BATON ROUGE — The LSU gymnastics squad checked in at No. 6 with a 196.490 regional qualifying score in the latest national rankings released by GymInfo Monday.
Winners of five consecutive meets, LSU (12-2) posted the second-highest score of the season in a 197.150-195.725 victory over North Carolina State Saturday in the Second Annual Etta James Memorial Meet.
The 197.150 score bumped LSU’s RQS high enough to jump five spots in the rankings as the Tigers are up from No. 11 last week.
The Southeastern Conference has dominated the rankings all season as Georgia retained the No. 1 spot for the third straight week with an RQS of 197.210. Utah held on to the No. 2 ranking with a 196.985 score, and Stanford checked in at No. 3 with a 196.825 mark. Two SEC teams rounded out the top five as Alabama was fourth with a 196.720 RQS, and Florida was fifth at 196.530.
Following LSU was UCLA at No. 7 with a 196.430 RQS, and Auburn (196.390), Oregon State (196.370) and Oklahoma (196.365) completed the top 10.
All seven SEC teams were ranked for the second straight week as Arkansas was No. 11 at 196.290, and Kentucky was 24th at 194.785.
In the event rankings LSU moved up one spot on bars, checking in at No. 4 with a 49.265 RQS. The Tigers remained in the top five on vault as LSU was No. 5 at 49.255, and the Tigers were tied for sixth on beam with a 49.105 RQS. LSU held steady on floor at No. 14 with a 49.035 score.
Senior Ashleigh Clare-Kearney held the No. 3 spot in the individual all-around rankings for the third straight week with a 39.515 RQS, while junior Susan Jackson checked in at No. 7 with a 39.440 score.
Clare-Kearney retained the No. 1 ranking on floor with a 9.935 RQS, and after scoring a perfect 10.0 on vault against NC State, Clare-Kearney jumped one spot to No. 2 nationally in the event with a 9.930 RQS. Clare-Kearney is one of only two gymnasts in the nation this season to record a perfect score on vault. She also remained sixth on bars with a 9.890 RQS.
After arguably the best meet of her career as a Tiger, Jackson moved up in the event rankings. Jackson jumped one spot on vault to No. 13 with a 9.885 RQS, and she moved six spots on bars to No. 10 as she checked in with a 9.885 score. Jackson also climbed to No. 20 on beam with a 9.860 RQS, up one spot from last week.
Sixth-ranked LSU will travel to upstate rival Centenary for the Tigers final regular season meet Friday at 7 p.m. CDT in the Gold Dome in Shreveport, La.
GymInfo Top 25 ? March 9, 2009
Rank Team RQS
1. Georgia 197.210
2. Utah 196.985
3. Stanford 196.825
4. Alabama 196.720
5. Florida 196.530
6. LSU 196.490
7. UCLA 196.430
8. Auburn 196.390
9. Oregon State 196.370
10. Oklahoma 196.365
11. Arkansas 196.290
12. Nebraska 195.830
13. Missouri 195.665
14. Michigan 195.595
15. Penn State 195.560
16. Illinois-Champaign 195.485
17. Minnesota 195.370
18. Ohio State 195.310
19. Arizona 195.140
20. West Virginia 195.105
21. Iowa State 195.070
22. Kent State 194.960
23. Boise State 194.810
24. Kentucky 194.785
25. Iowa 194.720