LSU Gold

Gymnastics Begins Quest for NCAA Championships Berth

by Brandon Berrio
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Gymnastics Begins Quest for NCAA Championships Berth

BATON ROUGE – The LSU gymnastics team, the No. 3 overall seed and three-time defending SEC Champions, begins its quest for the program’s 30th NCAA Championships appearance and 18th regional title April 5-6 inside the Maravich Center.

The Tigers will host nine of the nation’s top teams with two teams advancing to the NCAA Championships in Fort Worth, Texas, April 19-20.

The first session of the second round Friday will feature No. 6 Utah, No. 11 Minnesota, BYU and Arkansas at 2 p.m. The top-seeded Tigers will then face off against No. 14 Auburn, Arizona State and George Washington. 

The meets on Friday and Saturday will be streamed live on WatchESPN.com and the app. Lyn Rollins along with All-Americans Kaleigh Dickson Abboud and Lori Strong Ballard will call the action on Friday and Saturday evening. Live results for all sessions will be available at www.LSUstats.com

LSU’s History at the NCAA Regional
Since the first year the NCAA sanctioned gymnastics in 1982, LSU has advanced to the NCAA Regional 37 out of 38 years. This season marks the 35th-straight year LSU will compete in a regional. The following is how many times the Tigers have finished in the previous 36 NCAA Regional appearances: First Place -12 times; Second Place – 14 times; Third Place- nine times; Seventh Place – one time.

Prior to NCAA regionals, LSU advanced to AIAW Regionals every year from the program’s inception in 1975 to the final year in 1981. The Tigers won six AIAW Regional championships during the seven-year span.

Last Time Out – LSU Defends its Tile
Two weeks ago, LSU won the fourth SEC championship in school history and third in a row. Senior Sarah Finnegan won the all-around, bars, beam and floor tile. Fellow Senior Lexie Priessman joined Finnegan as All-SEC performers. The Tigers became the fifth team in league history to win three or more consecutive meet titles.

Finnegan Crowned SEC Gymnast of the Year Again
Finnegan put together one of the most dominant all-around performances the league has ever seen from start to finish in 2019 concluding with the SEC all-around title. The Lee’s Summit, Missouri, native won the seventh all-around title in school history with a score of 39.800, the second-highest score in meet history. Finnegan became the sixth gymnast in SEC history to win back-to-back all-around titles.

Finnegan set the school record for most beam titles in a career with 25. Finnegan went from week one to 13 as the most dominant all-around gymnast in the league with 12 wins to set the school record for most in a season. She was named the SEC Gymnast of the Week seven times to set the record for the most in a season in the league’s history.

With her 10 on floor at SEC Championships, Finnegan joined Burkholder as the only gymnasts in school history with multiple perfect scores on three different events. She owns 84 career wins and 42 this season for second in school history. She needs just four wins across possibly the next four meets to set the record for wins in a season.

Breaux Named Coach of the Year
Head coach D-D Breaux was named the SEC Coach of the Year for the ninth time. Breaux also earned the honor in 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2015 and 2017. The dean of all coaches in SEC history led the squad to a record of 18-3 overall and the program’s third-straight SEC championship.

LSU has continued to improve in each week of the season and over the final four weeks leading into NCAA postseason average the squad has average a 197.900. The LSU team is the second in NCAA Gymnastics history to average a 197.900 or higher in four meets.

Gymnasts Combine for Ten Regular Season All-America Honors
Finnegan, Kennedi Edney, McKenna Kelley, Pressman and Reagan Campbell combined to earn an SEC-best 10 Women’s College Gymnastics Association (WCGA) Regular Season All-America honors. Overall, LSU gymnasts have combined to earn 66 All-America honors in the regular season since the association begin this honor in 2013. LSU has now combined to earn 249 regular season and meet honors in program history.

Ticket Info
Tickets for the regional are available at LSUtix.net. All-session tickets are $16 for adults and $8 for youth (ages 3-12). Individual session tickets are also available now and $6 for adults and $3 for youth.

Tickets for groups of 25 or more are available for individual sessions and are $3 each. LSU’s season ticket holders who ordered in advance have had their tickets assigned.

Geaux Clear
Fans are reminded that LSU’s Geaux Clear policy is in effect for all sports. The following bags are permitted inside LSU Athletic venues: clear 12” x 6” x 12” or smaller bags, clear 1-gallon freezer bags & clear or non-clear 4.5” x 6.5” (approximately the size of a person’s hand) wallets/wristlets/clutches. For more information regarding the clear bag policy, please visit www.LSUsports.net/geauxclear

Fans can follow the Tigers on the team’s social media channels: @LSUgym on Instagram and Twitter, www.Facebook.com/lsugym and at YouTube.com/lsugymnastics.

NCAA Baton Rouge Regional Schedule

Thurs., April 4
NCAA Regional 1st Round
George Washington def. Lindenwood,195.200-194.750

Fri., April 5
NCAA Regional 2nd Round

2 p.m. – Session I
1. Utah – 196.800
2. Minnesota – 196.300
3. Arkansas – 196.175
4. BYU – 195.550

7 p.m. CT – Session II
1. LSU – 197.200
2. Auburn – 197.075
3. Arizona St. – 195.425
4. George Washington – 194.675

Sat., April 6
NCAA Regional Final
7 p.m. CT – Four Teams Advancing from 2nd Round Sessions (Top 2 from each session)
LSU
Auburn
Utah
Minnesota