Throughout the entire season the LSU gymnastics team has been waiting for a meet in which the entire team performed well on the beam.
This past Friday the Tigers defeated the University of Auburn, 195.750-194.775, thanks to six solid beam scores including three scores above 9.825.
LSU will need to continue to fire on all cylinders today when the No. 10 Tigers take on No. 1 University of Florida at 7 p.m. in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Junior Ashleigh Clare-Kearney leads the Tigers into the meet. Clare-Kearney scored a 39.375 all-around against Auburn, winning the third All-Around title of her career.
With her 9.975 on vault against Auburn, Clare-Kearney is now the No. 1 vault gymnast in the nation.
Clare-Kearney was a question mark to perform in the meet because of the flu, but LSU coach D-D Breaux said she was pleased with the way Clare-Kearney performed.
“Ashleigh was just awesome,” Breaux said. “Before this meet she was determined to put together four good events. She practiced hard all week and really worked on staying in the process. She did that tonight, and it paid dividends.”
Senior Kelly Phelan and junior Nicki Butler also are consistent for LSU, with neither scoring below 9.700 on an event.
Breaux said the duo’s performance has been a bright spot for LSU all season.
“Nicki and Kelly just continue to give us 100 percent in every meet,” she said. “You can’t ask for more than that.”
Sophomore Lauren Klein won the floor event for the Tigers with a 9.900.
The Gators come into today’s meet performing very well following a 197.875-194.80 victory over the University of Kentucky.
The team’s collective score of 197.875 is the highest score by any team in the nation this season.
“The team had a lot of energy from the start,” Florida coach Rhonda Faehn said. “Obviously if you look at not only the scores but also the individual performances, I think vault was our poorest event, and we have the potential to do much better overall.”
The Gators are nearly perfect on both the uneven bars and the floor event, scoring 49.700 and 49.600 respectively.
Junior Ashley Reed led Florida with a 39.675 in the all-around. Reed scored 9.950 for the Gators on the vault and uneven bars.
Freshman Melanie Sinclair stole the show on bars for the Gators, scoring a perfect 10.0.
Faehn said the Gators are aware of LSU’s capabilities, and her team is trying to avoid a letdown after performing so well this past Friday.
“LSU is a great team as well,” she said. “They have always been competitive. The environment [in Baton Rouge] is always challenging to compete in, but I think this team is very strong and is capable of going in there and doing the same job that we have been doing all season.”
—–Contact Casey Gisclair at [email protected]