BATON ROUGE — Following a 196.925-195.725 win over No. 13 Arkansas last Friday the LSU gymnastics team moved up one spot to No. 3 in the latest national rankings. The ranking marks the highest for the Tiger squad since the 1999 season when they were also listed at No. 3 during the week of Feb. 16.
Utah and Michigan held on to first and second in the standings with season averages of 196.290 and 196.254, respectively.
The Tigers remained the top ranked team in the SEC for the second consecutive week, improving their season average to 196.115. Alabama (196.055) moved up two spots to No. 4, while UCLA (195.921) dropped two spots to round out the top five.
LSU is listed among the top 10 on each of the four individual events for the first time this season. The Tigers held onto their No. 2 ranking on the floor and No. 4 listing on the bars, while moving up one spot to No. 6 on the vault and two positions to No. 10 on the beam.
Junior April Burkholder stayed at No. 23 in the national all-around rankings with her 39.110 season average. She is also ranked eighth on the uneven bars (9.870).
Freshman Ashleigh Clare-Kearney jumped five spots to No. 6 in the floor rankings with a season average of 9.892.
Sophomore Kelly Phelan remains in the standings on two events, improving to 11th on the beam (9.840) and 17th on the floor (9.860). In addition, junior Terin Martinjak is tied with Phelan at 17th on the floor exercise, while senior Annie Gagnon is ranked 12th on the bars (9.850) and sophomore Nicki Butler is listed at 14th on the vault (9.860).
The Tigers return to action this Friday when the host No. 7 Georgia in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center at 7 p.m.
Those presenting a ticket stub from the LSU vs. Tennessee women’s basketball game on Thursday will be admitted to the meet for just $1.
| National Rankings – Feb. 7 | |||
| Rank | Team Name | Team Avg. | High Score |
| 1 | Utah, U. of | 196.290 | 197.675 |
| 2 | Michigan, U. of | 196.254 | 196.750 |
| 3 | L.S.U. | 196.115 | 197.250 |
| 4 | Alabama, U. of | 196.055 | 197.175 |
| 5 | UCLA | 195.921 | 197.300 |
| 6 | Florida, U. of | 195.845 | 196.950 |
| 7 | Georgia, U. of | 195.480 | 195.850 |
| 8 | Nebraska, U. of | 195.420 | 196.800 |
| 9 | Oklahoma, U. of | 195.185 | 195.900 |
| 10 | Iowa State | 195.155 | 195.850 |
| 11 | Denver, U. of | 194.900 | 195.275 |
| 12 | Arkansas, U. of | 194.865 | 195.725 |
| 13 | BYU | 194.850 | 195.575 |
| 14 | Central Michigan | 194.392 | 195.925 |
| 15 | Auburn Univ. | 194.315 | 195.325 |
| 16 | Penn State | 194.310 | 196.300 |
| 17 | Kentucky, U. of | 194.255 | 195.525 |
| 18 | Southern Utah Univ. | 194.194 | 195.525 |
| 19 | Washington, U. of | 194.115 | 195.075 |
| 20 | Arizona, U. of | 194.080 | 194.900 |
| 21 | Oregon State | 193.795 | 195.200 |
| 22 | Arizona State | 193.735 | 195.700 |
| 23 | Ohio State Univ. | 193.694 | 194.775 |
| 24 | Michigan State | 193.687 | 195.475 |
| 25 | Minnesota, U. of | 193.665 | 194.450 |