DENTON, Texas (Apr. 7) – The Pioneers will travel to St. Charles, MO, to compete in the 2016 USA Gymnastics Collegiate National Championships on April 8-10.  The championships will be hosted by Lindenwood University at Hyland Arena.
 
The gymnastics action will begin with two semifinal sessions on Friday, April 8 at 2:00 and 7:00 p.m.  The top teams from each semifinal session will advance to the team finals on Saturday, April 9 at 7:00 p.m.  The top-five scoring gymnasts in each event, including ties, from each team session will qualify for the individual event finals on Sunday, April 10 at 1:00 p.m.
 
TWU will compete in the second semifinal session on Friday along with Brown, Lindenwood and Yale.  Air Force, Bridgeport, Cornell and Seattle Pacific and Yale will compete in the 2:00 p.m. session.
 
The Pioneers enter the championships as the sixth seed, based on the Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) of 192.790.  Bridgeport, the six-time champion from 2009-14, will come in as the top seed with a RQS of 194.575 followed by the defending champion Lindenwood (194.405) at number two.  Brown (193.515) is third for the second straight season while Seattle Pacific (193.340) and Cornell (193.010) are fourth and fifth respectively.  Yale (192.025) is seeded seventh while Air Force comes in at eight with a RQS of 191.895.
 
TWU has won a total of nine USA Gymnastics National Championships in 24 years.  The last title for the Pioneers came in 2008.
 
Live stats and live video are available for the championships all three days courtesy of Lindenwood Athletics.  The link can be accessed by clicking the "Multimedia" tab on TWUAthletics.com.