by Ryan Rogers
LSUsports.net
(4/11/01)
Have you ever been in a situation where bad luck struck you and there was only one explanation? Turns out you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
That’s precisely what happened to the LSU gymnastics team this past weekend in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Tigers competed in the NCAA Northeast Regional with ambitions of earning their fifth consecutive NCAA Championship berth.
Despite a worth performance in which they posted an impressive score of 196.300, the Tigers will not return to the NCAA championships this time.
The score of 196.300 was the seventh best score posted over the weekend out of 36 teams competing in regionals nationwide. 12 teams qualify for the NCAA Championships, but you must finish in the top-two in your own regional to advance. LSU finished third in their regional behind higher ranked Michigan and Stanford.
Although LSU finished strong, being sent to such a tough regional narrowed LSU’s chances of advancing. The score would have allowed LSU to advance had they been participating in four of the other five regionals. In fact, the Tigers’ score would have won two of the other regionals.
“We did all we could do. We were awesome,” said LSU head coach D-D Breaux. “The meet was all tied up going into the last event. We were headed to the beam and Stanford was going to the vault and we lost a tight battle.”
To add even more anguish, two teams that LSU defeated in head-to-head competition have advanced to the NCAA Championships via other regionals. Denver University scored a 193.000 and qualified for the NCAA Championship. LSU defeated Denver soundly in a meet held at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on January 26.
“Denver drew a regional with not as much strength,” said Breaux. “Utah stumbled and Denver took advantage of that. We drew a regional with two teams that were just not going to falter. We were going to have to beat them with a stellar performance. We almost did, with a little more luck we may have topped Stanford.”
Regardless of the late season disappointment of not advancing to the championships, LSU had a marvelous season in 2000-01. LSU will likely finish ranked in the top 10.
“This year was fabulous,” said Breaux. “We got a late start, but we improved so much throughout the year. I was very proud of our depth. We had a few injuries and subsequently we always felt comfortable with our replacements.”
Coach Breaux credits a newcomer to her staff for her much of her team’s success.
“Phillip Olgetree had a huge impact on the quality of our performances.”
Olgeltree was a former standout gymnast at the University of Georgia. He has spent the last two years at the Georgia Gymnastics Academy tutoring gymnast. He has 18 years of coaching experience, but LSU is his first official collegiate job. In his time in Georgia he has placed six girls on the U.S. National Team.
With the brand new gymnastics facility completed and still sparkling with an excited LSU coaches and gymnast, the future of D-D Breaux’s program is looking very bright.
“We certainlty feel like we’ve got something really special and we’re moving in a very positive direction.”