BATON ROUGE — In recognition of an outstanding 2005 season, the Tiger gymnastics team held its annual awards banquet Friday night at the Faculty Club on the LSU campus.
LSU Athletics Director Skip Bertman and head coach D-D Breaux and staff were on hand to honor the team for their numerous accomplishments both on the floor of competition and in the classroom during the 2005 season.
Each team member was recognized for their individual contributions with letter awards. Freshmen were presented with a varsity letter jacket, sophomores received a letter blanket, juniors were given a letter watch and seniors Lauren Companioni, Annie Gagnon and Jade Jenkins were awarded a letter plaque for their stellar contributions over the past four seasons.
Several individuals were also acknowledged for their superior athletic endeavors throughout the year. April Burkholder was honored as the SEC Gymnast of the Year for the second straight season, while Burkholder (vault, bars, beam, floor, all-around), Gagnon (bars), Terin Martinjak (beam) and Lisa Rennie (bars) were each recognized for earning All-America accolades at the NCAA Championships.
In addition, Burkholder (1st team), Rennie (2nd team) and Nicki Butler (2nd team) were also acknowledged for earning All-SEC accolades at the conference meet.
The coaching staff recognized two athletes with the season’s Most Improved Award and the DeeDee Fulmer Gilbert Award.
Butler was named the team’s Most Improved athlete. A second-team All-SEC selection, Butler finished the regular season ranked 19th nationally on the vault after earning a share of the regional title on the event at the NCAA Northeast Championships.
Lisa Rennie was the team’s recipient of the DeeDee Fulmer Gilbert Award, an honor bestowed upon the individual that best exemplifies the true meaning of a student-athlete, one who excels not only in competition, but also in the classroom. A mainstay in the Tigers’ bars, beam and floor lineups, Rennie earned both All-America and All-SEC honors as a sophomore, while maintaining a 3.466 GPA in marketing.
In addition, team members were honored for their academic achievements as well as their work in the community.
Companioni, Gagnon, Jenkins and Kelly Lea were recognized as Academic All-Americans, while 11 different individuals were acknowledges for earning a place on the SEC’s Academic Honor Roll.
Lastly, the team was recognized as a whole with the CHAMPS Community Service Award. The award, given annually, goes to the LSU team that spends the most time giving back to the people of the Baton Rouge area.
Companioni was then acknowledged as a member of the SEC Good Works Team for her superior individual community service efforts.