The Southeastern Conference is full of dynasties.Alabama’s football program has been historically dominant, as has Kentucky’s basketball program. LSU has been the benchmark for SEC baseball programs since the 1990s.The elite in gymnastics hail from Athens, Ga.The Georgia Gym Dogs have won 15 SEC championships, more than all the other SEC teams combined. But the 2010 SEC Championship is up for grabs following Suzanne Yoculan’s retirement as coach of the Gym Dogs.The No. 10 LSU gymnastics team, in search of its first SEC crown since 1981, is one of the teams in the hunt to reign supreme in Saturday’s meet.The Tigers enter the meet ranked fifth in the SEC – behind No. 1 Alabama, No. 4 Florida, No. 5 Georgia and No. 8 Arkansas – with a regional qualifying score of 196.415.The Tigers trail four other teams in rankings, but they have already defeated the top-ranked Tide head-to-head at home and tied the Razorbacks on the road.LSU has had quite a bit of success lately, posting three consecutive scores above its RQS average.”We’re going to be thinking the same thing we have been thinking,” said senior Summer Hubbard. “We went to Centenary and had a pretty decent turn out.  Now we just look to push even harder for SECs.”But Hubbard is also aware of the competition the team will be up against.”This is one of the toughest competitions of the season, push aside nationals,” Hubbard said.  “The SEC, they rock and rule in the gymnastics world.”The SEC Championship poses another new obstacle for the Tigers to overcome — a seven-team meet.  Because there are only four events in gymnastics, each team will have three byes mixed in with its four rotations, something the Tigers have not seen this season.”[Having a bye] can be an advantage as far as, if you get a little bit shaky on one event, you have a little bit of time to [recuperate] and reset everybody before you move on,” said senior Kayla Rogers. “As long as we don’t finish on a bye, because it’s nice to actually be competing in that last rotation so you actually have some control of what’s going on.”The meet will also be the first time this season LSU will compete on risers.  A competition on risers means the apparatuses will be on a raised platform, instead of on the ground as they are during most regular-season competitions.”It gives a little bit, and it shakes a little bit,” Rogers said. “None of your team gets to stand up there so you’re isolated.  It feels a little different, it looks a little different than you’re used to having.”Senior Susan Jackson, the nation’s second ranked all-around gymnast, will be in pursuit of her third SEC individual title. Jackson won the vault title in 2008 and the balance beam crown in 2009.Jackson is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation on vault, No. 6 on uneven bars, No. 12 on floor exercise and No. 13 on balance beam.Hubbard enters the meet ranked No. 15 on the uneven bars, and junior Sam Engle cracked the national rankings the past week, checking in at No. 16 on the balance beam.Hubbard stressed the key to success this week was quality of repetitions in practice, not quantity.”It’s not about numbers,” Hubbard said. “It’s about coming in here and doing the least amount of numbers but being most efficient with those numbers.”____Contact Rob Landry at [email protected]