ATHENS, Ga. — LSU junior gymnast Nicki Arnstad finished in a tie for sixth place in the floor exercise competition of the 2001 NCAA Individual Event Finals on Saturday night in Athens, Ga.
Arnstad, a native of Green Bay, Wisc., scored a 9.888 on the apparatus to tie Alabama’s Jeana Rice for sixth place in the 13-gymnast floor final.
UCLA, which won the team National Championship in Friday night’s Super Six competition, completed its championship run with individual event titles on the floor and beam. Mohini Bhardwaj won the floor with a score of 9.963, while her Bruin teammate Yvonne Tousek won the beam with a 9.938.
Georgia’s Cory Fritzinger took the vault title with a 9.881 and former national team member Theresa Kulikowski won the uneven bars with a 9.938.
Arnstad qualified for the Individual Event Finals based on her 9.90 performance and second-place score in the evening session of the preliminary round on Thursday evening. She also placed 14th in the all-around competition with a score of 39.150, the highest of any individual qualifier.
She was joined by Maryland’s Jill Fisher as the only two individual qualifiers to advance to the event finals. Fisher finished fourth on the floor with a score of 9.913.
Because LSU did not qualify for the NCAA Team Championships after finishing third in the NCAA Northeast Regional two weeks ago, Arnstad was able to qualify to compete as an individual all-arounder.
2001 NCAA Event Champions
Vault Champion – Cory Fritzinger, UGA (9.881)
Balance Beam Champion – Theresa Kulikowski, Utah (9.938)
Uneven Bars Champion – Yvonne Tousek, UCLA ( 9.938)
Floor Exercise Champion – Mohini Bhardwaj, UCLA (9.963)
Floor Exercise Finals:
| Individual, School | Score |
| 1. Mohini Bhardwaj, UCLA | 9.963 |
| 2. Jamie Dantzscher, UCLA | 9.95 |
| 3. Suzanne Sears, Georgia | 9.925 |
| 4. Jill Fisher, Maryland | 9.913 |
| 5. Onnie Willis, UCLA | 9.90 |
| 6. Nicki Arnstad, LSU | 9.888 |
| 6. Jeana Rice, Alabama | 9.888 |
| 8. Marline Stephens, Georgia | 9.863 |
| 8. Melissa Vituj, Utah | 9.863 |
| 8. Elise Ray, Michigan | 9.863 |
| 11. Lise Leveille, Stanford | 9.85 |
| 12. Cory Fritzinger, Georgia | 9.375 |
| 13. Hilary Thompson, Florida | 9.338 |