BATON ROUGE –The LSU gymnastics team, which defeated Texas Woman’s Friday night with a score of 197.475, remains at No. 2 in the RoadToNationals.com released Monday with an average team score of 197.625.
For the first time in school history, LSU has opened a season with scores of 197 or better in three-straight meets. So far this season, LSU is one of just five schools in the nation with at least one team score of 197 through three meets. LSU joins Oklahoma and Florida as the only schools in the country with a score of 197 or more in all three meets.
The Sooners remained in the top spot of the rankings after totaling a score of 197.925 Saturday on the road against West Virginia. OU owns an average score of 197.900 and Florida owns an average of 197.342 for third. National rankings are based on a team’s overall season average for the first few weeks of the season before switching to the regional qualifying score (RQS).
On vault, LSU ranks as the No. 1 team in the country with an average score of 49.483. The Tigers’ high score of 49.600 remains the best in the country. Senior Ashleigh Gnat is tied for the top average vault score in the country at 9.942. Gnat is just one of two gymnasts in the country to score a 10.0 on the event.
After a season-high bars score of 49.450 on Friday night, LSU jumped up to No. 2 in the country on the event with an average of 49.333. Sophomore Sarah Finnegan is the top bars performer in the lineup with an average score of 9.892 and high of 9.925 for ninth in the nation.
On beam, the Tigers rank No. 4 in the country with an average of 49.358. Finnegan ranks second on the event with an average of 9.933. This season, Finnegan has not scored lower than a 9.925 on the event.
LSU owns an average score of 49.450 on floor for second in the country. Gnat ranks second on the event with an average of 9.942 and owns a high score of 9.95. Hambrick rounds out the top-five with an average of 9.925.
Gnat and Hambrick rank fifth and ninth in the all-around respectively. Finnegan is also 14th in the nation in the all-around after competing the last two weeks
The Tigers return to the road for their second conference road meet of the season at 6 p.m. CT Friday against No. 6 Kentucky. The Wildcats are coming off of two outstanding performances where they set program records with their team scores. The match will be streamed live on WatchESPN.com through SECNetwork+
RoadToNationals Gymnastics Top 25
Jan. 23, 2017
Rank, Team, Season Average
1 Oklahoma, 197.900
2 LSU, 197.625
3 Florida, 197.342
4 Utah, 197.050 197.625
5 Alabama, 197.008
6 Kentucky, 196.375
7 Denver, 196.367
8 UCLA, 196.263
9 Southern Utah , 196.150
10 Michigan, 196.100
11 Missouri, 195.950
12(t) Nebraska, 195.875
12(t) Georgia, 195.875
14 Boise State, 195.763
15 California, 195.725
16 Auburn, 195.717
17 Oregon State, 195.667
18 George Washington, 195.592
19 Washington, 195.250
20 Ohio State, 195.233
21 Illinois-Champaign, 195.133
22 Iowa, 195.063
23 Arkansas, 194.775
24 North Carolina State, 194.619
25 West Virginia, 194.608
LSU in the Individual National Rankings
Myia Hambrick: 5th FX, 5th AA, 11th VT, 21st UB, 23rd BB
Sarah Finnegan: 2nd BB, 9th UB, 14th AA
Ashleigh Gnat: 1st VT, 2nd FX, 9th AA
Kennedi Edney: 8th VT,
Lexie Priessman: 15th UB, 18th VT
Ruby Harrold: 15th UB
Sydney Ewing: 22nd VT