LSU gymnastics coach D-D Breaux said her team would not be the powerhouse it is today without senior all-arounder Rheagan Courville.
The No. 4 Tigers scored a 195.025 in Courville’s first meet at the PMAC on Jan. 13, 2012, and finished the regular season with a 7-8 record. This season, LSU tallied a program-high 198.375 in Courville’s last meet at the PMAC on March 6.
Now, LSU is just weeks away from potentially qualifying for its for its third-straight Super Six Championships, and Courville is the main component of the Tigers’ success.
Courville never expected to leave a legacy at LSU, but Tiger assistant coach Bob Moore said he knew she would.
“To know that my career has turned into something like this and we’re looking at the chance to be able to have the first national title this year is surreal to me,” Courville said. “It’s something that I have dreamed about forever. I wanted to be the best I possibly could, but I had no idea it would turn out like this.”
Moore said he remembers the first time he saw Courville vault, and he said she had something special that can’t be taught — the natural ability to be a great gymnast. He said he knew she had not even begun to scratch the surface of her potential.
“The first time I ever saw [her vault], basically I knew that if we could keep it from messing her own mind up, that she would be a national champion,” Moore said. “I just knew she was going to be a national champion.”
Moore was right, and it didn’t take long for Courville to completely change the face of LSU gymnastics.
The Tigers finished the 2011 season with a 3-9 record. Over the course of the next four years, with Courville at the helm, LSU contended for the SEC Championship every year, qualified for the Super Six Championships twice and is on pace for its third consecutive berth.
Meanwhile, Courville won back-to-back vault national championships and five SEC individual titles. She helped LSU finish in third place at the Super Six Championships in 2014, the highest finish in program history.
Despite achieving the best finish in school history, Courville was bitter after failing to win the national championship and set out to make her senior season count.
During her senior season, Courville led LSU to a 13-1 regular season record and its first undefeated season in SEC competition while battling through various ailments. She was held out of the final two rotations during LSU’s victory against Alabama with flu-like symptoms, and a hip flexor injury restricted her to two events during LSU’s victory against Minnesota and kept her out of the final regular season meet againt Centenary and New Hampshire.
While she altered the perception of LSU gymnastics, she said it simultaneously had an immeasurable effect on her.
“So much about me has been shaped by this university and the people in it,” Courville said. “It’s just something I think about all the time. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without LSU gymnastics, the community and just everything about this university.”
Through her first three years, Courville combined for 16 All-American honors and two vault national championships. She said she hopes to add to that list at the Super Six Championships this season.
Courville said her accomplishments are a result of the guidance of “the best coaches in the nation.” Moore said she has always had what it takes to be a superstar, but LSU brought it out of her.
“I was not half the beam competitor [or] bars competitor, and I didn’t have landings on floor and vault like I do now,” Courville said. “It’s just really owed to the coaching styles that have been here. They really brought out the best in me. I was not like this before.”
Although gymnastics is a big part of her life, NCAA rules stipulate gymnasts can train for only 20 hours a week. Courville spent most of her time outside the gym, and she said LSU has molded her into a better person. Courville said the LSU community has improved all of her traits and helped her become more confident in herself, and she is more enthusiastic about all aspects of her life.
“We have all seen each other grow in different ways on the competition floor and off the floor,” said fellow senior all-arounder Lloimincia Hall. “That is something that both me and her can say about each other. We have been through the process together, enjoy each other and enjoyed the ups and downs with what comes with the sport. It taught us lessons, and we grew from it each and every year.”
Although Courville said she never expected to have such a considerable effect on LSU gymnastics, she has embraced her role and wants to finish what she started. Courville hopes to help LSU win its first NCAA Championship in program history, which would solidify her legacy.
But with or without a team championship on her résumé, Breaux said Courville’s effect on the program will be felt for a long time.
“Without a shadow of a doubt, Rheagan Courville is probably the greatest gymnast that has ever come out of Louisiana,” Breaux said. “Courville is the shining star … [She] has the collegiate credentials that will match anybody in the country.”
You can reach Jacob Hamilton on Twitter @jhamilton_TDR.