BATON ROUGE — A perfect 10.0 on the floor and a fifth straight all-around title by sophomore April Burkholder catapulted the 14th-ranked LSU gymnastics team to a season-high 197.375 as it defeated Kentucky (194.875) Friday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
“We really fought hard tonight,” said LSU head coach D-D Breaux. “We had some mistakes, but we kept fighting and turned in some really outstanding performances.”
The Tigers scored 49.250 or higher on each of the four events, including a season-high 49.425 on the balance beam to finish with the third-best team total in school history.
Individually, Burkholder stole the show, recording four scores of 9.900 or better for the second time this year to finish with a season-high 39.800. The mark ranks second all-time at LSU and was just .075 off her own school record mark of 39.875.
The Houston native capped the night with a 10.0 on the floor, her second of the season and third of her career. She is the only athlete in Tiger history to have ever notched three perfect marks on the event.
Burkholder also finished first on the vault (9.950) and on the beam (9.975).
All-American Annie Gagnon took home top honors on the bars for the fourth time in as many meets, scoring a 9.900.
Also turning in outstanding performances for the Tigers were sophomore Terin Martinjak and freshman Lisa Rennie.
Martinjak recorded a career-high 9.925 on the floor to finish second overall and notched a season-best 9.900 on the beam to earn additional runner-up honors.
Rennie posted a pair of 9.900s on the beam and floor. The Las Vegas, Nev., native shared runner-up honors on the beam with Martinjak and finished fourth in the floor standings.
The Tigers will have just two days off before returning to action Monday when they travel to Denton, Texas, for a tri-meet with Texas Woman’s and No. 15 Arizona.
TEAM RESULTS
1. LSU 197.375
2. Kentucky 194.875
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (Winner plus all LSU competitors)
Vault – 1, April Burkholder, 9.950. t3, Nicki Butler, 9.900. 5, Lindsey Thompson, 9.875. 7, Kelly Phelan, 9.825. t8, Rikki L’Heureux, 9.775. 10, Terin Martinjak, 9.725.
Bars – 1, Annie Gagnon, 9.900. t2, April Burkholder, 9.875. t5, Lindsay Beddow, 9.825. t5, Kelly Phelan, 9.825. t5, Lisa Rennie, 9.825. t8, Nicki Butler, 9.800.
Beam – 1, April Burkholder, 9.975. t2, Terin Martinjak, 9.900. t2, Lisa Rennie, 9.900. t4, Lindsay Beddow, 9.825. t4, Kelly Phelan, 9.825. 12, Jade Jenkins, 9.275.
Floor – 1, April Burkholder, 10.0. 3, Terin Martinjak, 9.925. 4, Lisa Rennie, 9.900. 5, Kelly Phelan, 9.875. t7, Kelly Lea, 9.675. 10, Nicki Butler, 9.325.
All-Around – 1, April Burkholder, 39.800. 2, Kelly Phelan, 39.350.
NOTE: Kentucky’s Aronda Primault injured her knee on her first pass on the floor exercise. Her status is not yet known.