With a second-place finish at the South Central Regional Championships in Tempe on Saturday, the No. 12 Arizona gymnastics team earned a berth at the NCAA Championships in Tuscaloosa, Ala., in two weeks.

By finishing in the top two positions, UCLA and Arizona will advance to the NCAA championship, along with the first- and second-place teams from each of the other five regional competitions that were held over the weekend around the nation.

Top-ranked UCLA dominated the regional competition with a team score of 197.425, while No. 18 Arizona State (194.875) finished in third, just behind the Wildcats (194.950). Brigham Young (194.000), Cal State Fullerton (192.000) and Illinois-Chicago (191.925) rounded out the field.

Following the fourth rotation, it looked as if the Wildcats might be on the outside looking in, with UA sitting in third place behind UCLA and ASU after three events. But a strong showing on the beam ended up being the turning point, allowing the Gymcats to slip past rival ASU and into the top two.

"After the first two events we were off - it really wasn't our best meet by any means," UA senior Randi Liljenquist said. "After that, (head coach Bill Ryden) pulled us together and said, 'This is it, its either make or break. We've worked this whole year for this moment.' We took his words and went out there as a team and were able to pull through in the end."

UCLA ran away with the competition from the start, holding the top two individual positions in each event except for the beam and the all-around. UCLA sophomore Jamie Dantzscher cleaned up in the individual events, winning the all-around competition, floor exercise, bars and vault titles, while finishing third on the beam.

The only non-Bruin gymnast to finish in the top two in an event was Liljenquist, who tied for first on the beam with a score of 9.925. Liljenquist also finished seventh on vault (9.775) and eighth in the all-around (38.775).

UA freshman Monica Bisordi finished fourth in the all-around competition (38.950), while tying for ninth on the beam with Arizona freshmen Jamie Duce, Katie Johnson and Stevie Fanning at 9.800. Bisordi also tied for ninth place on vault with junior Nikki Beyschau, scoring a 9.750.

"This was a defining competition for us," Ryden said. "It wasn't our best meet, but it really shows the character of the team. It showed that they will compete until the last breath."

Following the meet, Liljenquist was honored as the South Central Region gymnast of the year, while Ryden received coach of the year honors for the region.

Ryden said he sees a tough challenge ahead in facing UCLA for a fourth time this season in Alabama.

"Against any program like (UCLA), not to mention the other top programs that will be there, I think that we have to be at our absolute best and let the chips fall where they may," Ryden said. "A school like that isn't going to beat themselves, so we have to be at our absolute best."

Liljenquist said she is looking forward to putting everything on the line at nationals, which will mark the last time she, and fellow seniors Nicci Filchner and Lindsay Compitello, will step onto the mats as a Wildcat.

"Knowing that this is our last meet, we're just going to have fun with it," Liljenquist added. "That's all we can do is just play the crowd, do our best, and see what happens. We've all worked so hard this season. I just love this team and I'm so proud of all of them."