BATON ROUGE — Following consecutive victories over teams ranked in the Top Five in the nation, the LSU gymnastics team moved from No. 10 to No. 8 in the latest GymInfo National Rankings announced on Monday morning.
The Tigers are coming off impressive back-to-back outings in which they stunned No. 1 Utah on Feb. 1 and then followed that with a victory over No. 4 Alabama on Friday.
With a score of 196.925 on Friday, the Tigers season average jumped to a season high of 195.565, an average that has moved them within just over two tenths of a point out of returning to the top five in the nation.
Georgia took over the No. 1 spot in the nation from Utah, which held the top spot in the nation for the past two weeks. Despite falling to the Tigers on Friday evening, Alabama moved up to the No. 3 spot in the nation due to a score of 196.575 that raised their season average. Oklahoma fell to No. 4, while Nebraska held on to the No. 5 spot in the nation.
The Tigers find themselves in the top five in the nation in two events, ranking fifth in both the vault and on the floor exercise. The Tigers scored a season high of 49.400 on the floor in their victory on Friday evening.
In individual rankings, Nicki Arnstad is currently tied for the No. 1 ranking in the nation despite missing Friday’s meet with a mid-foot sprain suffered in the Tigers’ victory over Utah. Rebecca Lightsey sits in the No. 9 spot in the nation on the balance beam, a remarkable return after missing nearly the entire 2001 season with torn anterior cruciate ligament.
LSU takes to the road on Saturday and heads to No. 15 Denver, the Tigers fifth consecutive dual meet against a ranked opponent. The Tigers return to Baton Rouge after taking on the Pioneers to host No. 20 Iowa on Feb. 22 and 23rd ranked Kentucky on March 1.