After a long, hard-fought season to stay at the top of the rankings, LSU crumbled in the spotlight.

Though the Tigers were in the ‘easy’ evening session and seemed a sure shot to qualify into the Super Six over lower-ranked Auburn, Nebraska, and Oregon State, three falls on beam knocked them out of the race.

The worst was that there was nothing they could do going on to their final (and arguably best) event – floor – in the sixth rotation. One rotation earlier, Auburn finished their meet and secured a spot in finals with a 197.075; LSU would have had to count five perfect 10s just to tie them. Of course, this was all but impossible, and the team placed 5th with a 196.55.

Auburn was definitely the team to take advantage of LSU’s mistakes. Despite missing out on nationals every year since 2003 and only making it to finals once before in program history, the Tigers (yep, same moniker as LSU) simply went in and hit their routines. Nothing flashy, and they only just crossed the 197 threshold, but they managed to keep any mistakes – including a fall on floor – at bay. At this level, that’s what it all comes down to. It doesn’t matter if you can hit 198 and never left the top four in the rankings – if you can’t hit when it counts, you’re done for.

Also qualifying from the evening session were Alabama with a 197.175 and Oklahoma with a 197.4.

It didn’t come easy for the Sooners, who were the picture of perfection until they had to finish on the dreaded beam. Even the best beam team in the country couldn’t get through without a fall, as both Haley Sorensen and Kara Lovan went down unexpectedly. They managed to withstand any further damage, however, and still finished at the top of their session thanks to their prowess across the other three events.

In the first session, Florida and Utah tied at the top after each posting a 197.475. For purposes of seeding into the team final start list, a tie breaker was conducted, which Florida won. Meanwhile Stanford – ranked lowest in this group throughout the season – snuck in for the third spot after scoring a 197.175. What did I tell you? Stanford always figures it out by the end of the season.

A little over a tenth behind the Cardinal were the ladies from Michigan, who always seem to fall short at the end of great seasons, and then both Georgia and UCLA struggled in their performances finishing 5th and 6th with scores of 196.6 and 196.4, respectively.

In addition to the team qualifications, individual accolades went to seniors Kytra Hunter of Florida and Samantha Peszek of UCLA. The two former U.S. national team members posted scores of 39.6 in the first session, and managed to hold onto their spots even as evening session gymnasts threatened by coming less than a tenth away, including Caitlin Atkinson of Auburn and Rheagan Courville of LSU tied in 3rd place with scores of 39.55, and LSU’s Jessie Jordan in 5th with a 39.525.

A number of gymnasts also qualified into Sunday’s apparatus finals. A full list of qualifiers is included in the results section below.

We’ll becoming at you LIVE from Fort Worth for tomorrow’s Super Six and from event finals on Sunday.

Team Results

All-Around Results

Vault Qualifiers

Bars Qualifiers

Beam Qualifiers

Floor Qualifiers

Article by Lauren Hopkins