BATON ROUGE — The No. 6 LSU Tigers gymnastics squad will square off against No. 3 Florida Friday at the O’Connell Center in Gainesville, Fla. The dual meet will begin at 6 p.m. (CT).
The meet will be broadcast by FOX Sports Net on tape delay basis. The broadcast is set to air on Friday, Feb. 22 at 8 p.m.
For the first time this season, live audio from the meet will be broadcast free of charge from the Geaux Zone at www.LSUsports.net/live. Lyn Rollins will handle play-by-play duties, while Jewel Fourrier will provide analysis.
LSU enters the meet with an 8-1 record, scoring a season-high 197.050 to defeat Auburn (195.475) and West Virginia (192.750) last Friday in a tri-meet at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The Tigers also broke season high scores on the vault (49.425), bars (49.275) and beam (49.300).
“We are expecting a tough meet,” said LSU head coach D-D Breaux. It’s going to be two teams in the top six. They have some very competitive gymnasts. There will be nothing easy about the night.”
Florida is 5-1 on the year and 3-1 in SEC action. They defeated Pittsburgh, 196.850-190.825, at home on Sunday, Feb. 10. In addition to their No. 3 overall ranking, the Gators are listed at No. 1 on the beam with a 49.217 average, No. 1 on the vault with a 49.296 average, No. 5 on the floor with a 49.117 average and No. 9 on the bars with a 48.887 average. Individually, the Gators have four athletes that place in the national ranking’s top 25 for the all-around in Melanie Sinclair (No. 4), Nicola Willis (No.7), Amanda Castillo (t-No. 15) and Corey Hartung (No. 25).
The Tigers are led by All-SEC performer Ashleigh Clare-Kearney, a junior from Manchester, Conn. Clare-Kearney is No. 3 in the national all-around rankings with a 39.467 average. She is also ranked No. 2 on the vault with a score of 9.921.
LSU will also be looking for strong performances from Susan Jackson and Nicole Lyons. Jackson, a sophomore from Spring, Texas, scored a career-high 39.400 in the all-around against Auburn and West Virginia last Friday. Lyons, a freshman from Mountaintop, Pa., scored career highs on the vault (9.900), bars (9.850) and beam (9.850) last Friday.
Florida leads the all-time series with LSU, 47-28-0. LSU is 6-21-0 in Gainesville, Fla. LSU’s last victory in Gainesville, Fla. came at the 2000 SEC Championships when they defeated Florida, 196.825-195.775.
Following the dual meet, the Tigers will return home to face Alabama on Friday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The meet will be the first annual Etta James Memorial Meet, in honor of former LSU linebacker Bradie James’ mother who succumbed to breast cancer in 2002. Donations received at the entrances will go to Foundation56 and so will a sizable donation if 7,500 fans attend the meet.