BATON ROUGE — After a final workout at the Maravich Center Thursday afternoon the seventh-ranked LSU gymnastics team is set to take on the nation’s elite in its quest for a berth to the national championships Friday at the NCAA Central Regional Championships.
“I think we are as prepared as we are going to be,” said LSU head coach D-D Breaux. “This team has gotten better each week. I think having regionals at home and being on our own equipment, in our own venue with our fans will make a big difference. It gives you so much momentum for the competition.”
The extra momentum can only benefit the Tigers as competition will be stiff with five of the field’s six teams ranked among the top-25. No. 6 BYU enters the meet as the field’s top-ranked team. The Cougars are joined by No. 18 Arizona State, No. 23 Auburn, No. 24 Kent State and Michigan State.
Only the top-two teams plus the top-two all-arounders not on a qualifying team will advance to the NCAA Championships in Los Angeles, Calif., April 15-17.
“The quality of competition here is tremendous,” said Breaux. “You have one team ranked ahead of us in BYU. I haven’t seen them, but I’m told they are very clean and very consistent.
“Arizona State is a very strong team. They are ranked below us, but they are a championship team. They always have their best game at the end of the season.
“I think we are a mix of those two teams. We are very young, but we throw a good amount of difficulty and we have developed some consistency through the season.”
The Tigers will rely on the consistency of all-arounder April Burkholder in their quest for a trip to the NCAA Championships. The SEC Gymnast of the Year, Burkholder enters the meet ranked fourth nationally in the all-around, as well as among the top-10 on three of four individual events.
Junior Annie Gagnon as well as freshman Lisa Rennie should also provide the Tiger lineup with stability. Gagnon, an All-American on the bars, ranks fourth nationally on the event and has scored a 9.900 or better in eight of the last team meets.
Rennie, a three-event weapon for the Tigers, ranks 20th on the beam and currently owns the Tigers’ second-best season average on the bars (9.863).
LSU will be looking to make its fifth trip to the NCAA Championships in six years. Last season the Tigers placed second at the West Regional Championships in Seattle, advancing to the national meet where they then placed 10th overall.
Action from the Maravich Center and the NCAA Central Regional Championships will begin Friday at 6 p.m.