BATON ROUGE – LSU gymnastics tallied a season-high 197.825 in a win over Auburn, and the big score propelled the Tigers to a No. 4 ranking in terms of season average at 196.879. The Tigers checked in at No. 7 in the first edition of the regional qualifying score (RQS) national rankings released Monday by RoadToNationals.com.
The RQS is ascertained by taking a team’s top six scores – three of which must be from road/neutral meets – dropping the high score and averaging the remaining five scores.
LSU’s six scores that factor into the RQS equation are the 197.825 vs. Auburn, 197.425 vs. Arkansas, 196.950 vs. Oklahoma, 196.800 at Georgia, 196.750 at the Metroplex Challenge and the 195.825 at the Lady Luck Invitational.
The Tigers’ 197.825 last week vs. Auburn is dropped, and the remaining five scores averaged for a 196.750 RQS.
LSU is 8-2 overall and 4-1 against Southeastern Conference competition as the Tigers prepare for a second straight Top-10 matchup Friday at No. 2 Florida (6-1, 4-1).
The meet will begin at 6 p.m. CT Friday in the O’Connell Center, and it will be televised live on SEC Network.
LSU is No. 2 nationally on vault, No. 7 on bars, No. 18 on beam and No. 6 on floor.
Individually, Ashleigh Gnat is No. 1 nationally on vault and No. 4 on floor. Sydney Ewing is No. 12 on vault. Myia Hambrick is No. 18 on bars. Shae Zamardi is No. 23 on bars, and Randii Wyrick is No. 23 on floor.
Last Week’s Result
Friday, Feb. 19
No. 6 LSU def. No. 8 Auburn, 197.825-197.125
This Week’s Schedule
Friday, Feb. 26
No.7 LSU at No. 2 Florida • Gainesville, Fla. • 6 p.m. CT • SEC Network
Notes on the Tigers
LSU roared to a season-high 197.825 to beat Auburn Friday night in the Maravich Center. LSU was propelled by a school-record tying 49.700 on floor in the final rotation to secure the victory. The Tigers also tied a season high on vault with a 49.450 and set a season high on bars at 49.375. LSU posted 12 scores of 9.90 or higher in the meet, led by junior Ashleigh Gnat‘s perfect 10.0 on floor in the meet’s final performance. It marked the third perfect 10 of Gnat’s career and her first on floor. Gnat is the only gymnast in the nation with three 10s this season as she also scored 10s on vault against Kentucky and at the Metroplex Challenge. Against Auburn, Gnat also won the vault title with a near-perfect 9.975, and she tied for the beam title with a 9.90. For the season Gnat is up to a team-leading 14 individual titles. Sophomore Myia Hambrick captured her fourth all-around title of the season with a career-high tying 39.625. For the first in her career Hambrick notched a 9.90 or higher on all four events as she went 9.90 on vault, 9.925 on bars, 9.90 on beam and 9.90 on floor. Hambrick won the bars title, and she tied with Gnat for the beam title to increase her season total to 10 individual titles.
RoadToNationals Gymnastics Top 25
Feb. 22, 2016
Rank, Team, Regional Qualifying Score
1. Oklahoma 197.595
2. Florida 197.355
3. Alabama 197.195
4. Michigan 196.920
5. Utah 196.850
6. UCLA 196.810
7. LSU 196.750
8. Auburn 196.495
9. Arkansas 196.315
10. Georgia 196.310
11. Boise State 196.185
12. Stanford 196.045
13. Denver 196.005
t14. Nebraska 195.955
t14. California 195.955
16. Missouri 195.900
17. Oregon State 195.840
18. Iowa 195.710
19. Minnesota 195.695
20. George Washington 195.520
21. Eastern Michigan 195.485
22. Kentucky 195.480
23. West Virginia 195.420
24. Illinois 195.315
25. Arizona 195.235
LSU in the Individual National Rankings
Sydney Ewing: 12th VT
Ashleigh Gnat: 1st VT, 4th FX
Myia Hambrick: 18th UB
Randii Wyrick: 23rd FX
Shae Zamardi: 23rd UB