Lords to Represent BYU at Nationals

PROVO -- Senior Kari Lords walks the beam to represent BYU as an individual competitor at Nationals this weekend at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion.

"I'm glad I get to go to Nationals," Lords said. "But it's sad to go as an individual."

The No. 1-seeded Cougars came up short at the Central Regionals, taking third place (196.175) to LSU (197.500) and ASU (196.500) after having to count a fall on beam.

Lords qualified for Nationals after tying for first place on bars (9.900) at Regionals in Baton Rouge, La. on April 2. Lords also took second on floor (9.900) and tied for second place on beam (9.900), bring her to third place in the all-around (39.425).

Her performance at Regionals was just one more in a series of consistent meets this season. Lords ended regular season ranked No. 2 on beam, No. 11 on bars and No. 24 on floor. She also set career highs of 9.800 on vault, 9.950 on bars and 39.650 in the all-around. She also set season highs of 9.975 on beam and 9.950 on floor.

Lords has a memorable career as one of BYU's leading gymnasts. She holds the top four BYU individual all-time record scores on beam, including the only perfect 10.0 on beam in BYU history. She is also tied for the team's second highest individual score on floor (9.975), after teammate Brogan Jacobsen's perfect 10.0. Lords also tied teammate Jaime Mabray for the fourth highest all-around score in BYU history (39.650).

At Nationals, Lords will rotate with Nebraska, starting her preliminary competition on floor Thursday at 1:00 p.m. The top three finishers from each preliminary session will advance to the Super Six Team Finals on Friday at 7:00 p.m. The top four individuals from each session will then compete on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.

Nationals will be rebroadcast on CBS Saturday, May 1 from 1-3 p.m. ET, with announcers Bonnie Bernstein and Amanda Borden. The sideline reporter is Tracy Wolfson.

Fans can watch the meet live on LIVE STATS.