The LSU gymnastics squad entered the Southeastern Conference championships relishing the prospect of winning the program’s second conference title and first since 1981. But following a disappointing showing, the Tigers sat and watched as others walked up to the podium to accept the trophy they coveted. 
However, the squad’s unsatisfying finish at SECs served as a necessary reminder of what LSU coach D-D Breaux has preached throughout the entire season — focus solely on what’s happening now. 
“I think they got out of the process [at SECs] and started looking at the prize and the end result, but the task at hand has to be the most important thing,” Breaux said. 
The task No. 3 LSU (15-5) now faces is the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional on Saturday in the PMAC. The Tigers will square off against five other squads as they try to claim their second consecutive regional title and stamp their ticket to the NCAA Championships. 
And although the Super Six is only two weeks away, Breaux was adamant her team’s focus was on Saturday’s meet, seeing as only two of the six competing teams will make it through to the next round. 
“They know that it’s all or none right now,” Breaux said. 
According to junior all-arounder Jessie Jordan, the disappointment at SECs was perhaps the shake-up the Tigers needed to reset their focus in everyday preparation as they head deeper into the postseason.  
“Really, what makes people win is you win every day in the gym and in practice,” Jordan said. “I think we were so letdown by SECs that it really refocused us and gave us a wake-up call for what we need to do and what our mindset needs to be going into regionals.”
With so much riding on the meet Saturday, the past two weeks of rest and non-competition may have been the remedy LSU was searching for. It was an opportunity to recharge both bodies and minds that have grinded through 11 consecutive weeks of nonstop action. 
Junior all-arounder Rheagan Courville, one of only two gymnasts in the country earning All-American honors for all events and the all-around in the 2014 regular season, believes the rest has been invaluable in helping her and her teammates return to focusing on the details of their performances and not the scores they receive. 
“We’ve been able to focus on things we wanted to fix and improve on instead of focusing on only hitting sets,” Courville said. “We had really become outcome-based and score driven, and we needed to get back to the place where we aren’t worried about all that.” 
Fortunately for the Tigers, they’ll have one less thing to worry about this weekend. Last year, LSU had to travel to Columbus, Ohio, to capture the NCAA Regional title. But the regionals will be in their home arena, so the squad can further rest up while teams from Stanford, Auburn, Arizona, Kent State and Iowa State make the journey to Baton Rouge. 
“I don’t think some of the girls realize yet how big of a deal it is for us to not be traveling this week,” said senior All-American Sarie Morrison. “It’s basically like a rest week for us even though we have a huge meet at the end.”  
Saturday will be LSU’s final meet to build momentum before it heads back to the same venue in Birmingham, Ala., where it fell short two weeks ago at the SEC Championship, and Breaux is looking for her team to seize that momentum early and have it carry the squad throughout the meet.  
“I know that this team has the capabilities, but the door needs to be opened and we need to slam through it,” Breaux said.