BATON ROUGE — LSU’s gymnastics team improved its regional qualifying score (RQS) to a 197.010 with its dominating win over Centenary last Friday, but it wasn’t enough for the Tigers to maintain their spot atop the nation’s elite as they slipped to No. 2 in the national rankings this week.
Utah regained the No. 1 position, edging the Tigers by just one one-hundredth of a point with its RQS of 197.020. UCLA (196.930) jumped two spots to No. 3, while Nebraska (196.750) fell two positions at No. 4 and Alabama slipped one spot to No. 5 (196.740).
Fellow SEC foes, Florida and Georgia, hold down top 10 positions with the Gators coming in at No. 6 and the Gym’Dogs listed at No. 8. Arkansas (No. 15), Kentucky (No. 19) and Auburn (No. 21) are also among the top 25 this week.
LSU owns top three rankings on each of the four individual events for the first time this season. The Tigers are No. 1 on the floor, No. 2 on the both the bars and beam and No. 3 on the floor.
Three members of the Tigers’ top-ranked floor team are ranked individually on the event. All-American April Burkholder is tied with Alabama’s Alexis Brion at No. 4, while freshman Ashleigh Clare-Kearney is on their heels at No. 6 and sophomore Kelly Phelan is 17th.
LSU has a team high four athletes ranked on the balance beam. Sophomore Lisa Rennie is the Tigers’ top performer coming in at No. 2 this week. She is followed by Phelan in ninth, senior Annie Gagnon in 21st and Burkholder in 22nd.
In addition, the Tigers have three athletes ranked on both the vault and bars. Burkholder and Clare-Kearney lead the Tigers on the vault in sixth and eighth, respectively. They are followed by sophomore Nicki Butler in 17th. On the bars, Gagnon paces the LSU squad with her No. 6 national ranking, while Rennie comes in at No. 11 and Burkholder follows at No. 13.
Burkholder is also listed in the all-around standings for a fifth consecutive week. The top-ranked competitor in the SEC, she improved one spot to No. 4.
The Tigers return to action this Saturday when they travel to Duluth, Ga., for the SEC Championships at the Arena at Gwinnett Center. Competition begins at 5 p.m. (CT).
| National Rankings – MAR. 21 | |||
|
Rank |
Team Name |
Team RQS | High Score |
| 1 | Utah | 197.020 | 197.850 |
| 2 | L.S.U. | 197.010 | 197.850 |
| 3 | UCLA | 196.930 | 197.850 |
| 4 | Nebraska | 196.750 | 197.100 |
| 5 | Alabama | 196.740 | 197.175 |
| 6 | Florida | 196.685 | 197.200 |
| 7 | Michigan | 196.595 | 197.800 |
| 8 | Georgia | 196.520 | 197.275 |
| 9 | Iowa State | 196.230 | 197.000 |
| 10 | Oklahoma | 196.130 | 196.700 |
| 11 | Penn State | 195.685 | 196.650 |
| 12 | Oregon State | 195.575 | 195.975 |
| 13 | Central Michigan | 195.540 | 196.725 |
| 14 | BYU | 195.445 | 196.425 |
| 15 | Arkansas | 195.430 | 195.725 |
| 16 | Utah State | 195.250 | 195.900 |
| 17 | Southern Utah | 195.155 | 196.175 |
| 18 | Denver | 195.150 | 196.000 |
| 19 | Arizona | 195.070 | 196.375 |
| – | Kentucky | 195.070 | 196.025 |
| 21 | Auburn | 195.025 | 195.725 |
| 22 | Minnesota | 195.000 | 195.775 |
| 23 | Washington | 194.875 | 195.275 |
| 24 | Missouri | 194.870 | 196.225 |
| 25 | Arizona State | 194.850 | 196.600 |