BATON ROUGE – LSU gymnastics improved to 3-0 with a victory over Kentucky, and the Tigers advanced one spot to No. 6 in the national rankings released Monday.
For the fourth straight season LSU will compete at the Metroplex Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas in what has shaped up to be a stellar event. Four of the five teams in the competition are ranked in the Top 16 with No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 6 LSU, No. 12 Stanford, No. 16 Missouri and Washington taking part in the meet.
The Metroplex Challenge will be held at the Fort Worth Convention Center at 7 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets and more information can be found at www.metroplexchallenge.com.
Last Week’s Result
Friday, Jan. 22
No. 7 LSU def. No. 20 Kentucky, 196.575-195.100
This Week’s Schedule
Saturday, Jan. 30 at Metroplex Challenge (Fort Worth, Texas), 7 p.m. CT, FloGymnastics.com
No. 6 LSU vs. No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 12 Stanford, No. 16 Missouri, Washington
Notes on the Tigers
LSU extended its unbeaten home streak to 18-0 when the Tigers took down No. 20 Kentucky, 196.575-195.100, in the Maravich Center. LSU nearly swept all individual titles as Ashleigh Gnat won vault with a perfect 10.0, Lexie Priessman won bars with a 9.925, Sarah Finnegan tied with Kentucky’s Sidney Dukes for the beam title with a 9.90, Gnat won floor with a 9.95 and Myia Hambrick captured the all-around crown with a 39.325. Gnat’s perfect 10 was the first of her career as she became the eighth gymnast in LSU history to record a 10 on vault. Overall, it marked LSU’s 45th perfect 10 in program history, including the 22nd 10 on vault. Gnat is currently the only gymnast in the nation this season with a 10.0 on vault, and she is only the second gymnast with a 10 this season, joining Denver’s Nina McGee who posted a 10 on floor. For Priessman, it was her first official bars routine as a Tiger, and she won the event with a 9.925. Her 9.925 tied the school record for the highest score in a gymnast’s first official bars routine. Katherine Hilton tallied a 9.925 in her first bars routine vs. Denver on Jan. 31, 2003. As a team the Tigers moved up one spot to No. 6 in this week’s national rankings, and the team ranks No. 1 on vault, No. 5 on floor, No. 12 on bars and No. 15 on beam. Individually, three Tigers are ranked No. 1 on an event with Ashleigh Gnat No. 1 on vault, Lexie Priessman No. 1 on bars and Erin Macadaeg No. 1 on floor. LSU competes this week at the Metroplex Challenge, the fourth straight season and the fifth time out of six seasons that the Tigers have taken part in the competition. The last three seasons Oklahoma has taken home the Metroplex title, and LSU has finished second. This season, LSU is joined at the meet again by Oklahoma along with Missouri, Stanford and Washington. The meet will begin at 7 p.m. CT Saturday inside the Fort Worth Convention Center.
🔟 🔟 🔟 🔟‼️ pic.twitter.com/vxsDCamFf6
— LSU Gymnastics (@LSUgym) January 25, 2016
RoadToNationals Gymnastics Top 25
Jan. 25, 2016
Rank, Team, Season Average
1. Florida 197.192
2. Oklahoma 197.094
3. Michigan 196.938
4. UCLA 196.758
5. Alabama 196.688
6. LSU 196.450
7. Utah 196.342
8. Arkansas 196.113
9. Auburn 196.106
10. Boise State 196.063
11. George Washington 195.800
12. Stanford 195.783
13. Georgia 195.769
14. Denver 195.642
15. Oregon State 195.633
16. Missouri 195.600
17. Nebraska 195.342
18. Minnesota 195.267
19. Illinois 195.242
20. Arizona 195.217
21. California 195.150
22. West Virginia 195.083
23. Kentucky 195.033
T24. Eastern Michigan 194.992
T24. Southern Utah 194.992
LSU in the Individual National Rankings
Sydney Ewing: 4th VT
Sarah Finnegan: 4th BB
Ashleigh Gnat: 1st VT, 4th FX, 21st AA
Myia Hambrick: 9th AA, 13th FX
Erin Macadaeg: 1st FX
Lexie Priessman: 1st UB
Randii Wyrick: 21st VT, 22nd FX