Gnat named female Corbett Award winner

BATON ROUGE — Ashleigh Gnat, a 17-time All-American, four-time Southeastern Conference event champion and the 2017 NCAA Floor Exercise Champion, has been named the female winner of the James J. Corbett Award by the Greater New Orleans Sports Award Committee, the Allstate Sugar Bowl announced Wednesday.
The award is given to the top male and female amateurs in the state. Thirty-six student-athletes from LSU have been honored with the prestigious award over the last 50 years. Gnat joins Susan Jackson as the only gymnasts in school history to win the award.
In 2017, Gnat completed one of the most accomplished four-year careers in school history. The Lake Mary, Florida, native was awarded the AAI Award, which is given to the top senior gymnast in the nation. A leader inside and outside of the gym, Gnat was also LSU’s nominee for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award and a finalist for the Honda Award.
Gnat set multiple records during her career in Baton Rouge, including the most floor titles in a single season. She also tied for the most conference event titles with three in 2017 when she won vault, floor and beam.
As a team member, Gnat was a part of the most successful stretch in the history of the program. The Tigers set the three highest finishes in school history during Gnat’s time, won the second SEC tournament championship in school history and won the inaugural SEC regular season title in 2017.
Since its inception in 1967 (through 2016), Corbett Award winners include 16 NFL players, eight Major League Baseball players, four NBA players (including two Hall of Famers), eight Olympians (including seven gold medal winners), three WNBA players and one PGA Tour star.
Gnat along with 23 other individuals and three teams will be honored at the Greater New Orleans Sports Hall of Fame Banquet on Aug. 5 at the Mercedes Benz Superdome.