TUCSON, Ariz. — While LSU gymnastics head coach D-D Breaux was unhappy about having to travel from Baton Rouge to Tucson, Ariz., for the NCAA Region III Championships, she couldn’t be any happier about the rotation the Tigers drew for Saturday evening’s competition.
The Tigers received the ideal rotation by their standards, matching the exact order of events for what they use at home meets. The Tigers will open on vault, followed by the uneven bars, the balance beam and then finish with the floor exercise. The Tigers receive byes following the vault and beam due to the six rotation format with six teams competing.
“It’s exactly what we wanted,” said Breaux. “We’re not a strong vaulting team and we get that out of the way right off the bat. It’s the same exact rotation we use at home meets and it’s what we drew at the SEC Championships and we finished second there, so we’re definitely comfortable with it.”
The Tigers worked out for two hours at the McKale Memorial Center Friday afternoon in their final workout prior to Saturday’s competition, set to begin at 6 p.m. MT. Joining LSU at the NCAA Region III Championships are No. 5 Nebraska, No. 17 Arizona State, host Arizona, Missouri and Illinois-Chicago.
With a top-two finish Saturday evening this can become the first LSU team to qualify for the NCAA Championships four consecutive years. The NCAA Championships will be held in Boise, Idaho from April 13-15.
Meet Rotation Order
NCAA Region III Championships
April 1, 2000
McKale Memorial Center
Tucson Arizona
LSU – 1, vault. 2, bye. 3, bars. 4, beam. 5, bye. 6, floor.
Arizona State- 1, bye. 2, bars. 3, beam. 4, by. 5, floor. 6, vault.
Arizona- 1, bars. 2, beam. 3, bye. 4, floor. 5, vault. 6, bye.
Nebraska- 1, beam. 2, bye. 3, floor. 4, vault. 5, bye. 6, bars.
Missouri- 1, bye. 2, floor. 3, vault. 4, bye. 5, bars. 6, beam.
Illinois-Chicago- 1, floor. 2, vault, 3, bye. 4, bars. 5, beam. 6, bye.