Gymnastics: Tigers win NCAA Central Regional
Clare-Kearney scores 10 on vault
Amos Morale
Issue date: 4/14/08 Section: Sports
To view a slideshow from the meet, click here.
There are highs and lows in every sport, and Saturday the No. 7 LSU gymnastics team was determined to experience the highs.
LSU captured first place Saturday at the NCAA Central Regional behind a slew of season-best performances.
The win was the LSU's first regional title since 2005.
The Tigers' score of 197.625 topped the field of six and bested No. 6 Stanford's 197.525.
The Cardinal scored a meet-high 49.500 on beam but struggled on the bars.
"Bars were rough for us in our first event," said Stanford coach Kristen Smyth. "We're a much better bar team than that."
Ohio State, Missouri, Kentucky and Kent. State took third through sixth, respectively.
The mats were clustered as all four events took place simultaneously, but LSU junior Ashleigh Clare-Kearney said the chaos was not a distraction.
"I like competing with more than one team," Clare-Kearney said. "It takes a lot of the pressure off."
She scored a perfect 10 on the vault, which catapulted her to a career-high 39.825 to capture the all-around title.
"Getting a 10 is amazing," she said. "It felt good to go out there and do what I knew how to do."
The perfect score was Clare-Kearney's third of the season. She posted perfect scores on vault and on floor Feb. 29 against Michigan State.
Clare-Kearney won the floor Saturday with a score of 9.950 and also captured the beam title with a season-high score of 9.975.
"I wanted to come out and compete like I practice," Clare-Kearney said. "I've been really working hard at practice on the little things, and I wanted to carry it on to nationals."
As a team, the Tigers eclipsed their season-high score on beam with a score of 49.325.
"I was satisfied with the performance and the score tonight," said LSU coach D-D Breaux. "What we did tonight will stack up well against the other top teams in the country. "
There are highs and lows in every sport, and Saturday the No. 7 LSU gymnastics team was determined to experience the highs.
LSU captured first place Saturday at the NCAA Central Regional behind a slew of season-best performances.
The win was the LSU's first regional title since 2005.
The Tigers' score of 197.625 topped the field of six and bested No. 6 Stanford's 197.525.
The Cardinal scored a meet-high 49.500 on beam but struggled on the bars.
"Bars were rough for us in our first event," said Stanford coach Kristen Smyth. "We're a much better bar team than that."
Ohio State, Missouri, Kentucky and Kent. State took third through sixth, respectively.
The mats were clustered as all four events took place simultaneously, but LSU junior Ashleigh Clare-Kearney said the chaos was not a distraction.
"I like competing with more than one team," Clare-Kearney said. "It takes a lot of the pressure off."
She scored a perfect 10 on the vault, which catapulted her to a career-high 39.825 to capture the all-around title.
"Getting a 10 is amazing," she said. "It felt good to go out there and do what I knew how to do."
The perfect score was Clare-Kearney's third of the season. She posted perfect scores on vault and on floor Feb. 29 against Michigan State.
Clare-Kearney won the floor Saturday with a score of 9.950 and also captured the beam title with a season-high score of 9.975.
"I wanted to come out and compete like I practice," Clare-Kearney said. "I've been really working hard at practice on the little things, and I wanted to carry it on to nationals."
As a team, the Tigers eclipsed their season-high score on beam with a score of 49.325.
"I was satisfied with the performance and the score tonight," said LSU coach D-D Breaux. "What we did tonight will stack up well against the other top teams in the country. "
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