BATON ROUGE — The LSU gymnastics team moved into the top five in the nation on Monday morning, claiming the No. 5 spot in the latest GymInfo national rankings.
During the early stages of the season, the rankings are based on high scores and the Tigers are coming off one of their best early season performances ever, scoring a 196.200-194.775 victory over Auburn.
The ranking for the Tigers is the highest since the 1999 season when they held the No. 4 spot.
“It’s based on high score right now so a lot can change down the road,” said LSU head coach D-D Breaux. “It’s encouraging, however, that we were able to put together a score like that this early in the season and hopefully we will earn some respect from around the nation for putting up a score like that.”
Georgia held on to the No. 1 spot for the second consecutive week, while Utah moved up to the No. 2 spot following a breakout effort in which the Utes scored 197.200 in a victory last weekend. Utah will come to the Maravich Assembly Center for a showdown with the Tigers on Feb. 1.
UCLA grabbed the third spot followed by Nebraska and LSU.
The Tigers are ranked in the top 10 in the nation in all four events. They rank second in the nation in bars, third on vault, sixth on floor and 10th on beam.
Nicki Arnstad is tied for the No. 1 spot in the nation on floor, while Marina Degteva ranks sixth. Shanyn MacEachern is tied for fifth in the nation on vault, while Sharene Mamby is tied for the No. 4 spot in the nation on bars.
LSU returns to action on Friday evening when the Tigers travel to Gainesville for the second time in three weeks to take on No. 16 Florida in a dual meet.