BATON ROUGE – The LSU gymnastics team debuted at fourth in the opening edition of the National Qualifying Score (NQS) rankings, RoadtoNationals.com released Monday.
The Tigers moved up one spot after being fifth when the rankings were determined by average score for the first seven weeks of the season. LSU has now been ranked in the top-five for 36-straight weeks. The Tigers are 8-3 overall and 3-3 against league competition.
The NQS 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.
The squad’s scores counting toward its NQS are: 197.450 at Alabama, 197.250 at GymQuarters, 197.125 at Arkansas, 197.650 vs. Missouri, 197.425 vs. Florida, 197.350 vs. NC State.
The squad must drop the 197.650 against Missouri as it’s the highest of the six. The remaining scores average out to 197.280 for fourth in the nation behind Oklahoma, UCLA and Florida.
In addition to the team rankings, LSU is also fourth on vault, bars and beam as well as fifth on floor.
Senior Sarah Finnegan continues to be one of the top gymnasts in the country. Finnegan ranks third in the all-around, fourth on bars and floor, sixth on beam, 17th on vault
Junior Kennedi Edney also owns multiple top-25 rankings. Edney is 10th on vault, 12th in the all-around and 15th on bars. Sophomore Reagan Campbell is 13th in the nation on beam.
The fourth-ranked Tigers will return to the Maravich Center for another top-10 matchup on Friday night. LSU will face No. 7 Georgia on the SEC Network. Introductions for the meet are set for 7:40 p.m.
Road To Nationals Gymnastics Top 25 National Qualifying Score
February 25, 2019
Rank, Team, Average
1. Oklahoma, 197.925
2. UCLA, 197.800
3. Florida, 197.545
4. LSU, 197.280
5. Utah, 197.220
6. Denver, 197.020
7. Georgia, 196.890
8. Alabama, 196.735
9. Michigan, 196.675
10. Kentucky, 196.595
11. Minnesota, 196.495
12. Auburn, 196.425
13. Boise State, 196.400
14. California, 196.335
15. Oregon State, 196.300
16. Missouri, 196.100
17. Washington, 196.065
18. Nebraska, 196.015
19. BYU, 195.995
20. Arkansas, 195.945
21. Arizona State, 195.94
22. Stanford, 195.685
23. Ohio State, 195.550
24. West Virginia, 195.465
25. North Carolina State, 195.435