BATON ROUGE — Following a solid performance against Centenary last week the LSU gymnastics climbed to No. 4 in the country and junior Ashleigh Clare-Kearney took over the nation’s No. 1 position in the all-around according to the latest national rankings released on Monday.
The Tigers moved up two spots in the ranking after improving their regional qualifying score (RQS) from a 196.455 to a 196.700. The top-five ranking is the first for the Tigers since the 2005 season.
The top three spots in the rankings remained unchanged from last week with Florida (197.420) at No. 1 and Georgia (197.385) and Alabama (196.980) at No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. Stanford (196.680) rounds out the top five.
LSU maintained its positions among the top 15 on each of the four individual events. The Tigers held steady at No. 2 on the vault and No. 4 floor on the floor, while improving to No. 9 on the bars and No. 14 on the beam.
Individually, Clare-Kearney catapulted into the nation’s top spot in the all-around following a career-high 39.775 effort against Centenary that bumped her RQS to a NCAA-leading 39.525.
Clare-Kearney is just the second LSU athlete to have ever earned the nation’s No. 1 ranking in the all-around. Former Tiger standout April Burkholder held the top ranking for one week in January of 2006 when rankings were based on an athlete’s high score. Clare-Kearney is the first to have earned the ranking based on RQS.
Clare-Kearney is also the country’s top ranked-performer on the vault, a position she has held for six straight weeks. In addition, she is listed at No. 6 on the floor and No. 20 on the beam.
Others in the rankings include seniors Kelly Phelan and Nicki Butler and sophomore Lauren Klein.
Phelan is listed at No. 16 in the all-around and on the vault, as well as No. 19 on the floor.
Butler is ranked 20 th in the all-around and seventh on the vault.
Klein improved to No. 2 on the floor.
The Tigers return to action this Saturday when they travel to North Little Rock, Ark., for SEC Championships.
National Rankings ? March 26, 2007
Rank
Team
RQS
1
Florida
197.420
2
Georgia
197.385
3
Alabama
196.980
4
LSU
196.700
5
Stanford
196.680
6
Utah
196.545
7
Nebraska
196.535
8
UCLA
196.420
9
Oregon State
196.415
10
Oklahoma
196.335
11
Arkansas
196.135
12
Penn State
196.115
13
Michigan
196.110
14
Denver
195.885
15
Arizona
195.855
–
Iowa State
195.855
17
Auburn
195.700
18
Missouri
195.660
19
Michigan State
195.520
20
Ohio State
195.215
21
Illinois-Champaign
195.090
22
North Carolina State
194.880
23
Minnesota
194.775
24
BYU
194.775
25
Arizona State
194.755