BATON ROUGE ? LSU’s ninth-ranked gymnastics team will open the 2007 season Friday when they travel to Fayetteville, Ark., for the Super Six Challenge.
The meet will be held at Arkansas’ Barnhill Arena and is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. (CT).
The Super Six Challenge will also be televised by ESPN2 on a tape delay basis. The broadcast date is schedule for Saturday, Jan. 14 at 2:30 p.m. (CT).
Widely regarded as one of the premier collegiate gymnastics meets in the country, the 2007 edition of the Super Six Challenge will be brimming with the nation’s top talent as each of the six teams are ranked among the preseason top 20.
No. 3 Florida, No. 7 Nebraska and the Tigers headline the field, while No. 14 Penn State, No. 15 Arkansas and No. 17 Denver round out the competition.
“There is no question that the competition is going to be tough,” said LSU head coach DD Breaux. “Our veterans have competed in this meet before so they know what to expect, but this will be a new experience for the freshmen. They will definitely be thrown into the fire as far as collegiate competition is concerned.”
After a successful fall training period Breaux, who is beginning her 30th season at the helm of the Tigers program, is looking forward to seeing how her team handles the competitive arena.
“It never seems like there is enough time to get ready for the first meet of the season, but I feel we are as prepared and ready as we can be at this point,” said Breaux.
Breaux does not have a definitive lineup set at this point, but expects to use today’s practice session as well as tomorrow’s warm-ups to finalize it.
“At this point we still have some question marks in the lineup,” said Breaux. “We want to put the most consistent lineup we can out on the floor so in some areas we will wait and see who is hitting in warm-ups to determine who makes the lineup.”
Breaux will draw from her 13-member squad to finalize her lineup, a group that includes seven returning letterwinners, a talented transfer and five freshmen.
Headlining the veterans members of the team are a trio of All-Americans in seniors Kelly Phelan and Lisa Rennie and junior Kristi Esposito.
Phelan, a solid all-arounder for the Tigers a year ago, won a share of the NCAA Central Regional all-around title in 2006 and went on to earn All-America status on the floor at the national meet.
Rennie has been recognized as an All-America selection on the bars each of the last two seasons and should again be a mainstay on that event as well as the beam this year.
Esposito, a transfer from national power Nebraska, brings a wealth of experience to the Tigers’ lineup as she is a three-time All-American that earned NCAA runner-up honors on the beam in 2005.
The Tigers are also expected to see contributions from its other newcomers, in freshmen Sabrina Franceschelli (Roslindale, Mass.), Summer Hubbard (St. Petersburg, Fla.), Susan Jackson (Spring, Texas), Kayla Rogers (Liberty, Mo.) and Yvette Triay (Metairie, La.)
Following the Super Six Challenge, the Tigers will remain on the road as they travel to Iowa City, Iowa, for a dual meet with the Hawkeyes on Friday, Jan. 12.