BATON ROUGE – Coming off a season-high 197.150 score against Iowa, the 11th-ranked LSU gymnastics team will carry that momentum to Shreveport to take on in-state rival Centenary at 6 p.m. Friday in the Gold Dome.
LSU’s 197.150 score was the highest total in the nation a week ago, and it marks six straight meets LSU has scored a 196 or above.
LSU (7-4-1) will try to avoid a letdown after back-to-back big home meets – the Third Annual Etta James Memorial Meet against No. 7 Oregon State and last week’s Senior Night against Iowa.
“Centenary is a hard place to compete because it is not a big arena with a huge crowd like in the SEC,” head coach D-D Breaux said. “The kids know they have to get up for the meet, and most of the competition comes from the gymnasts pushing each other on each apparatus.”
The Tigers are hitting on all cylinders as they have set back-to-back season high team scores, and it is the four All-American seniors who have led the way.
Susan Jackson, the nation’s second-ranked all-arounder, has won nine all-around crowns this season which is tied for second on LSU’s single-season list behind Sandra Smith’s 10 titles in 1980. Jackson is currently tied with Ashleigh Clare-Kearney who won nine all-around titles in 2008, and Jackson will attempt to tie Smith’s record against Centenary.
Kayla Rogers also led the Tigers by posting scores of 9.9 and 9.875 last week, and Summer Hubbard scored two 9.875’s and a 9.825. Sabrina Franceschelli displayed consistency with three 9.85’s.
Freshman Ericka Garcia has shown improvement during the season, and she was rewarded by earning Southeastern Conference Co-Freshman of the Week honors for her performance against Iowa when she scored 9.825’s on bars and beam and a 9.80 on vault.
Junior Samantha Engle also performed well with a 9.90 on beam to win the title, and she added a season-best 9.85 on floor and a 9.80 on bars.
The Tigers will also rely on Gloria Johnson on vault and beam against the Ladies.
Despite the season-high score against Iowa, Breaux said LSU still has room for improvement.
“We worked on a lot of basics with an emphasis on consistency in practice, and we worked on stuff that needs repeating so that it will help us in our landings,” she said. “We put in a lot of hard work this week, but we balanced it by giving the girls a little bit more rest than usual.”
Centenary (0-6) has struggled all season, but the Ladies scored a season-high 190.350 last week at Southeast Missouri State.
Senior Whitney Daughtery and freshman all-arounder Jessica Lieblich have provided the top scores for Centenary this season as each has posted a 9.80. Lieblich scored hers on beam, and Daughtery posted her 9.80 on floor.
Fans can listen to live audio of the meet in the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net and receive live updates by following @lsugym on twitter.com.