BATON ROUGE — In a stellar performance on every event, the No. 7 LSU gymnastics team (3-3, 1-1) scored a season-high 197.250 to defeat No. 15 Michigan State (6-2, 1-0 Big Ten) by a convincing 5.8-point margin at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The Tigers swept all three titles in every event on the night, and for the second straight meet junior April Burkholder took the all-around title with a 39.500, marking the 13th victory of her career. Burkholder and Nicki Butler each won two individual event titles as well.
Seven performances tied or bettered season-highs and five tied or bettered career-highs, including Lisa Rennie’s 9.950 on the balance beam.
Head coach D-D Breaux said the team is getting better with each outing, and that this performance is an off-shoot of solid performances in their last two meets.
“Florida was a very good meet, Alabama was an excellent meet, and I think the kids tonight were trying to duplicate what they did at Alabama,” she said. “That’s what they need to do.”
The Tigers began the night with an almost flawless performance on the vault. Behind a 9.900 score from both Burkholder and Butler and 9.875s from Kelly Phelan and Ashley Clare-Kearney, LSU took an early lead after the first rotation, 49.350-47.675. And they never let go of the lead from there.
All of LSU’s competitors for the vault took the top six spots in the event. The mark on vault ties for the eighth best in school history.
The Tigers followed with a solid performance on the uneven bars, scoring a 49.200. That plus a 47.775 mark on the vault for MSU increased the lead for the Tigers to a 3.1-point margin, 98.550-95.450.
Butler led the Tigers on bars with a 9.900, a career-high mark for the sophomore. That mark won her the bars title for the second time in her career, the last one coming in the team’s quad meet at Michigan State to open the season.
Senior Annie Gagnon, a two-time All-American on bars, took second with a 9.875 followed by Burkholder and Rennie, who tied for third with identical marks of 9.850. For the second straight event, LSU earned all six top spots.
In the third rotation, LSU continued its dominance on the beam, scoring a 49.150 to MSU’s 47.600 on the floor.
Rennie led all scorers on the beam, tying her career-high mark of 9.950. Phelan came in second with a 9.825 followed by Burkholder in third with a 9.800.
Entering the final rotation, the Tigers owned a 147.700-143.050 lead. They more than secured the victory on the floor, posting a 49.550 to end the night’s competition and tie for the fourth best mark on the floor in school history. Three competitors scored above a 9.900 to take all three titles on the event to finish the sweep for all titles on all events.
Phelan and Burkholder both scored 9.950s, season-highs for both and a career-high for Phelan. They were followed by Clare-Kearney with a 9.925, also season and career-highs. Terin Martinjak scored a 9.875 and Butler a 9.850.
Breaux said she was happy with how her team performed and that they need to take this momentum with them through the rest of the season.
“As the season progresses, it will be harder and harder to get these kinds of scores,” she said. “So what we need to do is be able to capitalize on these performances and become very consistent.”
LSU will look to continue its high marks as they continue a three-meet home stand Feb. 4 against No. 12 Arkansas.
TEAM RESULTS
1. LSU – 197.250 (VT – 49.350, UB – 49.200, BB – 49.150, FX – 49.550)
2. MSU – 191.425 (VT – 47.775, UB – 47.675, BB – 48.375, FX – 47.600)
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
Vault – t1. April Burkholder, Nicki Butler 9.900, t3. Kelly Phelan, Ashleigh Clare-Kearney 9.875, 5. Rikki L’Heureux 9.800, t6. Annie Gagnon 9.750
Bars – 1. Nicki Butler, 9.900, 2. Annie Gagnon 9.875, t3. April Burkholder, Lisa Rennie 9.850, 5. Katherine Hilton 9.725, 6. Kelly Lea 9.700
Beam – 1. Lisa Rennie 9.950, 2. Kelly Phelan 9.825, t3. April Burkholder, Terin Martinjak 9.800, 5. Annie Gagnon 9.775, t7. Lauren Companioni 9.700
Floor – t1. April Burkholder, Kelly Phelan 9.950, 3. Ashleigh Clare-Kearney 9.925, 4. Terin Martinjak 9.875, 5. Nicki Butler 9.850, 10. Lisa Rennie 9.600
All-Around – 1. April Burkholder, 39.500, 2. Jennifer Yarbrough, 38.175