Gloria Alexandra Johnson earns another high honor in gymnastics

Wonderful news about another Johnson sports champion. We hear from Jimmy Johnson that, on Saturday, 27 March, his daughter Gloria Alexandra Johnson earned a spot on the Second All-SEC Team at the SEC Gymnastics Championships in Jacksonville. See the LSU sports information press release below. Readers may recall that in February 2009, Gloria was named SEC Freshman Gymnast of the week two weeks in a row!

Gloria is the daughter of Seth James ("Jimmy") and Isadora ("Dora") Risquet Johnson and granddaughter of Orson Alexander and Iberia Louise Pierce Johnson (Uncle "Pete" and Aunt Louise).

Congratulations, Gloria, on another great gymnastics honor! You have a beautiful natural talent. That plus your hard work continues to pay off. We’re looking forward to more news of your sports accomplishments. Family members can congratulate Gloria by sending email to her father Jimmy at SJohnson(at)agcenter(dot)lsu(dot)edu.

NO. 11 GYMNASTICS HEADS TO PENN STATE FOR NCAA REGIONAL

BATON ROUGE – The 11th-ranked LSU gymnastics team will be sent to State College, Pa., as the No. 2 seed at the Penn State Regional to open NCAA postseason competition, the NCAA announced Monday.

LSU (11-7-1) will be joined by No. 1 seed and second-ranked Oklahoma, No. 3 seed and host Penn State, Maryland, Ohio State and New Hampshire, and the meet will begin at 5 p.m. CT on April 10 in Penn State’s Rec Hall.

The regional rotations have already been established, and LSU will start on floor. The Tigers' rotation schedule will be floor, vault, bye, bars, beam, bye.

The selection marks the 26th-straight season LSU has earned an NCAA Regional bid, and the Tigers enter the meet having won back-to-back regional titles in 2008 and 2009.

The Southeastern Conference released the All-SEC teams Monday, and senior Susan Jackson earned her third-straight First Team All-SEC honor after winning the vault title.

Sophomore Gloria Johnson received her first All-SEC accolade with second team honors for her 9.875 score on vault.

GymInfo released its latest rankings Monday, and even though LSU’s regional qualifying score remained the same at 196.415, the Tigers dropped one spot to No. 11.

Alabama, which finished second at the SEC Championship, remained No. 1 at 197.250, while Oklahoma was second at 197.170 and UCLA was third at 197.060.

SEC Champion Florida was fourth at 197.050, and Georgia was fifth at 196.895. Arkansas was ninth at 196.510, Auburn was 16th at 196.025 and Kentucky was 20th at 195.600.

In the team event rankings, LSU checked in at No. 8 in vault, bars and beam. The Tigers have a 49.260 RQS on vault, 49.185 on bars and 49.145 on beam. LSU was 15th on floor at 49.120.

In the individual rankings, Susan Jackson slipped to No. 3 in the all-around rankings with a 39.565 RQS, and she remained No. 1 on vault with a 9.940, No. 8 on bars with a 9.905, No. 10 on beam with a 9.890 and 15th on floor at 9.905.

Summer Hubbard remained 16th on bars at 9.885, and Samantha Engle stayed in the top 25 at No. 19 in the beam rankings with a 9.870 RQS.

LSU will have two weeks to prepare for the regional as the Tigers attempt to reach a third straight Super Six.

University Park Regional – Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania State University, host)
1.   Oklahoma
2.   LSU
3.   Penn State
4.   Maryland
5.   Ohio State
6.   New Hampshire

Los Angeles Regional – California (University of California, Los Angeles, host)
1.   UCLA
2.   Arkansas
3.   Iowa State
4.   Arizona
5.   Brigham Young
6.   Arizona State

Salt Lake City Regional – Utah (University of Utah, host)
1.   Florida
2.   Utah
3.   Auburn
4.   Boise State
5.   Denver
6.   Washington

Columbia Regional – Missouri (University of Missouri, Columbia, host)
1.   Georgia
2.   Oregon State
3.   Missouri
4.   Minnesota
5.   Iowa
6.   North Carolina

Lexington Regional – Kentucky (University of Kentucky, host)
1.   Alabama
2.   Nebraska
3.   Illinois
4.   Kentucky
5.   Central Michigan
6.   Michigan State

Morgantown Regional – West Virginia (West Virginia University, host)
1.   Stanford
2.   Michigan
3.   Southern Utah
4.   North Carolina State
5.   Kent State
6.   West Virginia

GymInfo Top 25 – March 29, 2010
Rank    Team Name     Regional Qualifying Score (RQS)
1. Alabama 197.250
2. Oklahoma 197.170
3. UCLA 197.060
4. Florida 197.050
5. Georgia 196.895
t6. Michigan 196.600
t6. Stanford 196.600
8. Oregon State 196.545
9. Arkansas 196.510
10. Utah 196.485
11. LSU 196.415
12. Nebraska 196.355
13. Illinois 196.255
14. Penn State 196.225
15. Missouri 196.085
16. Auburn 196.025
17. Iowa State 195.890
18. Southern Utah 195.655
19. Boise State 195.630
20. Kentucky 195.600
21. Arizona 195.545
22. Denver 195.525
23. Washington 195.380
24. Central Michigan 195.365
25. Minnesota 195.160