JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The 10th-ranked LSU gymnastics team will open postseason competition at the Southeastern Conference Championship at 3 p.m. CT on Saturday in the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.
Live audio will be available in the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net, and live stats will be available on SECsports.com. The meet will be televised on a tape delay basis by ESPN2, and the first air date is set for April 4 at 10 a.m.
LSU (8-4-1) participated in the random competition draw before Friday’s practice session, and the Tigers’ Kayla Rogers selected bars. Because all seven SEC teams are competing, LSU’s rotation will be bars, beam, bye, floor, bye, vault and a bye to end the meet.
LSU will take momentum into the meet as the team has recorded a 196.050 or higher in seven-straight meets, and the Tigers will look to finish in the top three for the first time since 2005 when the team finished second.
“We are still a team that is in the process of getting better each week,” head coach D-D Breaux said. “We knew by design that the first half of our schedule was not going to be as productive as the second half of the schedule.
“We have created some consistency and have been able to compete with a much higher level of intensity from the midpoint of our season to this point, and seeing a lot of progress each week has been very gratifying.”
LSU moved into the top 10 after last week’s 196.425 road score at Centenary, and all seven SEC teams are listed inside the top 20, led by Alabama at No. 1, Florida at No. 4 and Georgia at No. 5.
“We are looking forward to the SEC Championship as an opportunity to hopefully improve our regional qualifying score, but we also want to be at the very top of our game and compete for a top-three position,” Breaux said.
The Tigers will rely on the four All-American seniors – Sabrina Franceschelli, Summer Hubbard, Susan Jackson and Rogers – to lead the way, and LSU will need strong performances from its underclass gymnasts to finish high.
Rogers and sophomore Ashley Lee have tied for the vault title the last two meets, and junior Samantha Engle has stepped up her performance on beam by winning the last three titles with two 9.925’s and a 9.90.
LSU will also count on Gloria Johnson, Ericka Garcia and Shelby Prunty for solid scores throughout the meet.
Not only will the Tigers be looking for its first SEC title since 1981, but LSU will also look to continue its streak of individual honors.
LSU has produced two SEC champions in back-to-back seasons and at least one SEC champion in three of the last four years. One or more Tigers have earned All-SEC honors in the last eight seasons.
Jackson will compete to become LSU’s third all-around champion at the SEC Championship, and if she can win the title she will break the LSU record for most all-around titles in a single season with 11.
After the SEC Championship, LSU will take a week off before competing at the NCAA regionals at a site to be determined.