BATON ROUGE – After combining to post 11 of 12 routines with scores of 9.90 or better over the weekend against five ranked teams, Kennedi Edney has been named the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week and senior Ashleigh Gnat has been named the SEC Specialist of the Week, the league office announced Tuesday.
Edney and Gnat were a large part of the Tigers’ second-place finish at the GymQuarters meet against No. 1 OU, No. 10 Georgia and No. 15 Missouri as well as wins over No. 20 George Washington and No. 22 Iowa Sunday. The squad posted a score of 197.700 Friday night as well as a season-high 197.975 in the tri meet.
Edney totaled scores of 9.90 on vault and bars as well as a 9.925 on beam in Missouri. The freshman then returned to the floor for Sunday’s matchup and captured the vault title with a 9.95 to tie her career high. It marked the Chino, California native’s eighth total title and third on vault during her debut season. Edney also earned a 9.925 on floor and 9.90 on bars in the tri meet Sunday.
Overall, Edney ranks No. 6 on vault and No. 8 on bars in the first edition of the Regional Qualifying Score (RQS). The award marks the third conference honor for the freshman this season. Edney was crowned the freshman of the week after her performance in the season opener against George and the gymnast of the week after winning the all-around title at Kentucky.
Gnat earned a share of the floor title in the quad meet with a 9.95 for her 49th career individual title and 12th title of the season. In Missouri, Gnat also posted scores of 9.95 on vault and 9.925 on beam. The Lake Mary, Florida native returned to the PMAC on Sunday for the Tigers’ tri meet and earned a 9.90 on both vault and beam. In the RQS, Gnat ranks No. 2 on both vault and floor and No. 6 on beam.
LSU owns the second spot in the first RQS ranking released Monday. The squad also ranks No. 2 nationally on vault, bars, beam and floor. LSU returns to action for the final road meet of the regular season at 7:30 p.m. CT Friday against No. 14 Auburn. The meet will be televised live on the SEC Network.
For the most up-to-date information on LSU gymnastics, visit www.LSUsports.net/gymnastics. Fans can also connect with the Tigers via the team’s social media outlets: www.Facebook.com/lsugym, @LSUgym on Twitter and Instagram and www.YouTube.com/lsugymnastics.
SEC Weekly Award Winners, Week 7:
Gymnast of the Week: Rachel Dickson, Georgia
Specialist of the Week: Ashleigh Gnat, LSU
Freshman of the Week: Kennedi Edney, LSU