ATHENS, Ga. — LSU junior Nicki Arnstad finished in a second-place tie in the floor exercise in the evening session of the 2001 NCAA Gymnastics Championship preliminary round with a score of 9.90 on Thursday to advance to Saturday’s Individual Event Finals and earn All-America honors.
Georgia’s Suzanne Sears scored a 9.95 to win the floor exercise. Melissa Vituj of Utah, Lise Leveille of Stanford, Cory Fritzinger and Marline Stephens of Georgia all tied with Arnstad for second place with 9.90s.
All six gymnasts will join the seven qualifiers from the afternoon session in the event finals, where the floor exercise national champion will be crowned beginning at 6 p.m. CDT on Saturday.
Arnstad will be joined by Jill Fisher of Maryland as the only individual qualifiers to advance to the individual event championships.
Arnstad, who was an individual all-around qualifier for the NCAA Championships, also scored 9.850 on the beam as well as a pair of 9.70s on vault and bars. She finished in a tie for seventh place in the beam competition, just .025 points from qualifying for the event finals in that event.
Arnstad qualified for the championships based on her performance in the all-around competition in the NCAA Northeast Regional two weeks ago in Ann Arbor, Mich. In that meet, the LSU gymnastics team’s season came to an end as it finished third.
Her all-around score of 39.150 on Thursday was the highest among the 12 individual all-around qualifiers and was good enough for 14th-place overall. Onnie Willis of UCLA and Elise Ray of Michigan tied for the all-around National Championship with scores of 39.525.
Arnstad will compete in the NCAA Championship floor exercise individual event finals on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. CDT in Stegeman Coliseum on the campus of the University of Georgia.
Top 15 All-Around Scores (Both Sessions):
| All-Arounder, Team | Score |
| 1. Onnie Willis, UCLA | 39.525 |
| 1. Elise Ray, Michigan | 39.525 |
| 3. Jeana Rice, Alabama | 39.475 |
| 3. Mohini Bhardwaj, UCLA | 39.475 |
| 3. Yvonne Tousek, UCLA | 39.475 |
| 6. Alecia Ingram, Nebraska | 39.300 |
| 6. Kristin Sterner, Alabama | 39.300 |
| 8. Deidra Graham, Utah | 39.275 |
| 8. Lindsay Wing, Stanford | 39.275 |
| 10. Theresa Wolf, Utah | 39.250 |
| 11. Bridget Knaeble, Michigan | 39.225 |
| 12. Kristi Lichey, Georgia | 39.200 |
| 13. Kara Waterhouse, Florida | 39.175 |
| 14. Nicki Arnstad, LSU^ | 39.150 |
| 15. Raegan Tomasek, Alabama | 39.125 |
| 15. Hilary Thompson, Florida | 39.125 |
^ Individual All-Around Qualifier
Floor Exercise Scores
(Evening Session Scores):
(top four scores plus ties advance)
1. Suzanne Sears, Georgia, 9.95*
2. Nicki Arnstad, LSU, 9.90*
2. Melissa Vituj, Utah, 9.90*
2. Lise Leveille, Stanford, 9.90*
2. Cory Fritzinger, Georgia, 9.90*
2. Marline Stephens, Georgia, 9.90*
Balance Beam Scores
(Evening Session Scores):
(top four scores plus ties advance)
1. Shannon Bowles, Utah, 9.95*
2. Lindsay Wing, Stanford, 9.925*
3. Cory Fritzinger, Georgia, 9.90*
4. Theresa Kulikowski, Utah, 9.875*
4. Kylee Wagner, Utah, 9.875*
4. Theresa Wolf, Utah, 9.875*
7. Nicki Arnstad, LSU, 9.85
7. Talya Vexler, Georgia, 9.85
7. Jen French, Nebraska, 9.85
* qualifies for NCAA Individual Event Championships