DENTON, Texas — In her first time competing in the all-around, freshman Ashleigh Clare-Kearney won the title to lead the fourth-ranked Tigers over Texas Woman’s, 196.800-191.425, at the Kitty Winter Magee Arena on Sunday.
With a score of 39.525, Clare-Kearney won the all-around in her first try. Kelly Phelan followed with a 39.450.
“We made some adjustments based on the warm-ups, and that allowed Ashleigh to be placed in the bars lineup,” head coach D-D Breaux said. “It was her first time competing in the all-around, and she capitalized on that. She was very aggressive and composed, and I was very pleased with how she performed.”
The team performance was not the best this season, but Breaux said her team executed just the way she had expected.
“We gave a lot of different people the opportunity to compete in different events today, and it showed that we have a lot of depth that we can count on,” Breaux commented.
Scoring from around the nation shows that the Tigers will more than likely reclaim the No. 1 national ranking after their marks from Friday and Sunday.
The Tigers began the meet the same way it had versus Oklahoma-by setting a new season-high on the uneven bars. As a team they notched a 49.350, led by Lisa Rennie’s 9.925 to win the title for the second time this weekend.
No one scored below a 9.800 on the event for the team and they moved to the second rotation with an early 1.025-point lead.
LSU encountered some problems to start the vault. Both of the first two competitors failed to keep their footing, meaning the Tigers would have to count at least one fall.
But the remaining competitors landed their vaults, and the team came away with a 48.525. Clare-Kearney posted a 9.875 to lead all gymnasts on the event.
Halfway through the meet, the Tigers owned a 1.425-point lead.
On the floor, LSU put up a team score of 49.375. Three Tigers tied for first for the lead on the floor. Clare-Kearney, Phelan and Lauren Companioni all scored 9.900s.
Despite some troubles earlier in the meet, LSU put together another solid performance on the beam, scoring a 49.550, the second highest in program history behind only Friday’s 49.725 mark.
Rennie scored a 9.975 to lead all scorers followed by Phelan and Nicki Butler with 9.950s.
The Tigers conclude their regular season at home Friday versus Centenary at 7 p.m. Four Tigers will be honored as part of senior night.
MEET RESULTS
Team Competition
1. LSU – 198.600X (VT-48.525, UB-49.350, BB-49.550, FX-49.375)
2. TWU – 191.425 (VT-48.325, UB-48.125, BB-46.800, FX-48.125)
Individual Scoring (Winner plus all LSU competitors)
AA – 1. Ashleigh Clare-Kearney 39.525, 2. Kelly Phelan 39.450
VT – 1. Ashleigh Clare-Kearney 9.875, 2. Nicki Butler 9.825, 3. Kelly Phelan, Jade Jenkins 9.750, 11, Lindsey Thompson 9.325, 12. Rikki L’Heureux 9.125
UB – 1.Lisa Rennie 9.925, 2. Ashleigh Clare-Kearney, Nicki Butler 9.875, 4. Kelly Phelan 9.850, 5. April Burkholder 9.825, 6. Kelly Lea 9.8
BB – 1. Lisa Rennie 9.975, 2. Nicki Butler, Kelly Phelan 9.950, 4. Ashleigh Clare-Kearney 9.875, 5. Terin Martinjak 9.800, 9. Lauren Companioni 9.375
FX – 1. Lauren Companioni, Kelly Phelan, Ashleigh Clare-Kearney 9.900, 4. Terin Martinjak 9.875, 8. Jade Jenkins 9.800, Kelly Lea 9.800