Force (sixth, 191.840) round out the conference. Individually, UC Davis' Stephanie Stamates leads the MPSF on the vault (9.875) and balance beam (9.865), while Sacramento State's Kalliah McCartney and Julia Komer lead the league on the uneven bars (9.805) and vault (9.830), respectively.
MPSF HISTORY
UC Davis is the defending conference champion, as it picked up its league-leading sixth title in 2015. Sacramento State has won four league championships, while Seattle Pacific (two), Alaska (one) and San Jose State (one) round out the conference's 14-year history.
AIR FORCE AGAINST THE LEAGUE
The Falcons only faced two of their conference opponents during the regular season. Air Force dropped a 188.750-186.950 decision to Seattle Pacific at the Academy in the season opener and closed out the regular season with back-to-back losses (192.925-190.675, 194,125-191.975) to Alaska in Anchorage.
LOOKING AROUND THE CONFERENCE
Highlighted by #11 rankings from Sarah Neumann and Kara Witgen, three Falcons are listed among the top 15 of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, based on Regional Qualifying Scores. Neumann is currently ranked 11th on the balance beam with a 9.760 RQS, while Witgen holds the same placement on the uneven bars (9.725). In addition, Witgen is also ranked 12th on the floor exercise (9.780) and Shannen Kelly is listed 14th on the beam (9.730).
WHAT'S AHEAD FOR THE FALCONS
Air Force returns to action on Saturday, April 2, when select individuals will compete at the NCAA Regional Championships. A complete list of regional qualifiers will be announced later this month.
