BATON ROUGE — The 11th-ranked LSU gymnastics team will kick off its 2002 season on Friday night at 6 p.m., when the Tigers travel to Gainesville, Fla., for the Super Six Challenge, a meet that showcases six of the nation’s top 12 teams.
The Tigers will face off against No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 Georgia, No. 4 Alabama, No. 7 Florida and No. 12 Penn State at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center Friday night in a likely preview of many of the teams that will square off at the NCAA Championships in April.
“The kids are excited to get the season started,” said LSU head coach D-D Breaux. It’s going to be a tremendous competition on Friday night. We’ve never opened our season with this intense a level of competition, so it will be interesting to see how we respond.”
The meet will be televised by ESPN and broadcast on a tape-delayed basis on Jan. 27 from 4:30-6 p.m. CT.
LSU returns a wealth of talent from last year’s team that went 11-5 and finished ranked 18th in the nation. The Tigers return three All-Americans in seniors Nicki Arnstad, Beth Boudreaux and Shanyn MacEachern.
With six seniors on her roster, Breaux enters the Super Six Challenge aware of the potential of her veteran squad.
“I think we have a very experienced team coming back and one that will surprise some people,” added Breaux. “Now they have to come out ready to roll this weekend, there’s no margin for error, and they have to show the nation what kind of level I know they can perform at.
The rotation for the competition will not be determined until late Thursday evening at a banquet for each of the participating teams.
“I don’t have a strong preference, but I’d probably like to start on bars or beam to help us get into a rhythm before we hit vault or floor,” said Breaux. “I don’t think I want to start on floor even though it’s going to be a great event for us, I’d just like to get a rotation or two in before we hit the floor.”
While the Tigers do not have a winning record in regular season competition against any five of their opponents, they have had success in recent outings against Friday night’s teams. The Tigers have beaten Florida each of the past two seasons, beat Alabama in 2000, tied Georgia the same year and have won two straight decisions against Penn State.
Friday night’s competition marks the Tigers first visit to the O’Connell Center since finishing second at the SEC Championships in 2000. LSU will return to Gainesville on Jan. 25 for a dual meet with Florida.
Following the Super Six Challenge, the Tigers will have their 2002 season opener next weekend when Auburn comes to the Maravich Assembly Center on Friday for a 7 p.m. tilt.