BATON ROUGE — Despite shaky beam and floor performances the Tiger gymnastics team still came away with a victory Friday night as they helped head coach D-D Breaux celebrate her 30th season at the helm of the Tiger program with a 193.850-193.300 win over Illinois at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The evening’s festivities began with a special ceremony honoring Breaux for her three decades of dedication to the gymnastics program and the LSU community. Breaux, joined by several members of her immediate family, was recognized with a highlight video as well as special tributes given by LSU Associate AD Mark Ewing, former Tiger All-American Colleen Barger and Tiger Spotter member Connie Koury.
“When you have that much positive poured on to you it really makes you step back and reflect on all the accomplishments and great athletes that have come through this program,” said Breaux. “It truly means a lot to me and it really was an honor.”
The honor outshined the night’s performance as the Tigers continued to struggle on the beam and floor despite posting solid efforts on the vault and bars.
The Tigers tallied scores of 49.025 on the vault and 48.725 on the bars, but mustered just a 47.800 on the beam and a 48.275 on the floor as they had to count three falls towards the team total.
“We have a new team that really hasn’t found its rhythm yet,” said Breaux. “That has to come around. We are going to change up some things in practice and see if that will reap some rewards on the floor of competition.”
LSU did turn in some impressive individual efforts as they won each of the four individual event titles.
Junior Ashleigh Clare-Kearney was the meet’s top performer on both the vault and bars, posting scores of 9.925 and 9.850, respectively. The vault title marked the third in as many meets for the Manchester, Conn., native, while the bars crown was her first of the season.
Also picking up wins were junior Nicki Butler and sophomore Lauren Klein. Butler won the beam with a season-high 9.825, while Klein was victorious on the floor with a career-best 9.925. The individual title also marked the first of Klein’s career.
Up next, the Tigers continue their three-meet home stand as they open up conference action against Arkansas next Friday in the PMAC at 7 p.m.
MEET RESULTS
Team
1. LSU ? 193.850 (VT ? 49.025, UB ? 48.725, BB ? 47.800, FX ? 48.275)
2. Illinois ? 193.300 (VT ? 48.300, UB ? 48.675, BB ? 48.700, FX ? 47.625)
Individual (Winner plus all LSU competitors)
All-Around ? 1, Marijka Botterman, Illinois, 38.925. 2, Ashleigh Clare-Kearney, 38.750. 3, Nicki Butler, 38.700. 7, Kelly Phelan, 37.950.
Vault ? 1, Ashleigh Clare-Kearney, 9.925. 2, Nicki Butler, 9.850. 3, Emily Ellis, 9.825. t5, Kayla Rogers, 9.750. t8, Sabrina Franceschelli, 9.700. t8, Kelly Phelan, 9.800.
Bars ? 1, Ashleigh Clare-Kearney, 9.850. 3, Nicki Butler, 9.775. t4, Amanda Morales, 9.750. t6, Kelly Phelan, 9.725. 10, Kristi Esposito, 9.625. 11, Summer Hubbard, 9.550.
Beam ? t1, Nicki Butler, 9.825. t1, Cara Pomeroy, Illinois, 9.825. t3, Sabrina Franceschelli, 9.800. 6, Summer Hubbard, 9.750. 10, Ashleigh Clare-Kearney, 9.275. 11, Lisa Rennie, 9.150. 13, Kelly Phelan, 8.725.
Floor ? 1, Lauren Klein, 9.925. 2, Kelly Phelan, 9.800. 5, Ashleigh Clare-Kearney, 9.700. t6, Emily Ellis, 9.600. 10, Nicki Butler, 9.250. 12, Summer Hubbard, 9.175.