BATON ROUGE — The Tigers gymnastics team improved its season average to a 195.221 following a convincing win over Kentucky last week to maintain its hold on the No. 12 position in the latest national rankings released Monday.
Florida and Georgia remain No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, in the standings with averages of 197.067 and 197.054. Stanford (196.354) jumped two spots to No. 3, Utah (196.330) held tight at No. 4 and Alabama (196.250) slipped two positions to No. 5.
Other SEC schools in the top 25 include LSU’s upcoming opponent, Auburn, at No. 11 (195.305), Arkansas at No. 15 (194.783) and Kentucky at No. 22 (193.820).
The Tigers are also ranked nationally on each of the four individual events for a second straight week.
LSU improved to No. 2 on the vault (49.267) and No. 12 on the floor (48.821), held steady at No. 24 on the beam (48.233) and slipped one position to No. 10 on the bars (48.900).
The Tigers also have three athletes that maintained their individual national rankings.
Junior Ashleigh Clare-Kearney held on to her No. 2 ranking on the vault for the fifth straight while improving her season average to a 9.933.
Senior Kelly Phelan jumped five spots to No. 11 on the vault (9.867) while also improving one position to No. 24 on the floor (9.846).
In addition, fellow senior Nicki Butler is tied with Phelan at No. 11 on the vault, also averaging a 9.867.
The Tigers return to action this Friday when they travel to Auburn for a 7 p.m. dual meet.
National Rankings ? Feb. 12, 2007
Rank
Team Name
Team Ave
1
Florida
197.067
2
Georgia
197.054
3
Stanford
196.354
4
Utah
196.330
5
Alabama
196.250
6
Nebraska
195.625
7
UCLA
195.546
8
Oklahoma
195.540
9
Michigan
195.470
10
Iowa State
195.450
11
Auburn
195.305
12
LSU
195.221
13
Arizona
195.015
14
Denver
195.004
15
Arkansas
194.783
16
Oregon State
194.745
17
Arizona State
194.481
18
Michigan State
194.370
19
Penn State
194.271
20
Missouri
194.212
21
Ohio State
194.140
22
Kentucky
193.820
23
BYU
193.714
24
West Virginia
193.705
25
Kent State
193.600