BATON ROUGE -- Career highs were set left and right for members of the 10th-ranked LSU gymnastics squad as the Tigers blew away their old season high with a 197.400 in a victory over North Carolina (194.775) and Illinois-Chicago (192.875) Friday night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
For the first time all season LSU (10-2, 3-2 SEC) scored a 49.200 or higher on all four events, including season-highs of 49.500 on bars and 49.475 on floor.
"This is what we usually see in practice. They were very relaxed tonight and didn't give up points," LSU head coach D-D Breaux said. "We did not make many mistakes, and we stuck a lot of landings which really helped us tonight."
LSU opened the meet in strong fashion on vault where freshman Gloria Johnson posted a season-high score to put the Tigers total at 49.200.
Johnson highlighted the vault event by posting a season-high of 9.900, capturing the meet title on that event, which is her first ever individual title as a Tiger.
North Carolina recorded a 48.750 on beam and Illinois-Chicago scored a 48.475 on bars in their respective first rotation. Those marks placed LSU first after the opening rotation.
LSU increased its lead after the second rotation by scoring a season-high 49.500 on bars. The bars score marks the highest score on bars for LSU since March 15, 2002 when the Tigers also posted a 49.500 in a tri-meet at home against Rhode Island and Centenary.
Senior Ashleigh Clare-Kearney broke her season-high and tied her career-high of 9.950 to lead the way for the Tigers on bars. Sabrina Franceschelli broke her career-high on bars by notching a 9.925 which shattered her pervious high of 9.850.
The Tar Heels' 48.225 on floor and the Flames' 47.475 on beam closed out the second rotation of the event.
Three Tigers competing on the beam scored season-highs and broke career-highs to extend LSU's lead after the third rotation with a team score of 49.225. Clare-Kearney broke her pervious season-high of 9.875 on beam to earn a new high of 9.900. Susan Jackson and Staci Schwitkis earned new career-highs after posting a solid 9.900 and 9.825, respectively, to contribute to LSU's lead.
North Carolina's 48.925 on vault and Illinois-Chicago's 48.325 on floor set the stage for the meet's final rotation.
The first four Tigers competing on floor set new career-bests in the final event of the evening. LSU's Kayla Rogers set a new career-high two weeks after setting it against Florida as she scored a 9.925 on floor. Johnson blew away her previous career-high of 9.775 by scoring a 9.900 on floor. Schwitkis earned a career-high with a 9.850, and junior Summer Hubbard set a career-best with a 9.875. Clare-Kearney capped the meet by scoring a 9.925 to give the Tigers' their highest floor score of the season.
The Tar Heel's 48.875 on bars and the Flames' 48.600 on vault concluded the scoring for the evening.
LSU will stay home next Friday, Feb. 27, when the Tigers play host to Arkansas at 7 p.m. CT.
MEET RESULTS
Team
1. LSU 197.400 (VT – 49.200, UB – 49.500, BB – 49.225, FX – 49.475)
2. North Carolina 194.775 (VT – 48.925, UB – 48.875, BB – 48.750, FX – 48.225)
3. Illinois-Chicago 192.875 (VT – 48.600, UB – 48.475, BB – 47.475, FX – 48.325)
Individual (Includes first place and all LSU competitors)
All-Around – 1. Ashleigh Clare-Kearney 39.625; 2. Susan Jackson 39.500; 3. Staci Schwitkis 39.350
Vault – 1. Gloria Johnson 9.90; 2. Susan Jackson 9.875; t3. Ashleigh Clare-Kearney 9.850; t6. Staci Schwitkis 9.800; t8. Sabrina Franceschelli 9.775; t8. Kayla Rogers 9.775
Bars – 1. Ashleigh Clare-Kearney 9.950; 2. Sabrina Franceschelli 9.925; t3. Staci Schwitkis 9.875; t3. Susan Jackson 9.875; t3. Summer Hubbard 9.875; t7. Samantha Engle 9.800
Beam – t1. Ashleigh Clare-Kearney 9.90; t1. Susan Jackson 9.90; 4. Staci Schwitkis 9.825; t5. Sabrina Franceschelli 9.800; t5. Gloria Johnson 9.800; 10. Summer Hubbard 9.725
Floor – t1. Ashleigh Clare-Kearney 9.925; t1. Kayla Rogers 9.925; 3. Gloria Johnson 9.900; 4. Summer Hubbard 9.875; t5. Susan Jackson 9.850; t5. Staci Schwitkis 9.850
