It was a truly clutch performance by Jackson. As the anchor of the beam lineup, she competed after two of her teammates suffered miscues on the beam. Junior Summer Hubbard was 75% through a flawless routine when a wobble forced her hands down onto the beam. After the mandatory deduction, Hubbard scored 9.65 - a score the Tigers hoped to throw out.
Senior Ashleigh Clare-Kearney, who had fallen on beam three consecutive weeks leading up to regionals, nailed the portion of her routine that caused her so much earlier trouble. However, something went wrong in the last 5 seconds of her routine in Columbus. A 9.600 or better would lock up the All-Around title, but it was not to be. On a relatively simple maneuver, Clare-Kearney fell off the beam and recorded a score of 9.350.
That set the stage for Jackson to save the day for the Tigers - giving LSU its 6th Regional Championship and 18th berth in the National Championships.
NCAA Pairings Announced
The NCAA has seeded the 12 teams participating in the in the 2009 National Gymnastics Championships next week in Lincoln, Nebraska. Each team's regional score was added to its Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) prior to the regionals. The sum is the NQS, or National Qualifying Score. Teams are then simply ranked from highest to lowest NQS.
LSU received a top 5 seed for the second year in a row. A NQS of 393.635 has given the Tigers a #4 national seed, just behind #3 seed Alabama and ahead of #5 seed Florida. Georgia and Utah are 1-2 seeds, respectively. In all, 5 of the 7 SEC teams have advanced to the Nationals - the most of any conference.
The twelve teams are divided into two six-team sessions. Seeds 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, and 12 are paired together and will compete in next Thursday's afternoon session. Here's a complete breakdown:
2009 NCAA Championship Field | |||||
| Seed | School | Region Score | RQS | NQS |
|
| 1 | Georgia | 197.70 | 197.255 | 394.955 | Southeast Region champion |
| 2 | Utah | 197.675 | 197.190 | 394.865 | West Region champion |
| 3 | Alabama | 197.00 | 196.925 | 393.925 | Northeast Region champion |
| 4 | LSU | 196.875 | 196.760 | 393.635 | Central Region champion |
| 5 | Florida | 196.775 | 196.715 | 393.49 | North Central Region champion |
| 6 | Oregon State | 196.80 | 196.520 | 393.32 | Central Region runner-up |
| 7 | UCLA | 196.625 | 196.580 | 393.205 | North Central Region runner-up |
| 8 | Oklahoma | 196.60 | 196.465 | 393.065 | Northeast Region runner-up |
| 9 | Stanford | 196.20 | 196.825 | 393.025 | South Central Region runner-up |
| 10 | Arkansas | 196.30 | 196.440 | 392.74 | South Central Region champion |
| 11 | Illinois | 196.70 | 196.015 | 392.715 | West Region runner-up |
| 12 | Penn State | 195.80 | 196.240 | 392.04 | Southeast Region runner-up |
| No-shade denotes teams in LSU's session of April 16 NCAA Championship team qualifying | |||||
After finishing on beam at both the SEC and Regional meets, the Tigers will actually start on beam in the afternoon session of the NCAA's. LSU seems to have drawn the most favorable rotation order in many years at nationals. Here's the official rotation for LSU:
Rotation 1 - BEAM
Rotation 2 - BYE
Rotation 3 - FLOOR EXERCISE
Rotation 4 - VAULT
Rotation 5 - BYE
Rotation 6 - BARS
Travel And Practice Schedules
Head Coach D-D Breaux has announced the Tigers will travel next Tuesday to Lincoln. Exact travel plans have not been set, but with classes resuming from spring break on Monday, the team will attend a full day of classes prior to traveling.
Wednesday is practice day inside the Bob Devaney Center, which is located on the Nebraska State Fairgrounds. LSU will practice at 11 a.m.
Doors to the arena for Thursday's competition open at 10:45 a.m. and the competition begins at 1:00 p.m. Friday's Super Six competition begins at 7:00 p.m.
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