BATON ROUGE – Following a season-high score of 197.900 in the dominating win over No. 7 Georgia Friday night, the LSU gymnastics team improved its National Qualifying Score (NQS) and held off Utah and Denver to remain at fourth, RoadtoNationals.com released.
The Tigers are ranked in the top-five for the 37th-straight week. The squad is 9-3 and finished 4-3 against league opponents in 2019.
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, 197.900 vs. Georgia, 197.650 vs. Missouri, and 197.425 vs. Florida.
The squad must drop the 197.900 against the Bulldogs as it’s the highest of the six. The remaining scores average out to 197.380 for fourth in the nation behind Oklahoma, UCLA and Florida.
In addition to the team rankings, LSU is also fourth on vault, fifth on beam and floor, and sixth on bars.
Senior Sarah Finnegan, the reigning SEC Gymnast of the Week, is one of the best gymnasts in the nation. Finnegan has won nine of 10 all-around titles this season and ranks fourth in the country. The Missouri native also ranks fourth on floor and bars, fifth on beam and 15 on vault.
Junior Kennedi Edney also owns multiple top-25 rankings. Edney is 14th on vault, 16th in the all-around and 18th on bars, 22nd on beam. Sophomore Reagan Campbell is 14th in the nation on beam.
The fourth-ranked Tigers will compete for the final time during the regular season in the PMAC. The squad will take on No. 15 Oregon State at 7:10 p.m. CT Friday. The meet will be streamed on SEC Network+ through WatchESPN.com and the app.
Road To Nationals Gymnastics Top 25 National Qualifying Score
March 6, 2019
Rank, Team, Average
1. Oklahoma, 197.94
2. UCLA, 197.8
3. Florida, 197.545
4. LSU, 197.38
5. Utah, 197.315
6. Denver, 197.31
7. Michigan, 196.935
8. Georgia, 196.895
9. Alabama, 196.78
10. Minnesota, 196.76
11. Boise State, 196.61
12. Kentucky, 196.6
13. Auburn, 196.54
14. California, 196.46
15. Oregon State, 196.375
16. BYU, 196.3
17. Missouri, 196.255
18. Nebraska, 196.24
19. Washington, 196.205
20. Arkansas, 196.055
21. Arizona State, 196.035
22. Ohio State, 195.81
23. Iowa State, 195.79
24. Stanford, 195.685
25. Penn State, 195.665