Members of the No. 11 LSU gymnastics team weren’t ready to pat themselves on the back Friday night, despite posting a season-high score.”I think we are capable of so much more,” said LSU senior Ashleigh Clare-Kearney. “We still had mistakes, and we still had landings that weren’t stuck, especially on vault.” Despite those mistakes, the Tigers (7-2, 2-2) got their first home victory of the season and their first victory against Florida (3-2, 2-2) since 2005, defeating the No. 8 Gators, 196.800-195.825. The .975 victory also broke the 19-straight seasons the two teams have had of the meets being decided by five-tenths of a point or less. LSU sophomore Samantha Engle said she was pleased with the team’s overall performance.”We just needed to go out and have fun because we’ve been having a hard time getting it all together and putting every piece of the puzzle together,” she said. “Tonight we finally acted as a team and … It was a great performance and definitely something we needed.”
Clare-Kearney posted a season-high score of 39.625 to win the all-around title. LSU junior Susan Jackson came in second in the all-around with a 39.450.The Tigers posted a season-low 49.150 on the vault but placed the top three in the event with Jackson winning the title (9.90), Clare-Kearney coming in second with a season-low 9.875 and LSU freshman Gloria Johnson coming in third with a season-high 9.85.
The Tigers followed up the season low by posting a season-high 49.425 on the bars.”A season-high on that event is a tough event — like beam — to get a season high on,” said LSU coach D-D Breaux. “Hopefully, this will be a new benchmark for this team, and they will realize why we are demanding so much.”Jackson won the bar title with a season-high 9.925. Clare-Kearney posted a 9.900 to tie for second in the event. Five Tigers posted season-highs in the event. The Tigers held a 98.575-98.150 lead against the Gators through the first rotation, and refused to give it up, as they posted another season high with a 49.300 on the beam.Johnson posted a season-high 9.800 on the apparatus, her second season high of the night.”I don’t want to diminish … how well she performed, but that’s the tip of the iceberg,” Breaux said. “She’s so talented, so I was very pleased to see her break through tonight.”Engle also posted a season high of 9.85 on the beam. Clare-Kearney tied her season high of 9.875.The team then scored a 48.925 on the floor to finish up the victory.Clare-Kearney posted a season-high 9.975 to finish up the night and win the event. Junior Kayla Rogers posted a season-high 9.90 to tie for second.The Tigers head to Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Friday to face the No. 9 Crimson Tide (3-2, 2-2). The Tide are coming off a season-high 197.025 in their victory Friday night against Denver.”I’m pleased with the pattern of our workouts and … the progress we are making, but we need to continue to make small strides and small improvements as we go into our meet next week with Alabama,” Breaux said.
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Contact Andy Schwehm at [email protected]