BATON ROUGE — The LSU gymnastics team was looking to rebounded from last week’s loss to the University of Alabama Friday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center when the Tigers played host to a quad meet featuring Centenary, Texas Woman’s University and Towson University.
LSU (5-2) responded by capturing the victories with season highs in the all-around (195.850), vault (49.250) and floor (49.175). Individually, seven Lady Tigers posted career highs while senior Nicki Arnstad captured the All-Around with a score of 39.325 after adding difficulty to two events.
“We had every opportunity tonight to do great things, and we had some great events,” LSU head coach D-D Breaux said. “We had great performances in vaulting and bars. With the exception of Sharene Mamby having a fall, it was as good a performance as I think we are capable of doing at this point in time.”
In the vault, the Tigers’ initial event, all six gymnasts posted season highs while five out of the six posted career highs. This is the first season that the NCAA has not granted a second try in the vault. Last year each gymnast was given two attempts and the best score was taken. The fact that the Tigers had as much success under the new rule is impressive.
In the uneven bars, a pair of freshmen, Amanda Mueller and Lindsay Beddow, posted scores of 9.850 each, career highs for both. Junior Marina Degteva also posted a 9.900 on the bars helping LSU to a total of 49.175, the second best score recorded this season for the Tigers.
Despite the strong start however, coach Breaux was displeased with her team’s inability to put together a complete meet.
“In the beam, we had mental let downs and mental breaks, and you can’t do that, not when you are looking at SEC competition and a trip to Nebraska down the road,” Breaux said. “We are going to increase our intensity, step it up a little bit and try to get kids we feel can stay on the beam.”
The Tigers did have strong performances by Beddow and Beth Boudreaux in the beam; however, it was the only event the Tigers fell short in as Towson posted a score of 48.925.
LSU did respond on the floor. Arnstad scored a 9.925 tying a career high previously set at the NCAA Region III Championships last April.
LSU had at least three gymnasts place in the top 3 in every event. On the floor, Arnstad finished first while Boudreaux, Brooke Cazeaux and Adrienne Couret each placed second with a score of 9.825.
The Tigers next look to capture their second SEC victory when they play host to the Florida Gators next Friday night at 7 p.m. at the PMAC.