ITHACA, N.Y. -- With plenty to compete for, the Cornell gymnastics team will head into the 2012 ECAC championship not only attempting to defend its 2011 crown, but also trying to qualify for the final spot at the 2012 USAG nationals. The meet will be held at Penn's famed Palestra and begins Saturday, March 24 at noon.

With just one weekend remaining in the 2012 regular season, the Big Red ranks 10th in the USAG Collegiate Rankings with a RQS score of 190.220. Centenary currently sits in eighth with a 190.795. The Big Red will need to upgrade a 188.950 score still figuring into the RQS to have a chance to surpass both Centenary and Brown earn the final spot in the team championships.

A year ago, the Big Red won its first-ever ECAC gymnastics team title by topping the seven team field with a 191.675 and claimed five individual champions on three different events. McKenna Archer and Emily Santoro shared the vault crown, Alexis Schupp and Maddie Pearsall shared the title on bars and Melanie Standridge won the beam title.