BATON ROUGE — The 14th-ranked LSU gymnastics opens its 2003 home schedule Friday against No. 8 Denver. Action from the Pete Maravich Assembly Center will begin at 7 p.m.
The Tigers look to rebound after suffering their first loss of the season, a 194.500-194.275 decision to Auburn, last Friday. Despite the loss freshman, April Burkhoder had a career night, winning two individual titles outright and sharing two others en route to winning the all-around crown with a 39.475. The all-around win marked Burkholder’s second straight as she also won the title in the Tigers’ tri-meet with Kentucky and Centenary.
Eighth-ranked Denver enters the meet with a 3-1 record and is coming off a second-place finish in a tri-meet that featured Penn State and Iowa State.
The Pioneers (194.175) knocked off Iowa State (192.600), but suffered their first loss of the season at the hands of the Nittany Lions (195.075).
Individually, Denver has been led by junior Emily Bankhead and senior Michelle Kasuga who are ranked 12th and 13th, respectively, in the all-around.
Following the match-up with the Pioneers, the Tigers conclude a two-meet home stretch against seventh-ranked Florida Friday, Feb. 7.