BATON ROUGE — Even a shaky bar rotation couldn’t derail the 14th-ranked LSU gymnastics team Friday night as it cruised to an easy 196.500 to defeat Centenary (190.100) and Texas Woman’s (188.275) at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The Tigers got off to a stellar start on the vault, recording the second-best team total in school history (49.400), as four athletes either matched or set career-high marks on the event. Freshman Nicki Butler picked up the first individual event title of her career with a team and career-best 9.925.
Kelly Phelan followed closely behind with a 9.900 to finish in second, while Lindsey Thompson rounded out the meet’s top three with a 9.875.
LSU could not sustain the momentum in the second rotation, scoring a season-low 48.375 on the uneven bars. Highlights from the rotation included Annie Gagnon’s career-high and meet-winning 9.925. April Burkholder and Lisa Rennie were also solid on the event, recording scores of 9.850 and 9.800, respectively.
The Tigers regained their composure on the balance beam, scoring a 49.225 behind five scores of 9.800 or better. Burkholder won the event title with a season-high 9.925 and was followed by Terin Martinjak and Lisa Rennie, who notched identical marks of 9.850.
LSU dazzled the crowd with the fifth best floor score in school history, 49.500, to close out the competition.
Burkholder was near perfect on the event, winning the meet title with a 9.975. Brittany Brown and Terin Martinjak finished second and third, respectively, in the standings with marks of 9.925 and 9.900.
Burkholder won the all-around for the second straight week, recording a 39.600, a mark that ranks as the sixth best in school history.
The LSU gymnastics team returns to action Fri., Feb. 6, when it travels to Fayetteville, Ark., for a dual meet with 11th-ranked Arkansas.
TEAM RESULTS
1, LSU, 196.500. 2, Centenary, 190.100. 3, Texas Woman’s, 188.275.
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (Winner plus all LSU Competitors)
Vault — 1, Nicki Butler, 9.925. 2, Kelly Phelan, 9.900. 3, Lindsey Thompson, 9.875. t4, April Burkholder, 9.850. t4, Rikki L’Heureux, 9.850. 7, Brittany Brown, 9.800.
Bars — 1, Annie Gagnon, 9.925. 2, April Burkholder, 9.850. 3, Lisa Rennie, 9.800. 7, Lindsay Beddow, 9.550. 12, Katherine Hilton, 9.250. 15, Rikki L’Heureux, 9.000.
Beam — 1, April Burkholder, 9.925. t2, Terin Martinjak, 9.850. t2, Lisa Rennie, 9.850. t4, Lindsay Beddow, 9.800. t4, Kelly Phelan, 9.800. 12, Jade Jenkins, 9.250.
Floor — 1, April Burkholder, 9.975. 2, Brittany Brown, 9.925. 3, Terin Martinjak, 9.900. 4, Lisa Rennie, 9.875. 6, Jade Jenkins, 9.825. 8, Kelly Phelan, 9.800.
All-Around — 1, April Burkholder, 39.600. 2, Kristina Menne, CC, 38.225. 3, Kaela Meinart, CC, 37.450.