BATON ROUGE — While the LSU gymnastics team’s season came to an end on April 7 with a third place finish at the NCAA Central Regional, the season continues for junior Nicki Arnstad, who will compete in the all-around at the NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga., on Thursday.
Arnstad qualified for the NCAA Championships by virtue of a third place finish in the all-around at the regional meet in Ann Arbor, Mich., registering a score of 39.225. Arnstad will compete in the evening session at 6 p.m. CT and with familiar company, as she will compete with the same Stanford squad that edged LSU for the second and final NCAA qualifying spot at the regional meet.
Arnstad gets a favorable rotational draw identical to that of a home meet. She begins on vault before going to bars, beam and winding up on her best event, the floor.
Other teams competing in the evening session are Arizona State, Denver, Nebraska, Utah and host-Georgia. Arnstad is one of 12 competitors for the all-around title comprised of the top athletes not competing in the team competition.
With LSU not competing in the team competition for the first time in five years, Arnstad becomes the first Tiger to compete in the all-around field since Jennifer Wood tied for third in Tuscaloosa, Ala., in 1996.
NCAA Championship Field
Thursday-Saturday, April 19-21
Stegeman Coliseum
Athens, Ga.
TEAMS
Day Session
Alabama
Florida
Michigan
Oklahoma
Oregon State
UCLA
Evening Session
Arizona State
Denver
Georgia
Nebraska
Stanford
Utah
All-Around Qualifiers
Dani Albright – San Jose State
Nicki Arnstad– LSU
Dinorh Boyd – West Virginia University
Gillian Cote – University of Maryland
Jill Fisher – University of Maryland
Kara Fry – University of Arizona
Tanya Huey – Iowa State University
Maryanne Kelley – University of Minnesota
Kelly Parkinson – Brigham Young University
Emily Pritchard – University of Washington
Suzanne Poretz – University of New Hampshire
Lindsey Vagedes – Ohio State University
Event Specialist Qualifiers
Mandi Klug – Balance Beam – University of Washington
Randi Liljenquist – Floor Exercise – University of Arizona
Kristen Macrie – Floor Exercise – West Virginia University
Katie McAvoy – Vault – Pennsylvania State University
Katie Rowland – Floor Exercise – Pennsylvania State University
Stephanie Sweitzer – Balance Beam – Iowa State University