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

Session I Session II 1. Florida 197.475 Q 1. Oklahoma 197.400 Q 2. Utah 197.475 Q 2. Alabama 197.175 Q 3. Stanford 197.175 Q 3. Auburn 197.075 Q 4. Michigan 197.025 4. Nebraska 196.675 5. Georgia 196.600 5. LSU 196.550 6. UCLA 196.400 6. Oregon State 195.875

All-Around Results

Rank Athlete Team VT UB BB FX AA 1T Kytra Hunter Florida 9.850 9.900 9.900 9.950 39.600 1T Samantha Peszek UCLA 9.900 9.900 9.900 9.900 39.600 3T Caitlin Atkinson Auburn 9.825 9.875 9.950 9.900 39.550 3T Rheagan Courville LSU 9.875 9.925 9.850 9.900 39.550 5 Jessie Jordan LSU 9.850 9.875 9.900 9.900 39.525 6T Bridget Sloan Florida 9.925 9.950 9.875 9.675 39.425 6T Nicole Artz Michigan 9.850 9.825 9.900 9.850 39.425 6T Jessie DeZiel Nebraska 9.900 9.875 9.775 9.875 39.425 6T Giana O’Connor Illinois 9.850 9.850 9.850 9.875 39.425 10 Lauren Beers Alabama 9.900 9.800 9.800 9.900 39.400 11 Nina McGee Denver 9.775 9.850 9.825 9.925 39.375 12 Chelsea Tang Oregon State 9.825 9.800 9.850 9.875 39.350 13T Brianna Brown Michigan 9.825 9.875 9.775 9.850 39.325 13T Hollie Blanske Nebraska 9.800 9.825 9.775 9.850 39.325 15T Taylor Rice Stanford 9.675 9.850 9.850 9.900 39.275 15T Corrie Lothrop Utah 9.800 9.900 9.825 9.750 39.275 17T Kaitlyn Clark Alabama 9.875 9.875 9.750 9.750 39.250 17T Lindsay Mable Minnesota 9.850 9.775 9.750 9.875 39.250 17T Sachi Sugiyama Michigan 9.775 9.850 9.725 9.900 39.250 20 Toni Ann Williams Cal 9.825 9.800 9.750 9.850 39.225 21T Brittni Watkins NC State 9.800 9.700 9.850 9.850 39.200 21T Cami Drouin-Allaire George Washington 9.850 9.750 9.750 9.850 39.200 21T Mary Jane Horth Illinois 9.800 9.850 9.800 9.750 39.200 24 Caitlin Brown Iowa State 9.750 9.750 9.875 9.800 39.175 25 Georgia Dabritz Utah 9.900 10.000 9.325 9.925 39.150 26 Kelsey Morris Boise State 9.800 9.750 9.675 9.850 39.075 27 Taylor Harrison Ohio State 9.800 9.625 9.750 9.825 39.000 28 Ashleigh Gnat LSU 9.850 9.825 9.375 9.925 38.975 29 Madeline Gardiner Oregon State 9.750 9.825 9.900 9.100 38.575 30 Sydney Waltz Kentucky 9.375 9.750 9.525 9.875 38.525 31 Michaela Woodford NC State 9.675 9.150 9.800 9.725 38.350

Vault Qualifiers

Session I Session II 1T. Elizabeth Price, Stanford, 9.950

1T. Kari Lee, Utah, 9.950

3T. Bridget Sloan, Florida, 9.925

3T. Brandie Jay, Georgia, 9.925 1T. Myia Hambrick, LSU, 9.950

1T. Ali Jackson, Oklahoma, 9.950

1T. Haley Scaman, Oklahoma, 9.950

4. Kayla Williams, Alabama, 9.925

Bars Qualifiers

Session I Session II 1. Georgia Dabritz, Utah, 10.000

2T. Bridget Sloan, Florida, 9.950

2T. Brittany Rogers, Georgia, 9.950

2T. Elizabeth Price, Stanford, 9.950 1T. McKenzie Wofford, Oklahoma, 9.950

1T. Brenna Dowell, Oklahoma, 9.950

3. Rheagan Courville, LSU, 9.925

4T. Katie Bailey, Alabama, 9.900

4T. Shae Zamardi, LSU, 9.900

4T. Randii Wyrick, LSU, 9.900

4T. Keeley Kmieciak, Oklahoma, 9.900

4T. Erika Aufiero, Oregon State, 9.900

Beam Qualifiers

Session I Session II 1T. Alex McMurtry, Florida, 9.900

1T. Kytra Hunter, Florida, 9.900

1T. Nicole Artz, Michigan, 9.900

1T. Talia Chiarelli, Michigan, 9.900

1T. Ivana Hong, Stanford, 9.900

1T. Samantha Peszek, UCLA, 9.900 1. Caitlin Atkinson, Auburn, 9.950

2T. Kayla Williams, Alabama, 9.900

2T. Jessie Jordan, LSU, 9.900

2T. Keeley Kmieciak, Oklahoma, 9.900

2T. Rebecca Clark, Oklahoma, 9.900

2T. Chayse Capps, Oklahoma, 9.900

2T. Madeline Gardiner, Oregon State, 9.900

Floor Qualifiers

Session I Session II 1. Kytra Hunter, Florida, 9.950

2T. Talia Chiarelli, Michigan, 9.925

2T. Georgia Dabritz, Utah, 9.925

4T. Kennedy Baker, Florida, 9.900

4T. Bridgey Caquatto, Florida, 9.900

4T. Mary Beth Box, Georgia, 9.900

4T. Sachi Sugiyama, Michigan, 9.900

4T. Taylor Rice, Stanford, 9.900

4T. Samantha Peszek, UCLA, 9.900

4T. Kari Lee, Utah, 9.900 1. Haley Scaman, Oklahoma, 9.950

2T. Ashleigh Gnat, LSU, 9.925

2T. Hollie Blanske, Nebraska, 9.925

2T. Brenna Dowell, Oklahoma, 9.925

2T. Nina McGee, Denver, 9.925

Article by Lauren Hopkins