MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The fifth-ranked Tiger gymnastics team advanced to the NCAA Championships for the 19th time in program history Saturday night at WVU Coliseum as they finished second at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships with a score of 195.950.
LSU will be joined by UCLA at the national meet as the Bruins edged the Tigers for the meet’s team title with a 195.975. West Virginia (194.775), Auburn (193.950), North Carolina State (193.950) and North Carolina (193.875) rounded out the team scoring.
“It certainly wasn’t as easy as we thought it might be,” said LSU head coach D-D Breaux on her team qualifying to the NCAA meet. “UCLA created some momentum out of the gates while we dug ourselves a hole after those first two rotations (bars and beam). I think had we had any other rotation we would have been in trouble.”
The Tigers ended the meet on their two strongest events, the floor and vault events that would clinch the Tigers their berth to the NCAA Championships.
Individually, LSU has all three of it’s all-arounders place in the top six as junior Ashleigh Clare-Kearney finished second with a 39.375, freshman Susan Jackson was fifth with a career-high 39.200 and Nicki Butler was just behind her in sixth with a 39.175. UCLA’s Tasha Schwikert won the meet’s individual title with a 39.575.
LSU got off to an impressive, but unusual, start on the bars in the first rotation. Five hit sets led to Clare-Kearney taking to the bars in the Tigers’ sixth and final position. A fall on Clare-Kearney’s tkatchev release move left the Tigers with the impression they would be counting their first five routines towards the team score. However, immediately following Clare-Kearney’s routine Breaux protested to the judging panel and meet referee that flash photography from the arena’s stands, a violation of NCAA meet rules, led to Clare-Kearney’s fall. The judges agreed with Breaux’s assessment and awarded Clare-Kearney the opportunity to redo her routine.
Clare-Kearney took full advantage of her second chance, hitting her routine to near perfection where she was awarded a career-high tying 9.900. Freshman Summer Hubbard also turned in a career-high tying mark, posting an identical 9.900, both score would tie for second place overall. Freshman Susan Jackson and Butler each added a 9.800 and junior Kristi Esposito rounded out the scoring with a 9.725.
Moving to the beam in the second rotation, the Tigers didn’t have to count a fall towards the team score, but tight scoring a few shaky routines culminated in a just a 48.200 team score. Clare-Kearney led all scorers with a 9.775, while freshman Sabrina Franceshelli and Butler contributed 9.600s.
The Tigers sat out the third rotation with a bye and returned to competition on the floor in the fourth rotation where they rebounded with a solid 49.125. Sophomore Lauren Klein paced the squad, notching a 9.900 to finish in a three-way tie for the meet’s event title. Butler added a 9.825, while Clare-Kearney, Jackson and Phelan each turned in scores of 9.800.
Moving to the vault in the fifth rotation, the Tigers needed one of the best performances of the season to secure their trip to the NCAA Championships. The Tigers rose to the occasion, notching the fourth best score in school history, a 49.500, as they did not have to count a score below 9.850.
Butler led LSU on the event, finishing in a two-way tie for first with a season-high tying 9.950. Freshman Kayla Rogers, Clare-Kearney and Jackson all tied for third with identical marks of 9.900.
LSU will wrap up the 2007 season in two weeks when they travel to Salt Lake City, Utah, April 26-28, for the NCAA Championships.
MEET RESULTS
Team
1. UCLA ? 195.975 (VT ? 49.275, UB ? 49.375, BB, – 48.475, FX ? 48.850)
2. LSU ? 195.950 (VT ? 49.500, UB ? 49.125, BB, – 48.200, FX ? 49.125)
3. West Virginia ? 194.775 (VT ? 49.225, UB ? 48.475, BB, – 48.175, FX ? 48.900)
t4. Auburn ? 193.950 (VT ? 49.200, UB ? 48.100, BB, – 48.375, FX ? 48.275)
t4. N.C. State ? 193.950 (VT ? 48.900, UB ? 48.800, BB, – 47.525, FX ? 48.725)
6. North Carolina ? 193.875 (VT ? 49.325, UB ? 48.300, BB, – 47.600, FX ? 48.650)
Individual (Winner plus all LSU competitors)
All-Around ? 1, Tasha Schwikert, UCLA, 39.575. 2, Ashleigh Clare-Kearney, 39.375. 5, Susan Jackson, 39.200. 6, Nicki Butler, 39.175.
Vault ? t1, Nicki Butler, 9.950. t1, Julie Dwyer, Auburn, 9.950. t3, Ashleigh Clare-Kearney, 9.900. t3, Susan Jackson, 9.900. t3, Kayla Rogers, 9.900. t13, Amanda Morales, 9.850. t13, Kelly Phelan, 9.850.
Bars ? 1, Anna Li, UCLA, 9.950. t2, Ashleigh Clare-Kearney, 9.900. t2, Summer Hubbard, 9.900. t7, Nicki Butler, 9.800. t7, Susan Jackson, 9.800. t19, Kristi Esposito, 9.725. t24, Lisa Rennie, 9.700.
Beam ? t1, Anna Li, UCLA, 9.825. t1, Tasha Schwikert, UCLA, 9.825. 5, Ashleigh Clare-Kearney, 9.775. t11, Susan Jackson, 9.700. t19, Nicki Butler, 9.600. t19, Sabrina Franceshelli, 9.600. t25, Kelly Phelan, 9.525. 32, Kristi Esposito, 9.200.
Floor ? t1, Lauren klein, 9.900. t1, Janae Cox, West Virginia, 9.900. t1, Tasha Schwihert, UCLA, 9.900. t5, Nicki Butler, 9.825. t7, Ashleigh Clare-Kearney, 9.800. t7, Susan Jackson, 9.800, t7, Kelly Phelan, 9.800. Kristi Esposito, 9.750.
NCAA Championships Field
Salt Lake City, Utah
April 26-28, 2007
Pairing for six-team preliminary round TBD
Team, NCAA Regional Score
Utah, 197.325
Florida, 197.325
Georgia, 197.275
Alabama, 196.700
Nebraska, 196.675
Stanford, 196.600
Oregon State, 196.075
Michigan, 196.050
UCLA, 195.975
LSU, 195.950
Oklahoma, 195.925
Denver, 195.825