BATON ROUGE, La. ? Kentucky gymnast Michelle Gales finished 11th in the all-around at the 2004 Central Region Gymnastics Championships, Friday night. Gales posted a 39.025 score in front of 3,000 fans at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, La.

The junior began the meet on vault and ended on floor exercise as she competed in the same rotation order as Michigan State. Gales recorded a 9.750 on vault, a 9.700 on bars, a 9.825 on beam and a 9.750 on floor exercise. Her beam routine was not only her highest score of the night, but it was also a season-high in the event. Gales was the Cats? lone representative in the meet after UK failed to qualify as a team.

In team competition, meet host LSU and Arizona State earned the team bids to the NCAA National Gymnastics Championships, which are set to take place April 15-17 in Los Angeles, Calif. The Tigers won every team event title, except for beam, on the way to a 197.500 score and overall meet title. ASU posted a 196.500 behind a solid 49.450 team vault score for runner-up honors.

LSU sophomore April Burkholder claimed the individual all-around title with a 39.675 score. The Houston native and reigning SEC Athlete of the Year, claimed the floor title (9.950), the bars title (9.900) and tied for first on vault (9.950). Burkholder?s older sister, Ashley, competed at UK in 1998 and claimed SEC Freshman of the Year honors.

For complete meet results visit www.lsusports.net.

Team Results

1. LSU 197.500
2. Arizona State 196.500
3. BYU 196.175
4. Auburn 195.750
5. Michigan State 195.025
6. Kent State 194.850