BATON ROUGE — After guiding the Tigers to a victory over Iowa last week, junior Ashleigh Clare-Kearney was named the SEC Gymnast of the Week the conference office announced Tuesday.
The league honor is the first of Clare-Kearney’s career and the first for a LSU athlete this season.
Clare-Kearney, a native of Manchester, Conn., won the meet’s all-around title after tallying a season-high 39.425, a score that ranks as the second best in the SEC this season.
Clare-Kearney’s all-around title also marked her first of the year and the second of her career.
In addition to the all-around victory, Clare-Kearney also picked up individual event titles on the vault and beam against the Hawkeyes. She tied with teammate Nicki Butler for top honors on the vault, as each posted a 9.925, and won the beam crown outright, notching a season-high 9.850. The beam title was the first of her career.
On the year, Clare-Kearney has now won three individual event titles ? two vault, one beam ? and one all-around crown.
For her efforts Clare-Kearney has also earned a pair of top-25 national rankings as she is currently listed at No. 2 on the vault and No. 21 in the all-around.
Clare-Kearney and the rest of the LSU gymnastics team return to action this Friday when they host Illinois in their home opener at 7 p.m. in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.