Clemson in their inaugural meet shocked NCAA gymnastics fans.
On January 12, 2024, Clemson set foot on the competition floor for the first time and beat the College of William and Mary 196.325 to 190.050. The 196.325 mark was the highest ever recorded by an inaugural team in their first meet.
Leading the way for the Clemson Tigers were junior Lauren Rutherford on vault with a 9.825, redshirt freshman Lilly Lippeatt on the uneven bars with a 9.9, redshirt senior Rebecca Wells on balance beam with a 9.875, and redshirt sophomore Brie Clark on floor exercise with a 9.9. Wells also competed the all-around for the Clemson Tigers, scoring a 38.550.
In rotation one led by Lauren Rutherford, the Tigers opened up on the vault with a score of a 48.875 and then improved on that mark on the other three events. After the great start on vault, the Tigers moved to uneven bars where they posted an outstanding 49.225 on the event and each gymnast that competed scored a 9.8 or above. Anchor Brie Clark helped the team to a 48.95 on the balance beam.
The Tigers finished off the meet on floor, with the highest event score of the night: a 49.275, counting scores of 9.825 and above. This led the Clemson Tigers to be ranked #19 in the country.
Clemson has had a very good start to their season, and with the first meet behind them, the Tigers are going to look on improving on their week one scores to move up in the national rankings and to put up another great home score before having to compete an away meet.
Up next for the Clemson Gymnastics team is a home meet against Pittsburgh on January 21, 2024. This meet will start at 4:00 p.m. EST and will be aired in the ACC Network.