BATON ROUGE — LSU gymnastics coach D-D Breaux placed great importance on her team coming up with a big score at the SEC Championships last weekend.
Breaux knew that a strong score could increase her chances of moving into the top six in the nation and getting a better draw for the NCAA Regionals, to be held on April 6 at 6 p.m. at the Maravich Assembly Center.
While the Tigers finished fourth, they still put together a score of 196.225 that moved them from ninth to sixth in the national rankings, exactly where Breaux wanted them to be. Despite earning the top seed in the NCAA Central Regional, however, Breaux’s Tigers were handed a very difficult regional draw as brackets were announced on Tuesday.
The sixth-ranked Tigers will be joined by No. 7 Iowa State, No. 15 Florida, No.25 Central Michigan, New Hampshire and Illinois State.
Had the draw gone according to the rankings Arizona State would have come to NCAA Central Regionals. The Sun Devils are hosting a regional of their own, however, and Florida was sent to Baton Rouge in their place. LSU is 0-3 against Florida this year.
“This is an extremely tough draw, but it always is at this time of the year,” said LSU head coach D-D Breaux. “We wanted to get into the top six and be the highest ranked team and we were able to do that. We get a very good Iowa State team that is ranked just one spot behind us and a Florida team that we know is one of the best in the nation.”
LSU is 0-4 against Iowa State in its postseason history and 3-8 against Florida. The Tigers are a combined 5-0 against New Hampshire, Central Michigan and Illinois State in the postseason.
In addition there will be five individual all-arounders on hand and three individual-event competitors. Lisa Clark of Auburn, Jessie James and Heather Langham of Kent State, Nathalie Hashimoto of Eastern Michigan and Marny Oestreng of Bowling Green earned all-around berths to the NCAA Regional field. Renee Planck of Ball State will complete on the uneven bars, Jill Tucker of Ohio State will compete on both the vault and floor, while Kent State’s April Zentko will compete on the balance beam.
With six teams on hand there will be a total of six rotations with each team competing in all four events and receiving two byes. LSU will open on bars and follow on beam. After a bye they will move to floor, then vault and finish the sixth rotation in a bye.
Tickets are on sale for the NCAA Central Regional at the LSU Ticket Office, located on the first floor of the LSU Athletic Administration Building or by calling (225) 578-2184. Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for students and children ages 3-12.
NCAA Regional Assignments
West Region – April 6 at Corvallis, Oregon (Oregon State University)
Teams
1. Utah
2. Oklahoma
3. Oregon State
4. Southern Utah
5. Washington
6. Boise State
North Central Region – April 6 at Denver, Colorado (University of Denver)
Teams
1. Georgia
2. Stanford
3. Denver
4. Missouri
5. Air Force
6. Utah State
South Central Region – April 6 at Tempe, Arizona (Arizona State University)
Teams
1. UCLA
2. Arizona
3. Brigham Young
4. Arizona State
5. Illinois-Chicago
6. Cal State Fullerton
Central Region – April 6 at Baton Rouge, Louisiana (Louisiana State University)
Teams
1. LSU
2. Iowa State
3. Florida
4. Central Michigan
5. New Hampshire
6. Illinois State
Northeast Region – April 6 at University Park, Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania State University)
Teams
1. Michigan
2. Nebraska
3. Iowa
4. George Washington
5. Penn State
6. Pittsburgh
Southeast Region – April 6 at Morgantown, West Virginia (West Virginia University
Teams
1. Alabama
2. Minnesota
3. West Virginia
4. Kentucky
5. Michigan State
6. North Carolina