LSU coach D-D Breaux has never enjoyed taking credit for any of her team’s successes, saying that LSU’s gymnasts deserve to be in the spotlight for the Tigers’ accomplishments. But for 10 minutes before Friday night’s 193.850-193.300 victory over the University of Illinois, the LSU athletic department and PMAC crowd showed its appreciation for the longest tenured coach in LSU history as LSU Associate Athletic Director Mark Ewing and several former LSU gymnasts presented Breaux with a highlight video of her career. “When you’re having so much positive poured on you, and you’re fixing to do what you get paid to do, it does make you step back and look at all of the incredible athletes and all the great accomplishments,” Breaux said. “To have Hall of Fame athletes come back tonight and to have most of my family here tonight just means a lot.” Breaux’s ceremony came on a night when No. 14 LSU won despite struggling on the floor and beam events. LSU’s nationally No. 1 ranked vault team kicked off the meet, posting a team score of 49.025, giving LSU an early advantage over Illinois who scored 48.675 on bars. Junior Ashleigh Clare-Kearney finished first in vault with a 9.925. “We’ve become consistent in that event,” Breaux said. “We’ve developed a rhythm and a pattern in that event, and we’re still looking for that in the other three events.” The Tigers again extended their lead in the second turn, scoring 48.725 on bars compared to Illinois’ 48.300 on vault. Clare-Kearney won her second event of the meet on bars with a score of 9.850. She said her performance on vault is key to her success in the meet. “It’s always good to have a great start from your first person to your last. It’s always important for everyone to hit,” she said. LSU struggled in the third turn, having three falls on the beam, but the Tigers were again able to extend its lead because Illinois also struggled on the floor. Senior Nicki Butler and freshmen Sabrina Franceschelli and Summer Hubbard started well on beam for LSU, but three consecutive falls gave LSU a score of 47.800 in the event. “It’s tough to pick back up after somebody falls,” Butler said. “Hopefully next week it will all come together.” LSU also had problems on the floor, but sophomore Lauren Klein won the event and helped seal the victory for LSU with a score of 9.925. Senior Kelly Phelan finished second on the floor with a 9.800. Illinois sophomore Marijka Botterman won the meet’s all-around title with a career-high 38.925. Clare-Kearney and Butler finished second and third respectively in the all-around. Breaux said her team will be ready for next week’s SEC opener despite its poor performances on the beam and floor events against Illinois. “I’m very confident in this team,” she said. “But I’m not sure they’re confident, so we’re going to test their confidence this week.”
—–Contact Casey Gisclair at [email protected]