BATON ROUGE — LSU was selected as one of six NCAA gymnastics regional sites for the 2002 season, head coach D-D Breaux announced on Wednesday.
It marks the third time in seven years that a regional will come to Baton Rouge. The Tigers hosted the 1999 NCAA Region IV Championships and the 1996 NCAA Central Regional.
The regional will be held on April 7, 2002 at the Maravich Assembly Center with the top two teams advancing to the NCAA Championships, to be held in Tuscaloosa, Ala., from April 19-21.
“It’s a great honor to be selected as a host site for an NCAA regional,” said Breaux. “We’ve been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to host the meet before and we’re glad the NCAA has decided to bring a regional back to LSU.
“The format is slightly different than it was the last time it was here in 1999 but the level of competition is the same. It’s a fantastic meet and we’re thrilled to bring it to the Baton Rouge community.”
A year ago the Tigers were forced to travel to Michigan for NCAA regional competition and suffered the effects of a loaded region. After seeing her Tigers fall just short in their bid for their fifth straight NCAA Championship appearance, Breaux is ecstatic at the prospect of remaining at home for regional competition next season.
“It’s a tremendous advantage to host a regional,” added Breaux. “We know we’re not going to get sent across the country. We’ll have a much greater advantage, as will any of the teams that will be hosting, by knowing all season and preparing all season to compete at home at the regional level.”
Other NCAA regionals were awarded to Oregon State, Denver, Arizona State, Penn State and West Virginia.
The 2002 season begins for the Tigers on Jan. 11 when the travel to Gainesville, Fla., for the Super Six Challenge, a competition featuring a half-dozen of the nation’s elite programs.