BATON ROUGE — LSU head coach D-D Breaux earned her 500th career victory as her 15th-ranked Tiger gymnastics team posted a season high 196.500 to beat 14th-ranked Arkansas’ 195.575 on Friday night.
“It is mind boggling when you think we only have 10 or 12 meets a year and 500 wins. It’s amazing and it has just gone by so fast,” LSU head coach D-D Breaux said. “I love LSU and I love what I do. I am passionate about young women getting involved in athletics and in the community. I think that is what this 500 represents, that passion. I feel wonderful. Winning helps, getting it tonight against a really good Arkansas team really is gratifying.”
In the all-around competition LSU grabbed the top three spots as senior Kelly Phelan took first place with a score of 39.325. Junior Ashleigh Clare-Kearney came in second with 39.300 followed by senior Nicki Butler posting a 39.275 for third place.
“It felt like a good start with vault. I work off the momentum of my teammates. That is what keeps me going,” Phelan said. “The girls in front of me on beam all hit and that gives me confidence when I go up. It’s nice to know that all your teammates hit.”
The Tigers (5-3, 1-0 SEC) opened the meet by posting a season high 49.225 on the vault in the first rotation. Phelan led the way for LSU, scoring a 9.900 and grabbed fist place in the overall event scoring.
Junior Emily Ellis took second place as she scored a season high 9.875. Clare-Kearney rounded out the top three as she scored a 9.850 in the event. As the Tigers’ leadoff performer on vault, freshman Kayla Rogers posted a career-high 9.800.
LSU put up another solid score on bars, finishing the event with a 49.050. Freshman Summer Hubbard led the event and placed first in the overall event scoring with a career-high 9.875. Clare-Kearney scored a 9.825, good enough to tie for second, while Butler and Phelan posted identical scores of 9.800.
Also on the bars, with identical scores of 9.750, junior Kristi Esposito recorded a season high and sophomore Amanda Morales tied her career high.
After two rotations the Tigers found themselves with a 98.275- 97.950 lead over the Lady Razorbacks. LSU moved on to the beam while Arkansas headed to the floor.
The Tigers were able to keep the lead as they posted a season-high 49.075 on the beam. Esposito led LSU with a season-high 9.875 and placed second overall. Seniors Lisa Rennie and Butler also recorded season highs as they both posted scores of 9.850 and tied for third place on the event.
LSU headed into the fourth rotation leading the Lady Razorbacks 147.350- 147.075. Three Tigers recorded season-high floor performances as Ellis opened the event with a 9.750. Butler posted a 9.825 and Clare-Kearney ended the night with a riveting performance, which netted her a 9.900 and the event title. Phelan’s score of 9.875 earned her a second place finish.
“The team was much improved. This is where we would like to have been a week ago eliminating some errors,” Breaux said. “We changed some things and they had to compete for their lineup positions. I think competing all week long really put an edge on and it made them realize that it is fun, but winning is fun.”
LSU will close out its three-meet home stand on Friday, Feb. 2, when it welcomes No. 2 Georgia to the PMAC for a dual meet at 7 p.m.
TEAM RESULTS
LSU ? 196.500 (VT ? 49.225, UB ? 49,050, BB ? 49,075, FX ? 49,150)
Arkansas ? 195.575 (VT ? 48,925, UB ? 49,025, BB ? 48,500, FX ? 49,125)
INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (Winner plus all LSU competitors)
All-Around ? 1. Kelly Phelan ? 39.325; 2. Ashleigh Clare-Kearney ? 39.300; Nicki Butler ? 39.275
Vault ? 1. Kelly Phelan ? 9.900; 2. Emily Ellis ? 9.875; 3. Ashleigh Clare-Kearney ? 9.850; t5. Nicki Butler ? 9.800; t5. Kayla Rogers ? 9.800; 10. Sabrina Franceschelli ? 9.725
Bars ? 1. Summer Hubbard ? 9.875; t2. Ashleigh Clare-Kearney ? 9.825; t5. Nicki Butler ? 9.800; t5. Kelly Phelan ? 9.800; t10. Amanda Morales ? 9.750; t10. Kristi Esposito ? 9.750
Beam ? 1. Casey Jo Magee (Ark.) ? 9.900; 2. Kristi Esposito ? 9.875; t3. Nicki Butler?9.850; t3. Lisa Rennie ? 9.850; t7. Kelly Phelan ? 9.750; t7. Sabrina Franceschelli ? 9.750; 10. Ashleigh Clare-Kearney ? 9.725
Floor ? 1. Ashleigh Clare-Kearney ? 9.900; 2. Kelly Phelan ? 9.875; 6. Nicki Butler ? 9.825; t7. Kristi Esposito ? 9.800; t10. Emily Ellis ? 9.750; t10. Lauren Klein ? 9.750