BATON ROUGE — The LSU gymnastics team scored a 196.975 at the SEC Championships Saturday but it wasn’t enough to hold off two-time defending national champions UCLA in the latest national rankings, as the Bruins jumped ahead of the Tigers who dropped one spot to No. 3 this week.
Utah held onto its No. 1 ranking for a third straight week, improving its regional qualifying score to 197.320. UCLA’s RQS jumped to 197.090, landing the Bruins in the No. 2 spot, followed by LSU with a 197.025. Alabama (196.815) held steady at No. 4 and Georgia moved up three spots to No. 5 (196.800).
The Tigers are listed among the top four nationally on each of the four individual events. LSU is No. 1 on the floor for a sixth consecutive week. The Tigers are also No. 2 on the beam, No. 3 on the bars and No. 4 on the vault.
Each of LSU’s six individuals previously listed among the top 25 remained relatively stable in the rankings this week.
SEC Gymnast of the Year April Burkholder will held onto her No. 4 ranking in the all-around. She is also listed at No. 4 on the floor, No. 6 on the vault, No. 14 on the bars and No. 23 on the beam.
Sophomore Lisa Rennie and senior Annie Gagnon are each ranked nationally on the bars and beam. Rennie is fourth on the bars and ninth on the beam, while Gagnon is No. 9 on the bars and No. 25 on the beam.
Freshman Ashleigh Clare-Kearney is listed among the country’s top ten on both the floor and vault, sitting in sixth and ninth, respectively.
Other athletes ranked include sophomores Kelly Phelan and Nicki Butler. Phelan is No. 9 on the beam and No. 21 floor, while Butler is 19th on the vault.
National Rankings – March 28, 2005
1. Utah 197.320
2. UCLA 197.090
3. LSU 197.025
4. Alabama 196.815
5. Georgia 196.800
6. Nebraska 196.750
7. Florida 196.685
8. Michigan 196.595
9. Iowa State 196.260
10. Oklahoma 196.130
11. Penn State 195.900
12. Oregon State 195.715
13. BYU 195.625
14. Central Michigan 195.540
15. Arkansas 195.510
16. Utah State 195.370
17. Denver 195.310
18. Arizona 195.300
19. Missouri 195.235
20. Minnesota 195.185
21. Auburn 195.180
22. Southern Utah 195.155
23. Kentucky 195.070
24. Washington 195.030
25. North Carolina 195.000