BATON ROUGE — Coming off one of the biggest wins in program history at Alabama the 10th-ranked LSU gymnastics squad will take a break from SEC competition to play host to North Carolina and Illinois-Chicago in a tri-meet at 7 p.m. CT Friday in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Fans are asked to show up early and enjoy the pre-meet festivities because the first 200 fans to arrive will receive a 2009 LSU gymnastics “Mardi Gras” bead as part of “Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez Night” in the PMAC.
“We have had a pretty good two-week period with good scores against Florida and Alabama,” LSU head coach D-D Breaux said. “These two teams this week are certainly strong opponents, but our focus is on our score and our potential in the meet. Every tenth and every performance is going to mean a lot as we build our regional qualifying score, and we want to see as many Tiger fans as possible come out and support us.”
LSU (8-2, 3-2 SEC) was ranked No. 10 with a 195.870 score in the initial RQS rankings released Monday while North Carolina and Illinois-Chicago were both outside the top 25. Illinois-Chicago holds a 191.665 RQS while North Carolina has a season average of 193.435.
LSU has built two weeks of momentum after defeating No. 8 Florida at home with a season-high 196.800 score and followed that by knocking off fifth-ranked Alabama with a 196.625. Because of the outstanding performances the last two weeks the Tigers moved into the top 10 in three events ? vault, bars and beam. LSU is ranked fourth on vault with a 49.240 regional qualifying score, eighth on bars with a 48.985 RQS and ninth on beam with a 48.915 RQS.
Individually, LSU is led by two of the best all-around performers in the country ? fourth-ranked senior Ashleigh Clare-Kearney and fifth-ranked junior Susan Jackson. Clare-Kearney made history at Alabama as she captured her 100th career individual title by winning the vault, floor and all-around crowns. Clare-Kearney has also continued to shoot up the event rankings as she checks in at No. 2 on floor with a 9.895 RQS, No. 3 on vault (9.910) and No. 6 on bars (9.865).
Besides a No. 5 all-around ranking, Jackson is also No. 11 on vault with a 9.875 RQS, No. 12 on beam (9.835) and No. 16 on bars (9.840). Two Tigers moved into the top 25 in event rankings for the first time this season as sophomore Staci Schwitkis checked in at No. 20 on vault with a 9.840 RQS while sophomore Samantha Engle is No. 23 on bars with a 9.825 score.
In addition, Gloria Johnson was named SEC Freshman of the Week for her outstanding performance against Alabama when she set career-highs on beam (9.825) and floor (9.775) to help lead the Tigers to victory. Johnson also posted her fifth score of 9.825 on vault this season against the Crimson Tide.
Illinois-Chicago is led by junior DeAvera Todd who has scored three team-highs this season. Todd has posted a team-best 9.90 on vault, 9.875 on beam and 9.80 on floor. However, the top all-around score posted by the Flames this season belongs to freshman Andrea Skala who has tallied a 39.000. Senior Annie Kachman has scored UIC’s top mark on bars with a 9.825.
North Carolina has been led by junior Christine Nguyen who has posted team-highs on vault (9.875), beam (9.90), floor (9.925) and all-around with a 39.250 score. Junior Kara Wright has scored a team-high on bars with a 9.875 mark.
LSU has already faced the Tar Heels once this season at the Cancun Classic. The Tigers finished first in the meet with a 194.900, and North Carolina finished fourth out of four teams with a 190.325. LSU leads the all-time series against the Tar Heels with a 4-0 record. The Tigers are 10-1 against Illinois-Chicago with the last meeting in 2005, a 196.175-192.950 LSU victory.
Live video and live stats of the meet will be available on the Geaux Zone on www.LSUsports.net.