BATON ROUGE- The ninth-ranked LSU gymnastics team opens its 2000 season Saturday night with a four-way meet in Lansing, Mich., that includes three ranked teams.
Michigan State welcomes LSU, No. 12 Oregon State and No. 20 Ohio State to the Summit for the season opener for each team.
“This is a great test for us and it’s a great place to go for a season opener,” said LSU head coach D-D Breaux. “Oregon State, Ohio State and Michigan State are all teams that are capable of finding their way into the 12-team NCAA field, so we need to step it up and be at our best Saturday night.”
Saturday night’s meet marks the second time in three years that the Tigers have opened the season at Michigan State, although they will be looking for much different results than their last trip to Lansing.
In the 1998 season opener, the Tigers traveled to Michigan State and dropped a decision to the Spartans with a disappointing score of 189.00.
“We have a lot of people on this team who were there two years ago and remember that night,” added Breaux. “That was a bitter defeat. I don’t like to drag old baggage around, that was two years ago and we’ll be better prepared and more focused.”
The Tigers return seven seniors, three 1999 All-Americans and four All-Americans overall, from last year’s squad that finished ninth in the nation and missed advancing to the NCAA “Super Six” by a mere .05.
Breaux will be cautious in her use of some of her athletes this weekend, however, in an effort to preserve them for some of the conference meets. Two-time balance beam All-American Colleen Barger is out with a back injury, while Sharene Mamby will miss Saturday’s competition while nursing an injured Achilles’ tendon.
“The floor and the bars will be our strong events, particularly in the early stages of the season,” said Breaux. “Last year we lacked depth in the vaulting and we hope to improve upon that this year. As the season progresses I think we’ll also show tremendous improvement on the beam.”
In addition to Barger, the Tigers return 1999 All-Americans Stacey Wegener (beam) and Shanyn MacEachern (vault). Senior Abbey Burns, who will take it slow in the first meet of the season due to a mild ankle injury, will try to regain the form from 1998 when she earned All-American honors in the all-around and bars.
Following their four-way meet at Michigan State this weekend, the Tigers return to Baton Rouge for their home opener next weekend. LSU welcomes Kentucky to the Assembly Center next Friday night for a 7 p.m. tilt in its final tune-up before a brutal three-week stretch that has the Tigers competing against three of the top five teams in the nation.
After the Tigers’ home meet with Kentucky, they travel to Athens, Ga., on Jan. 23 for a showdown with No. 1 Georgia in a match that will be televised on a tape-delayed basis by ESPN. The Tigers then return home for a meet with No. 5 Utah on Jan. 28, then host No. 2 Alabama on Feb. 4.