BATON ROUGE — LSU’s seventh-ranked gymnastics team begins its 2006 campaign Friday when it hosts the nation’s premier collegiate gymnastics event, the Super Six Challenge, Friday at 6 p.m. in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Tickets for the event are still available and can be purchased online at www.LSUsports.net, over the phone at (225) 578-2184 or in person at the LSU Ticket Office. The cost is $5 for adults and $3 for children ages 3 to 12.
Members of the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net can watch the meet live, though there will be no running commentary.
Friday’s meet will feature some of the most difficult competition in the country as all six teams are ranked among the preseason top 20. The loaded field includes No. 4 Alabama, No. 8 Nebraska, No. 11 Iowa State, No. 15 Auburn and No. 16 Missouri.
“The competition is as good as any that will occur in the country until the SEC Championships,” said LSU head coach D-D Breaux. “This meet is going to be a challenge for every team, but I think that the team that eliminates errors, stays on the apparatus and can stay focused and have fun will come out on top.”
In aiming for the meet’s team title, LSU will put an 11-meet home winning streak on the line. The Tigers finished the 2005 season with a perfect 8-0 record at the PMAC and have not lost a meet in the arena since a defeat at the hands of SEC foe Florida on Jan. 16, 2004.
In an effort to keep that winning streak in tact LSU will rely heavily on its core group of upperclassmen, a group that includes a trio of All-Americans off a squad that finished ninth in the nation and won the NCAA Northeast Regional title a year ago.
Headlining the group of returnees is two-time SEC and NCAA Central Region Gymnast of the Year, April Burkholder. The Houston native earned All-America honors in each of the four events and in the all-around in 2005 and is again expected to anchor the squad this season.
Other All-Americans returning to the lineup include senior Terin Martinjak and junior Lisa Rennie. Martinjak earned the recognition on the beam, while Rennie was honored on the bars last season.
LSU will look to these talented returnees as it attempts to knock off a pair of teams, in Alabama and Nebraska, that advanced to last year’s Super Six finals at the NCAA Championships.
The Tide brings back 11 letterwinners and four All-Americans off their squad that finished second in the nation a year ago, while the Huskers return seven letterwinners from their team that won the Big 12 title and placed sixth at the NCAA Championships last season.
The meet’s other three teams are not to be overlooked as Iowa State also qualified to the national championships last year and finished eighth overall. Missouri and Auburn both just missed making an appearance at last year’s NCAA Championships, finishing 14th and 16th in the country, respectively.
Following the Super Six Challenge the Tigers return to action Sun., Jan. 15 when they travel to Denton, Texas for a quad meet with Texas Woman’s, Centenary and Utah State at TWU’s Kitty Magee Arena.