She’s finally here. After her unexpected absence from the LSU gymnastics team last spring, former Oregon State gymnast and transfer Britney Ranzy arrived on campus Wednesday, LSU Associate Sports Information Director Jake Terry confirmed to The Daily Reveille. “I’m so excited to finally be here,” Ranzy said. “I’ve only been here since Wednesday, and I love it already. The weather, just being with the girls and then walking around and figuring out where I am on campus, I love it here.” LSU announced Ranzy’s transfer in November and that she would join the team in January in time to compete for the Tigers in 2012 as a sophomore, but Ranzy conspicuously never showed. Terry attributed her absence to a “personal situation” that required attention, and while she declined to provide the exact reason, Ranzy was clear that it involved an NCAA rule of which she was not aware. She also cited the desire to make the Olympic team. “There were rules in the way, but I stayed home to mainly train for that reason, to make national team again. … I didn’t want to make anything worse, so I just said, ‘I’ll train and go to school and not worry about it,'” Ranzy said. “If I want to do it that bad, there’s always next year, because coming here was more important.” Ranzy said that when she wasn’t studying in her room, she was on a treadmill or in the gym. Because she didn’t compete last season, she retains three years of eligibility and can compete immediately as a redshirt sophomore. “Britney is very powerful and has a high skill level,” said LSU coach D-D Breaux in the original news release announcing the transfer. “The fact that she is coming in as a sophomore with experience at the collegiate level is something we are really looking forward to.” As a freshman at Oregon State, Ranzy was named to the 2011 All-Pac-10 First-Team on the vault, where she won six titles in nine attempts, posted a career-best of 9.925 and won the NCAA Corvallis Regional vault and floor titles. She also has international experience, finishing 14th in the all-around at the 2009 U.S. Visa National Championships with the U.S. Senior International Elite team. Ranzy joins Canadian Olympic alternate Jessica Savona and Junior Olympic standout Randii Wyrick in the 2013 recruiting class. LSU also added former Georgia head coach Jay Clark – who over 20 years, in several capacities, was involved in seven national championships with the Gym Dogs – as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator. ESPNU named Clark college athletics’ ninth-best recruiter in 2011.
—- Contact Alex Cassara at acassara@lsureveille.com; Twitter: @cassaraTDR
Gymnastics: Transfer gymnast Ranzy finally arrives on campus
August 18, 2012