BATON ROUGE — Despite posting a season-high 197.175 in its win over Penn State on Friday, the LSU gymnastics team slipped one position to No. 7 in the latest national rankings, released Monday.
The Tigers improved their RQS from a 196.230 to a 196.350, but were jumped by Nebraska who leapt from No. 8 to No. 5 in the standings.
The top of the rankings were also shaken up as Florida, who has been No. 1 for the last eight weeks, was dethroned by Georgia for the nation’s top spot. The Gym Dogs 197.385 regional qualifying score edged the Gators’ 197.375.
Alabama (196.635) and Stanford (196.610) are in third and fourth, respectively, while LSU’s upcoming opponent, Nebraska (196.420), rounds out the top five.
The Tigers maintained their positions among the top 15 on each of the four individual events. LSU held steady at No. 2 on the vault and No. 9 on the bars, while moving up one position to No. 7 on the vault and No. 13 on the beam.
In the individual rankings, LSU’s three all-arounders are all listed among the nation’s top 15. Senior Kelly Phelan leads the way at No. 8, while junior Ashleigh Clare-Kearney and senior Nicki Butler aren’t far behind in 14th and 15th.
Clare-Kearney also remains atop the nation’s vault rankings for the fourth straight week, improving her RQS to an astounding 9.965.
Phelan and Butler follow Clare-Kearney in the vault standings, at No. 6 and No. 11, respectively.
Phelan is also ranked on the floor, slipping from 11th to 13th this week, while sophomore Lauren Klein jumped from No. 8 to No. 4 on the event.
The Tigers close out the regular season home schedule this Friday when they welcome No. 5 Nebraska to the Pete Maravich Assembly Center at 7 p.m.
NOTE: There will be a discrepancy between the rankings in this release and those posted at www.troester.com, the official website of the NCAA gymnastics rankings. LSU’s scores from its March 9 meet against Penn State were not included in this week’s RQS calculations. The rankings in this release are adjusted to accommodate those scores.
National Rankings ? March 12, 2007
Rank Team Team RQS
1 Georgia 197.385
2 Florida 197.375
3 Alabama 196.635
4 Stanford 196.610
5 Nebraska 196.420
6 UCLA 196.380
7 LSU 196.350
8 Utah 196.320
9 Oklahoma 196.120
10 Oregon State 195.945
11 Michigan 195.945
12 Arkansas 195.905
13 Auburn 195.700
14 Arizona 195.665
15 Iowa State 195.635
16 Penn State 195.630
17 Denver 195.540
18 Missouri 195.070
19 Illinois-Champaign 194.955
20 Ohio State 194.955
21 West Virginia 194.550
22 BYU 194.425
23 Arizona State 194.380
24 North Carolina State 194.350
25 Minnesota 194.335