BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The LSU gymnastics team entered the SEC Gymnastics Championships with hopes of its first title since 1981. The Tigers had to settle for a fourth place finish for the second straight year, however, despite their second highest score of the year on the road before 7,023 fans at the Bartow Arena.
LSU came up with a 196.225, but in a meet where the Tigers needed to be perfect, they made too many minor mistakes to compete for the team title.
“We competed like it was the middle of the season,” said LSU head coach D-D Breaux. “I’m disappointed because I know we’re a better team than this. We made too many minor mistakes and took ourselves out of the hunt for the team title. We needed to be perfect tonight, or near-perfect and we weren’t.”
Georgia won its 12th team title with a score of 197.025, while Alabama finished second with a 196.925 and Florida third with a 196.425.
The Tigers put themselves against the wall right off the bat when freshman Lauren Companioni fell, putting the pressure on the remainder of the lineup to stay on the apparatus. The five competitors that followed responded.
Beth Boudreaux posted a 9.80, while Nicki Arnstad and Rebecca Lightsey closed out the rotation with clutch scores of 9.875 and 9.90 respectively.
When it was all added up, the Tigers came up with a respectable 48.975 and had their toughest rotation behind them.
At the same time, however, Alabama and Georgia got off to red-hot starts.
The Tide used the energy of an overwhelmingly pro-Alabama crowd to post a 49.350 on floor while Georgia came up with a strong showing on vault, registering a 49.225.
While LSU and Georgia went to a bye on the second rotation Alabama came up with another big score, posting a 49.275 on vault.
After a bye LSU returned to compete on floor in its second rotation and came up with a good score, but not as high as Breaux would have liked.
LSU came up with a 49.100 behind a trio of 9.85s from Brooke Cazeaux, Rachel Franzella and Boudreaux. Companioni added a 9.80, but Arnstad and Marina Degteva each stepped out and were penalized with slight deductions
for stepping out of bounds and only posted scores of 9.75 and 9.70 respectively, well below their season averages.
As Alabama and Georgia continued to mount impressive scores, the two teams separated themselves leaving LSU and Florida in a battle for third place.
The Tigers followed their showing on floor with a 48.900 on beam led by Arnstad and Degteva. The seniors more than atoned for their miscues on floor by firing a 9.90 and 9.875 respectively to lead the Tigers’ effort.
Companioni came up with a 9.75 while Adrienne Couret added a 9.725 in the leadoff spot. With the opportunity to crack the 49-point barrier, however, All-American Shanyn MacEachern was only able to come up with a 9.65, while Kristin Uransky fell on her landing and only scored a 9.25.
Florida came up with a 49.275 on floor in its third rotation and LSU knew entering the final rotation it would have to outscore the Gators by .400 to secure third place.
The Tigers were impressive on bars and put together their best rotation, but it was not enough in the end as the Gators held off the Tigers’ charge.
LSU came up with a score of 49.250 on bars but Florida kept pace with a 49.075. Degteva, Cazeaux and Sharene Mamby came up with 9.875s to lead the Tigers’ charge. Lindsay Beddow scored a 9.825 and Arnstad added a 9.80 as the Tigers closed on a high note.
Highlights from the SEC Championships will air on Fox Sports Net (cable channel 37 in Baton Rouge) on March 31 at 3 p.m.
LSU returns to action on April 6 when the Tigers host the NCAA Central Regional Championships at the Maravich Assembly Center beginning at 6 p.m.
LSU will be looking for its fifth trip to the NCAA Championships in six years.
Team Scoring
1, Georgia, 197.025. 2, Alabama, 196.925. 3, Florida, 196.425. 4, LSU, 196.225. 5 (tie), Auburn and Kentucky, 194.325.