AUBURN, Ala. — Without junior All-American April Burkholder in the lineup, the top-ranked LSU gymnasts (8-3, 5-1 Southeastern Conference) recorded a one-point victory over No. 20 Auburn (2-6, 1-5 SEC), 196.025-195.025, in Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum on Friday night.
Burkholder sat out the night after receiving a concussion in last weekend’s meet, the remaining competitors stepped it up and claimed the sixth straight win for the LSU gymnasts.
“We had a lot of pressure, and I think the kids felt the pressure,” head coach D-D Breaux said. “We felt pressure because of the No. 1 ranking–which is now behind us–and they felt pressure just because they wanted to do really well.”
LSU started the night on the uneven bars. The Tigers had to count a fall, however they still led by .2 heading to the second rotation. They notched a 48.650 on the event to Auburn’s 48.450 on the vault.
“I think it bolstered their confidence that we didn’t have a great first event but were still leading going into the second event,” Breaux explained.
Annie Gagnon led LSU on the bars with a meet-high 9.900. Lisa Rennie followed with a second-place score of 9.875.
LSU next moved to vault, one of the two events in which they rank first. Despite a strong showing by Auburn, LSU was able to increase its lead to .25 after a 49.000 overall mark on the vault.
Ashleigh Clare-Kearney led all scorers on the event with a 9.875. Nicki Butler took second on the event with a 9.850.
On floor, the other event LSU leads the nation in, LSU earned a 49.100. Clare-Kearney once again led LSU and tied for the high score with a 9.875. With a 48.950 on the beam for Auburn, LSU marched to the final rotation with a .4 lead over its opponent.
A flawless performance on the beam solidified the victory for LSU. No one received a score lower than a 9.750 as they earned a 49.275 as a team on the event. Phelan’s team-leading and meet-high tying mark of 9.900 highlighted the beam for LSU.
“We did exceptionally well on balance beam,” Breaux said. “I couldn’t be more proud of how the kids performed under pressure, because we had to hit beam to win. We could have given it away, and we didn’t. We were very poised and very mature on that event, and that’s the event that’s going to win competitions.”
The Tigers return home for their next competition, a quad meet featuring Illinois, New Hampshire and Western Michigan on March 4 at 7 p.m. in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
MEET RESULTS
Team Competition
1. LSU – 196.025 (VT – 48.450, UB – 48.950, BB – 49.275, FX – 49.100)
2. AU – 195.025 (VT – 49.000, UB – 48.650, BB – 48.950, FX – 48.675)
Individual Scoring (winner plus all LSU competitors)
AA – 1. Julie Dwyer (AU) 39.375
VT – 1. Ashleigh Clare-Kearney 9.875, 2. Nicki Butler 9.850, 4. Kelly Phelan 9.800, 5. Rikki L’Heureux 9.775, t6. Terin Martinjak, 9. Annie Gagnon 9.650
UB – 1. Annie Gagnon 9.900, t2. Lisa Rennie 9.875, t4. Kelly Lea 9.825, 6. Katherine Hilton 9.800, 11. Nicki Butler 9.250, 12. Ashleigh Clare-Kearney 9.075
BB – t1. Kelly Phelan, Julie Dwyer (AU) 9.900, 3. Lisa Rennie 9.875, 4. Annie Gagnon 9.850, t5. Terin Martinjak, Nicki Butler 9.825, 9. Lauren Companioni 9.750
FX – t1. Ashleigh Clare-Kearney, Julie Dwyer (AU) 9.875, t3. Kelly Phelan, Lisa Rennie 9.850, t6. Terin Martinjak 9.800, 9. Jade Jenkins 9.725,10. Nicki Butler 9.525