TUCSON, Ariz.- Down to their last life, the LSU gymnastics team completed a remarkable comeback Saturday night to finish second at the NCAA Region III Championships at the McKale Memorial Center in Tucson, Ariz., and earn a berth in the NCAA Championship field for the fourth consecutive year.
Trailing Arizona State by .325 for the second and final qualifying spot heading into the last rotation, Nicki Arnstad completed the Tigers’ miraculous comeback with a 9.95 on the floor exercise in the sixth and final spot to win the event and give the Tigers a second place finish and an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships.
Arnstad need a 9.80 to put the Tigers into a tie and a 9.825 and came through with the best score of her career.
The Tigers finished with a 49.250 on the floor, while Arizona State wrapped up its final rotation with a 48.775 on the vault. Beth Boudreaux went 9.85, while Kim Descalopoulis and Shanyn MacEachern went 9.825 to lead the Tigers’ dramatic rally.
Following their tremendous performance on the floor, the Tigers finished with 195.650 to 195.500 for Arizona State. LSU now advances to the NCAA Championships from April 13-15 in Boise, Idaho. Nebraska finished with 196.825 to win the regional title, their first since 1983.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever been prouder of a way a team responded to adversity,” said LSU head coach D-D Breaux. “We fought and fought tonight. We knew our backs were against the wall coming into this regional with the field here. I think the general perception was that we would not come out of this regional. We put it all together when we had to and Nicki just nailed it to give us second place.”
LSU came out of the gates strong, going a season-high 49.075 on vault. While not considered to be a strong vaulting team, the Tigers got their least favorite event over with first and turned it into a positive. MacEachern soared to a season-high with a 9.875, as did Descalopoulis.
During the second rotation, however, the Tigers fell apart. LSU scored an uncharacteristically low 48.325 on bars and were forced to count a fall. Abbey Burns salvaged the rotation with a solid 9.85 to conclude the bars, but the score was the Tigers second lowest of the season in the event and put them behind Nebraska and Arizona State.
“We made a couple of mistakes on bars, but we made mistakes, not because of mental errors, but because we were maybe trying to do too much,” added Breaux.
The Tigers rebounded on the third rotation and scored a 49.000 behind a 9.85 from Descalopoulis and a 9.825 from MacEachern. Stacey Wegener, Burns and Rebecca Lightsey each went 9.775.
MacEachern ended up fourth in the all-around with a score of 39.250.
This marks the first time that an LSU squad has qualified for the NCAA Championships four consecutive years.
Region III Championships
April 1, 2000
McKale Memorial Center
Tucson, Ariz.
Team Scores
1, Nebraska, 196.875. 2, LSU, 195.650. 3, Arizona State, 195.500. 4, Arizona, 194.100. 5, Illinois-Chicago, 193.650. 6, 190.975.
The following team qualified for the NCAA Championships:
| Team | Qualifying Score |
| Alabama | 197.300 |
| UCLA | 197.025 |
| Nebraska | 196.875 |
| Georgia | 196.725 |
| Michigan | 196.550 |
| Utah | 196.325 |
| Oregon State | 196.175 |
| Iowa State | 196.100 |
| Penn State | 195.925 |
| LSU | 195.650 |
| West Virginia | 195.475 |
| BYU | 194.700 |