Clare-Kearney Wins Vault, Floor Championships - First Tiger To Win Two

Senior Ashleigh Clare-Kearney claimed vault and floor exercise titles tonight at the NCAA Gymnastics Championships in Lincoln, Nebraska. She becomes the first Tiger to win two individual championships and the first to win two titles overall.

Clare-Kearney, the final competitor of the night on floor, was tied by Georgia's Courtney Kupets who earlier scored an indentical 9.950. Florida's Corey Hartung finished third with a 9.900. Clare-Kearney joins Nicki Arnstad-Woodward (2002) as a floor champion at LSU.

The senior from Manchester, Connecticut, started the night with a strong 9.85 in the uneven bars final - good enough for ninth place finish. Then, she moved to vault and threw the greatest vault of her career - receiving 4 perfect 10's from the 6 judges. She then sealed the deal with the second scoring vault to give her a two-vault 9.90 average.

Clare-Kearney's final score was just .0062 (that's correct) ahead of reigning vault champion Susan Jackson who finished second at 9.9832 average.

Clare-Kearney and Jackson become the first 1-2 finishers on an NCAA final event in school history.

Tigers Complete Strong Year, Finish 6th In Super Six

On a night where Georgia would not be denied their 10th National Championship, the LSU Tigers narrowly missed their team goal of bringing home a first-ever team trophy from the final gymnastic meet of the season. LSU finished its second Super Six with a 196.375 team score, just .035 behind fourth place Florida. A top four finish would've secured that long-awaited trophy, but the Tigers were clearly out of gas after starting the championship meet with a strong 49.200 on floor exercise. An inability to stick landings on the next two events - vault and bars - cost the lineup valuable tenths. The balance beam proved too much for LSU in the final event as the Tigers went 48.800 to finish the program's 21st National Championship appearance.

The Alabama Crimson Tide finished a very strong second to Georgia and were followed by Utah - the lone non-SEC team to make the Super Six - in third place. Florida finished fourth just ahead of upstart Arkansas which turned in an impressive Super Six in only the program's seventh year of existence.

Most Tigers Ever Chosen As All-Americans

By finishing in the top four on events during Thursday's preliminary round, four LSU Tigers received First Team All-America honors. Those Tigers will compete in tonight's individual event championships beginning at 6pm Central.

Six Tigers were chosen either first or second team All-America in total - the most ever in one season for the LSU gymnastics program. Those six Tigers earned a combined 10 All-America honors.

Senior Ashleigh Clare-Kearney was honored three times with First Team honors - vault, bars, and floor exercise. Junior Susan Jackson was honored for her effort on vault, allowing her to defend her National Championship from a year ago on the event. She also received First Team All-America honors in the all-around and Second Team All-America honor on balance beam.

Junior Summer Hubbard was honored on First Team bars for the second year in a row. And Sophomore Staci Schwitkis received First Team All America honors for her 9.90 vault, earning her a spot in tonight's final.

Juniors Kayla Rogers and Sabrina Franceschelli earned Second Team All-America honors for floor exercise and all-around, respectively.

Here's a breakdown of the All-American honors received by each current Tiger during their careers:

Senior Ashleigh Clare-Kearney 5 times
Junior Sabrina Franceschelli 1 time
Junior Summer Hubbard 2 times
Junior Susan Jackson 8 times
Junior Kayla Rogers 1 time
Sophomore Staci Schwitkis 1 time

Clare-Kearney Chosen As Fianlist For Two National Awards

In Saturday morning's NCAA awards banquet, Ashleigh Clare-Kearney was named one of six finalists for the American Athletic Incorporated (AAI) Award which recognizes the best senior gymnast in the country. ACK joins the following finalists:

Nicole Ourada, Stanford
Corey Hartung, Florida
Courtney Kupets, Georgia
Kristina Baskett, Utah
Tricia Woo, Nebraska

Kupets won the award.

Clare-Kearney has also been named a finalist for the prestigious 2008-2009 Honda Sports Award for gymnastics. Joining ACK as a finalist are Kupets, Baskett, and Jessica Lopez of the University of Denver. No date for the announcement of the award has been set.

ACK is the second gymnast in LSU history to become a finalist for the Honda Award. Rachelle Fruge' was a finalist in 1989-90.

LSU Lineup For National Championship

Rotation 1 - Bye

Rotation 2 - Floor Exercise
Kayla Rogers
Samantha Engle
Sabrina Franceschelli
Summer Hubbard
Susan Jackson
Ashleigh Clare-Kearney
Gloria Johnson - alternate

Rotation 3 - Vault
Kayla Rogers
Sabrina Franceschelli
Gloria Johnson
Staci Schwitkis
Susan Jackson
Ashleigh Clare-Kearney
Ashley Lee - alternate

Rotation 4 - Bye

Rotation 5 - Bars
Staci Schwitkis
Sabrina Franceschelli
Samantha Engle
Summer Hubbard
Susan Jackson
Ashleigh Clare-Kearney
Lauren Klein - alternate

Rotation 6 - Beam
Gloria Johnson
Sabrina Franceschelli
Samantha Engle
Summer Hubbard
Ashleigh Clare-Kearney
Susan Jackson
Kayla Rogers - alternate

All Around
Sabrina Franceschelli
Susan Jackson
Ashleigh Clare-Kearney