Following a historic Thursday where the LSU gymnastics team advanced to its first Super Six, the Tigers season came to a bittersweet end this past weekend.
The Tigers scored above their season average with a 196.350, but several small mistakes cost LSU a shot at its first national championship and sent the Tigers to a fifth-place finish.
Georgia won their fourth consecutive national championship with a 197.450 score. Utah, Stanford, Florida and Alabama finished second, third, fourth and sixth, respectively.
"We could have done better, but we just have to learn how to handle the pressure and the crowd noise," said LSU coach D-D Breaux. "Am I pleased with being fifth? Absolutely. I'm proud of the effort from the girls this whole weekend."
Sophomore Susan Jackson had a memorable weekend, winning the national vault championship Saturday. She defeated Utah's Kristina Baskett and Auburn's Julie Dwyer with a 9.8563 score.
Jackson said her accomplishment is more fulfilling because she did it on her third straight day performing, having been an all-around anchor for LSU on both Friday and Saturday.
"I don't think what happened has sunk in yet," Jackson said. "[Saturday] my legs were a little tired, but I was able to pull it off."
Jackson is the fourth LSU performer to win an individual national championship, joining April Burkholder, Nicki Arnstad and Jeanie Beadle.
LSU began the Super Six on Friday on floor and scored 49.125. Junior Ashley Clare-Kearney paced the Tigers in the first rotation with a 9.900.
Clare-Kearney had one of her strongest all-around performances of the season in the meet, scoring at least 9.900 in all four events.
Jackson and freshman Samantha Engle also performed well on the first rotation, scoring 9.875 and 9.850.
LSU's No. 2-ranked vault team took the floor in the Tigers' second event. Clare-Kearney and Jackson again paced LSU's 49.225 event with 9.925 scores.
The Tigers had a bye before returning for their third event on bars. In Thursday's Preliminary Sessions, bars pushed LSU into the Super Six with a 49.450 score.
But in the Super Six, the Tigers were not able to duplicate their preliminary score but still scored 49.200. Clare-Kearney led the Tigers with a 9.900 score, and sophomore Summer Hubbard and freshmen Staci Schwitkis also scored 9.850 for LSU.
The Tigers had their poorest score on beam with a 48.800. LSU did not have to count a fall on the event, but several stumbles forced the Tigers to count three scores below 9.800.
Clare-Kearney was LSU's leader on beam with a 9.900 score.
Friday's meet was the final meet of senior Kristi Esposito's career, and before the meet, Breaux named Esposito the team's captain.
"This was her last meet, and she went out strong and left everything in the competition," she said. "Her performance over her career was great. She is truly a leader on this team in performance and outside."
With several freshman and sophomore contributors, Breaux said she expects another strong season from the Tigers next season.
"The experience was huge for the underclassmen," Breaux said. "When we come back next year we will have new freshmen, but these kids will be a year older, more experienced and hopefully better fit and better gymnasts. I think they realize that we need to improve, and they know what to do."
---- Contact Casey Gisclair at cgisclair@lsureveille.com
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