ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The LSU gymnastics team came up just short in its bid for a fifth consecutive NCAA Championship appearance, finishing third at the NCAA Northeast Regional at Crisler Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich., Saturday night.
No. 7 Michigan won the six-team event with an impressive 197.225 while No. 6 Stanford edged the 18th-ranked Tigers for second place and the final NCAA qualifying spot in a closely contested battle 196.725-196.300.
With the two teams separated by just .025 heading into the final rotation, Stanford came up with a near-flawless vault rotation, scoring a 49.300, its highest score in any event on the night. The Tigers went punch for punch with the Cardinal for three rotations, but were unable to for a fourth and only came up with a 48.900 on beam.
“We gave it everything we had but we came up a little short,” said LSU head coach D-D Breaux. “Michigan and Stanford are two great teams and we knew we had our work cut out for us. We competed as hard as we could have and that’s all I can ask from them. They competed with a championship attitude.
“This turned out to be an incredible regional. I imagine that there will be some teams going to nationals that didn’t score as high as we did, it was that tough here.”
Michigan was at its best from the start and separated itself from the field after two rotations while never looking back. It was clear at the midway point that the drama of this meet would be the race for second place.
The Tigers found themselves .025 behind Stanford for second place with a score of 98.150 after two rotations behind strong showings on both floor and vault.
The Tigers opened competition with a solid 49.050 on floor behind a pair of 9.85s from Marina Degteva and Nicki Arnstad in the fifth and sixth spots in the order respectively. Brooke Cazeaux added a 9.825 to help the Tigers’ cause.
Not often have the Tigers done better on vault than on floor this season, but that’s exactly what happened in LSU?s second rotation. The Tigers came up with their second best performance of the season, registering a 49.125 behind a 9.90 from Degteva. Freshman Kristin Uransky came up with a 9.85 while Adrienne Couret added a 9.80 to boost the Tigers.
At the same time Stanford posted scores of 49.175 on bars and 49.000 on beam.
As the teams moved to their third rotations, neither team would budge. The Tigers posted a 49.250 on bars and the Cardinal matched with a 49.250 on floor. Beth Boudreaux came up with a clutch 9.90 while Degteva added another strong score, posting a 9.875.
After three rotations Stanford led by a score of 147.425-147.400. New Hampshire finished fourth, followed by Rhode Island and UMass.
With the third place finish, the Tigers end the season with an 11-5 regular season record and a 2-3 mark in postseason action.
NCAA Northeast Regional
April 7, 2001
Crisler Arena
Ann Arbor, Mich.
Team Results
1, Michigan, 197.225. 2, Stanford, 196.725. 3, LSU, 196.250. 4, New Hampshire, 194.225. 5, Rhode Island, 189.025. 6, UMass, 188.625.
* Top two teams qualify for NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga., from April 19-21.