BATON ROUGE — Behind two scores of 197-plus last week the LSU gymnastics team cracked the top 5 for the first time since the 2002 season, jumping six spots to No. 4 in the latest national rankings released Monday.
The Tigers last ranked among the nation’s top five during the week of Jan. 21, 2002 and haven’t ranked as high as fourth since March 16, 1999.
The ranking’s top three remain unchanged from a week ago as defending national champion, UCLA, is No. 1 with a regional qualifying score (RQS) of 197.745, Georgia is No. 2 (197.405) and Alabama is No. 3 (197.325).
LSU improved its RQS by over six-tenths of a point to 197.060 to catapult into the No. 4 position, while Stanford moved up four spots to take over the No. 5 spot (197.030).
The Tigers cracked the top 10 on each of the four individual events for the first time this year. They rank sixth on both the beam (49.195) and vault (49.325), are tied with Utah for eighth on the floor (49.410) and are 10th on the bars (49.190).
Individually, April Burkholder slipped one spot to No. 3 in the all-around standings with a RQS of 39.595. She is also tied for second on the floor (9.960), tied for fifth on the vault (9.935) and 13th on the beam (9.905).
All-American Annie Gagnon moved up one spot to eighth in the bar standings with an RQS of 9.915, while freshman Nicki Butler cracked the vault rankings for the first time this season at No. 12 with a score of 9.910.
The Tigers return to action this Friday when they host Ohio State in their final home meet of the regular season. Action from the Pete Maravich Assembly Center will begin at 7 p.m.
National Rankings – March 1, 2004
Rank Team Name Team RQS Region Average High
1 UCLA 197.745 W 196.930 198.875
2 Georgia 197.405 SE 197.177 198.050
3 Alabama 197.325 C 197.300 197.925
4 LSU 197.060 C 196.611 197.525
5 Stanford 197.030 W 196.966 198.875
6 Utah 197.020 NC 196.997 198.050
7 Florida 196.965 SE 196.797 197.375
8 Iowa State 196.795 NC 196.750 197.625
9 Arizona 196.750 SC 196.369 197.300
10 Oklahoma 196.725 SC 196.325 197.300
11 Nebraska 196.625 SC 196.466 197.750
12 Washington 196.570 W 196.316 197.325
13 Oregon St. 196.485 W 196.056 197.175
14 BYU 196.455 NC 195.894 197.550
15 N. Carolina 196.395 SE 196.081 197.350
16 Iowa 196.390 NC 196.309 197.150
17 Auburn 196.365 C 196.125 197.000
18 Missouri 196.330 SC 196.264 197.350
19 Michigan 196.280 NE 196.184 197.125
20 Arkansas 196.190 SC 196.028 196.450
21 Arizona 195.855 SC 195.734 197.700
22 Denver 195.850 NC 195.722 197.875
23 Michigan St.195.700 C 195.114 196.775
24 Penn State 195.545 NE 195.468 195.950
25 Minnesota 195.395 NC 195.197 196.525