ST. LOUIS — The NCAA gymnastics Super Six is set after LSU (198.275), Florida (197.8125) and Alabama (197.6) advanced from the second session Friday evening. The teams join first session qualifiers Oklahoma (197.725), UCLA (197.5) and Utah (197.05) on Saturday. The Super Six begins at 7 p.m. MDT.
LSU scorched the competition in the second session, hitting an NCAA semifinal record on floor (49.7125) to start the Tigers’ night. They followed that up with a 49.5625 on vault and kept rolling from there for the session win over the Gators. Meanwhile, Alabama did what it needed to best Nebraska (197.2125) after Georgia and Michigan’s struggles on beam left them out of contention.
All-around winner
Utah gymnast MyKayla Skinner hit the best all-around score in the earlier semifinal (39.6125), but the bid to become Utah’s first all-around champion since 1999 didn’t hold into the second session as Florida’s Alex McMurtry took home the title with an impressive 39.8125. Skinner finished second.
McMurty wasn’t even ranked in the all-around heading into Friday because she’s battled a back injury over the season and hasn’t been in the event enough to rank. Friday she continued her hot streak, winning her third-straight postseason all-around competition — she was the SEC and Gainesville regional champion.
She also crushed the hearts of Utah fans for a second time because it was McMurty who hit the winning routine when Florida just edged Utah to win the 2015 NCAA title.
Individual winners
Skinner tied with LSU’s Ashleigh Gnat for the floor title (9.9625), marking the first floor champion for Utah since Missy Marlowe in 1992 — Skinner wasn’t born yet. Skinner also finished tied for fifth on vault and tied for eighth on beam.
“It feels pretty cool, it’s my favorite event — definitely a goal of mine I wanted to accomplish tonight,” Skinner said about the floor win.
LSU’s Kennedi Edney won vault with a 9.9875. Bars was split between six gymnasts (9.95), three from the first session and three from the second session. UCLA’s Kyla Ross won beam at 9.9625.
The field
Oklahoma dominated the No. 1 ranking all season, but LSU looked outstanding in its performance Friday. The Tigers will be hard to beat if they keep up the pace they set Friday. The Super Six includes three SEC, two Pac-12 and one Big 12 teams.
Utah enters the meet with the lowest score out of the first session, but can easily improve on its effort with a better start than it got Friday. Entering as the underdog isn’t deterring Utah as the group is focused on having fun and keeping its goal of hitting 24-24 routines.
“We told our team you don’t need to wear a cape or put on super high heels — just be yourself and see where it takes you Saturday,” said Utah co-head coach Tom Farden.