AUBURN, Ala. — The LSU gymnastics team wrapped up its season Saturday at NCAA Championships with a pair of top-10 performances from All-Americans April Burkholder and Lisa Rennie in the individual event finals at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum.
Burkholder garnered the Tigers’ top finish of the evening placing third overall on the vault. Having to compete two different vaults, Burkholder notched a 9.900 on her first attempt, a yurochenko with a half twist. She then tallied a 9.875 on her second attempt, a full-twisting yurochenko, to finish with a 9.8875 average.
The nine-time All-American was bettered only by Olympian Kristen Maloney of UCLA and Janet Anson of Iowa State who finished with scores of 9.9375 and 9.9000, respectively.
“(Assistant coach) Bob (Moore) had her very well prepared,” said LSU head coach D-D Breaux. “She was solid and able to execute.”
The third-place showing marks the highest of Burkholder’s career on the event as she placed fourth in last year’s final.
Burkholder went on to compete on the floor exercise. The reigning SEC and NCAA Central Region Gymnast of the Year suffered a fall on her final tumbling pass of the routine and scored just a 9.2625 to place 13th overall.
“April has practiced that last pass, but never competed it. The plan all season long was to be ready to throw it here,” said Breaux. “If it would have worked out it would have separated her out, but unfortunately that didn’t happen.”
Sophomore Lisa Rennie had a solid showing in her event finals debut. The All-American from Las Vegas notched a 9.8250 on the bars to place ninth overall.
“Lisa was very solid,” said Breaux. “She stayed in her success zone, executed well and threw as good a routine as she has done all year.”
Also competing on the bars was senior Annie Gagnon. The three-time All-American fell on a second release move added especially for the event finals and finished with a 9.3375. The scored placed her 11th overall.
INDIVIDUAL EVENT FINALS RESULTS (Top 5 plus all LSU competitors)
Vault – 1, Kristen Maloney, UCLA, 9.9375. 2, Janet Anson, ISU, 9.9000. 3, April Burkholder, LSU, 9.8875. 4, Ashley Miles, ALA, 9.8500. 5, Alisha Robinson, MISS, 9.7938.
Bars – 1, Terin Humphrey, ALA, 9.9375. 2, Kelsey Ericksen, UGA, 9.9250. t3, Tasha Schwikert, UCLA, 9.8875. t3, Ashley Postell, UTAH, 9.8875. t3, Rachel Tidd, UTAH, 9.8875. 9, Lisa Rennie, LSU, 9.8250. 11, Annie Gagnon, LSU, 9.3375.
Beam – 1, Kristen Maloney, UCLA, 9.9375. t2, Kristi Esposito, NEB, 9.9125. t2, Elise Ray, MICH, 9.9125. 4, Kate Richardson, UCLA, 9.9000. t5, Terin Humphrey, ALA, 9.8625. t5, Tasha Schwikert, UCLA, 9.8625.
Floor – 1, Courtney Bumpers, UNC, 10.00. 2, Ashley Miles, ALA, 9.9750. t3, Emily Parsons, NEB, 9.9250. t3, Tabitha Yim, STAN, 9.9250. t5, Michelle Emmons, UGA, 9.9250. t5, Kelsey Ericksen, UGA, 9.8750. 14, April Burkholder, LSU, 9.2625.