LINCOLN, Neb. — Turning in the highest road score of the season, 196.025, the LSU gymnastics team finished third at the Masters Classic Sunday at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. No. 5 Nebraska won its ninth straight Masters Classic team title, scoring a season-high 198.025, while No. 10 Washington earned runner-up honors (196.725) and 18th-ranked Kent State finished fourth (192.900).
“We started off a little slow on the first two events, but the team stuck with it and turned in two excellent rotations to finish off the meet,” said LSU head coach D-D Breaux. “For this team to be able to score a 196 without April (Burkholder) in the lineup shows just how much this team has matured.”
LSU got off to a solid start on the floor exercise scoring a 48.800 behind a team-high 9.825 performance by All-American Lauren Companioni. Sophomore Jade Jenkins followed closely behind with a 9.800, while Rachel Franzella, Terin Martinjak and Chelseas Richard turned in a trio of 9.725s to complete the Tigers’ scoring on the event.
In the second rotation, freshman Rikki L’Heureux paced the Tiger squad to a 48.725 on the vault, tying her career high on the event with score of 9.800. Freshman Megan Durning and Companioni rounded out the Tigers’ top-three posting marks of 9.775.
The Tigers had a spectacular showing on the bars in the third rotation, turning in their second-best mark of the season, 49.275. LSU didn’t count a score below 9.825 as junior Lindsay Beddow and freshman Kelly Lea lead the way with marks of 9.875, while sophomore Annie Gagnon and senior Brooke Cazeaux each posted scores of 9.850 and L’Heureux closed out the Tigers’ scoring with a 9.825.
LSU capped off the meet with a stellar performance on the balance beam. The Tigers scored a season-high 49.225 as four athletes posted career-high marks. Durning and Beddow posted near perfect 9.900s to tie for fifth-place on the event. Jenkins followed with an impressive 9.875 and Martinjak recorded a 9.825.
The LSU gymnastics team returns to action Friday when it welcomes first-year team, Arkansas, to the Pete Maravich Assembly Center at 7 p.m.
TEAM RESULTS
Team — 1, Nebraska, 198.025. 2, Washington, 196.725. 3, LSU, 196.025. 4, Kent State, 192.900.
Vault — 1, Nebraska, 49.375. 2, Washington, 49.275. 3, LSU, 48.725. 4, Kent State, 48.650.
Bars — 1, Nebraska, 49.475. 2, Washington, 49.350. 3, LSU, 49.275. 4, Kent State, 47.550.
Beam — 1, Nebraska, 49.625. 2, LSU, 49.225. 3, Washington, 49.025. 4, Kent State, 47.900.
Floor — 1, Nebraska, 49.550. 2, Washington, 49.075. 3, LSU, 48.800. 4, Kent State, 48.750.
LSU INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
Vault — t9, Rikki L’Heureux, 9.800. t13, Lauren Companioni, Megan Durning, 9.775. 17, Terin Martinjak, 9.700. t18, Brittany Brown, 9.675. t20, Jade Jenkins, 9.650.
Bars — t5, Lindsay Beddow, Kelly Lea, 9.875. t10, Brooke Cazeaux, Annie Gagnon, 9.850. 13, Rikki L’Heureux, 9.825. 18, Katherine Hilton, 9.725.
Beam — t5, Lindsay Beddow, Megan Durning, 9.900. 8, Jade Jenkins, 9.875. 10, Terin Martinjak, 9.825. t17, Lauren Companioni, 9.725. 21, Annie Gagnon, 9.375.
Floor — t8, Lauren Companioni, 9.825. t11, Jade Jenkins, 9.800. t16th, Rachel Franzella, Terin Martinjak, Chelsea Richard, 9.725. 24. Brittany Brown, 9.100.