BATON ROUGE — After their best performance of the season to date, the LSU gymnastics team jumped one spot in the national rankings this week, placing sixth in the nation. The team had been at No. 7 for the past two weeks.
LSU has a team average of 195.871 after defeating No. 15 Auburn, 197.050-195.475, and West Virginia, 197.050-192.750, last Friday in a tri-meet at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Georgia (196.829), Utah (196.775), Florida (196.517), Alabama (196.360) and Michigan (196.295) held their respective top five spots.
LSU, UCLA (195.800), Oklahoma (195.750), Stanford (195.655) and Arkansas (195.500) round out the top 10 in this week’s polls.
The squad also gained some ground in individual events, tying for No. 5 on the vault (49.117) after placing No. 9 last week. They also jumped to No. 13 on the beam with an average of 48.712. The Tigers stayed at No. 6 on the floor with an average of 49.033. Despite scoring a season high on the bars, LSU fell one spot to No. 6 on the bars, with a 49.008 average.
Individually, Ashleigh Clare-Kearney passed Florida’s Melanie Sinclair for the No. 3 spot in the nation’s all-around rankings this week. Clare-Kearney has an average score of 39.467.
Clare-Kearney is also tied for No. 2 on the vault with an average of 9.921. The junior from Manchester, Conn. also jumped ten spots to No. 8 on the beam with an average of 9.820. She is also No. 16 on the bars (9.854), up three spots from last week, as well as staying at No. 19 on the floor (9.858).
The Tigers continue their SEC slate on Friday, Feb. 15 when they travel to Gainesville, Fla. for a dual meet at the O’ Connell Center against No. 3 Florida. The action will begin at 7 p.m. (ET).
Rank Team Name Team Ave
1 Georgia 196.829
2 Utah 196.775
3 Florida 196.517
4 Alabama 196.360
5 Michigan 196.295
6 LSU 195.871
7 UCLA 195.800
8 Oklahoma 195.750
9 Stanford 195.655
10 Arkansas 195.500
11 Oregon State 195.485
12 Nebraska 195.221
13 Denver 195.070
14 Missouri 194.955
15 Southern Utah 194.942
16 Auburn 194.805
17 Arizona State 194.500
18 Penn State 194.485
19 North Carolina 194.342
20 Arizona 194.335
21 Boise State 194.281
22 Michigan State 194.155
23 Ohio State 194.055
24 North Carolina State 194.042
25 Kent State 193.875
Season High Score Boosts Gym Team to No. 6