Road sweet road!

At least that appears to be the No. 12 women's gymnastics team's sentiments this season as it has consistently performed better away from the friendly confines of Rec Hall. This past week proved no different as the Lady Lions finished an impressive second in meets at Georgia and Florida.

At Florida on Friday night, the Lady Lions broke the 190-point barrier for only the second time in their history with a 190.8 and in doing so toppled both Minnesota (188.15) and William & Mary (186.65); however this was not quite enough to overcome host No. 6 Florida who finished with a 193.7.

"We had three great events: vaulting, floor exercise, and beam. But we were weak on bars," Coach Judi Avener said. "Generally speaking, it was a good meet for us."

The Lady Lions, which posted a school record 48.30 on the floor exercise, were led by all-arounders Allison Barber (38.30) and Lynn Crane (38.05).

"I felt real good and had a really good meet," Crane said. "My vault wasn't feeling good in warmup so I did an easier vault, but I felt really confident before the meet.

"As a team we did really well on our first three events. We started on beam and hit. It was great," Crane added. "We had a little trouble on bars and I think we got a little lazy toward the end of the meet."

Avener was also pleased with the performances of Rene Lyst on beam (9.55), Laurie Russo on vault (9.25, a career high), and April Polito on bars (9.50, a career high).

Even though the Lady Lions' overall performance has improved throughout the season, Avener still feels the team needs to improve upon its consistency.

"Consistency is still a big problem -- especially bars in this particular meet," Avener said. "We just have to put more emphasis on consistency during practice."

At Georgia on March 2, the Lady Lions finished second to No. 2 Georgia 194.45-189.6. The Lady Lions' score, though, was enough to beat No. 11 Brigham Young, Kentucky and Georgia College.

"It seems to be working (performing better on the road). I'm not sure why," Avener said. "But we are continuing to improve as the season goes by."

Leading the way for the Lady Lions was Barber, who finished first in the vault (9.80) and tied for third in the allaround (38.50).

"I'm getting very comfortable with the vault and it's good to know that what I'm doing is right," Barber said. "The highlight of the meet for me though was staying on the bars and doing a good routine since I had been having trouble with the event."

"She did a great job and performed up to ability," Avener added.

Overall, Avener was pleased with the way her team handled the top competition it faced.