BATON ROUGE — LSU’s 10th-ranked gymnastics team opens the 2008 home schedule Friday when it welcomes Iowa to the Pete Maravich Assembly Center for a 7 p.m. dual meet.
Tickets for the event are available online at www.LSUsports.net., over the phone at 225-578-2184 or in person at the LSU Ticket Office. The cost is $5 for adults and $3 for children ages 3-12.
In conjunction with the meet’s Spirit Night theme, all cheerleaders and dance team members who wear their club uniforms will get into the meet free. The LSU Cheerleaders and Tiger Girls will also be on hand to perform their routines for the upcoming national meet. Both groups will be available to sign autographs following the meet.
The Tigers enter the competition with a perfect 3-0 record after defeating No. 15 Denver, Minnesota and Texas Woman’s at the season-opening Cancun Classic last week. The Tigers were impressive in that outing, posting the highest season-opening score in school history with a 195.725 mark.
The Tigers were led by All-SEC performer Ashleigh Clare-Kearney. The junior from Manchester, Conn., captured the meet’s all-around crown with an exceptional 39.600 performance as she posted three scores of 9.900 or better en route to the vault, bars and beam titles as well.
LSU also got a solid effort from junior Lauren Klein who notched a career-high 9.900 on the vault as well as a 9.925 on the floor.
The Tigers will depend on these two as well as sophomore all-arounder Susan Jackson heavily as they look to continue their unbeaten streak against the Hawkeyes.
This meet will serve as the season opener for Iowa. The Hawkeyes return nine letterwinners off a squad that finished 8-11 a year ago. They enter the season unranked, but are receiving votes in the preseason coaches poll.
The Tigers hold a 6-1-0 all-time series advantage over the Hawkeyes, having won the last five straight match ups, including a 194.875-192.525 decision that year. LSU’s lone loss to Iowa came during the 1992 season when the Hawkeyes outscored the Tigers, 187.350-184.650, at the NCAA Central Regional Championships.
Following the Iowa meet, LSU opens the SEC slate on the road, traveling to Arkansas for a dual meet on Jan. 18.