Its eyes set on a team berth in the 2004 NCAA national gymnastics championships, the No. 9 ISU women’s gymnastics team is determined not to let any team stand in its way.

Enter Georgia, Missouri and Michigan.

Those three, all ranked in the top 20, will all have something to say about it Saturday when they battle the second-seeded Cyclones for the two national-qualifying spots up for grabs at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championship.

“I feel great about our seed,” head coach K.J. Kindler said.

She said the team’s No. 2 seeding at regionals has a big advantage over last year’s third seed and should put the Cyclones in an excellent position to qualify for nationals.

“[Being the No. 2 seed] helps our team in knowing that we should be going to nationals, and if we do our job, there is nothing to stop us,” senior Chee Chee Calina said.

The Cyclones’ toughest competition will likely come from some familiar faces.

No. 4 Georgia will go into the competition as the favorite after placing third at last year’s national championship and beating the Cyclones 197.4-196.625 in Athens, Ga., earlier this season.

“At least we know what’s coming,” Kindler said. “A lot of times, we’ll go to regionals and not have seen the team.”

Calina said the Cyclones are hungry to see how they stack up against Georgia this time around.

“If we would have stayed on the equipment [at Georgia], we would have won,” Calina said. “It showed us we’re as capable of a team as they are, but this time we’re on even ground.”

Even if the Gym Dogs walk away with the regional title, the Cyclones would still advance to nationals with a second-place finish — but No. 16 Missouri and No. 19 Michigan will be nipping at the Cyclones’ heels.

“We’ve seen [Missouri] twice and had success against them each time,” Kindler said.

However, a strong Tiger showing at the Big 12 championships left Kindler admitting that her team is “going to have to be on their toes regardless [of its previous victories over the Tigers].”

Kindler said the Cyclones’ biggest obstacle will likely be overcoming fourth-seeded Michigan.

“[Michigan’s] No. 4 seed is not representative of their talent,” Kindler said. “They had a rough start this year with injuries, but were in the Super Six last year.”

Michigan has struggled all year with consistency but has proved itself once already in the postseason, winning the Big 10 Championship with a 197.8, Kindler said.

“We have our numbers going for us — they are an indicator that we have a strong team,” Kindler said. “[Compared to Michigan], we’ve been much more consistent, and even though they have had success in past years, we’ll have to see who comes out on top this year.”

Calina said the Cyclones still have vivid memories of last year’s NCAA North Central Regionals in Annapolis, Md., where the Cyclones finished two tenths behind the Wolverines and two tenths from nationals.

“It was hard, because we went to nationals [to support then-freshman Erin Dethloff, who competed individually] and had to watch [the other teams] compete,” Calina said. “We knew we deserved to be out there.”

Both Kindler and Calina said the team’s recent second-place finish at the Big 12 championship to Oklahoma by the smallest possible margin, .025, has helped motivate the team to ensure the same result does not occur at regionals.

“[The team] is on a mission,” Kindler said. “Practices have been great — they know what they need and want to do, they just have to put it together.”

Calina said the members of the team have a lot to prove to themselves.

“Our season is still not over, and we have other places that we want to go,” she said.

The Cyclones will attempt to become the second team in ISU women’s gymnastics history to qualify as a team to the NCAA Nationals after posting a 9-1-1 regular season record.

The six-team regional competition will take place Saturday at 5 p.m. in the Recreation Building at Penn State in State College, Pa.