The No. 10 LSU gymnastics team finished the third annual Etta James Memorial meet with plenty of reasons to be proud.
The meet raised a sizeable donation to cancer research, and the Tigers (6-4-1, 2-3-1) upended No. 6 Oregon State (10-2, 5-1), 196.925-195.525, in front of a season-high crowd of 5,641 in the PMAC.
The 196.925 score was a season high for LSU and marked the fifth straight meet it has posted higher than a 196.
“We were aggressive tonight, especially on the beam, and that was a message we’ve been carrying through in practice,” said LSU coach D-D Breaux. “We have been demanding 9.825 and 9.85 performances in practice, and we approached that tonight. It was very gratifying for the team.”
Senior Susan Jackson stole the show Friday night, garnering her eighth all-around title of the season and the 13th of her illustrious career.
Jackson also took home the floor exercise title and split the vault crown with Oregon State junior Mandi Rodriguez. She also finished second on the uneven bars and third on the balance beam.
“I came out tonight, and I wasn’t nervous,” Jackson said. “Usually I’m pretty nervous. I guess the significance of the meet, with it being the ‘Pink Meet,’ and the excitement of that I was more relaxed. And I was happy with my performance.”
Junior Sam Engle also posted a big performance for the Tigers. Engle won the balance beam title and posted a career-high 9.925 on the apparatus. She also went 9.825 on the uneven bars and 9.750 on the floor exercise.
“I was a little nervous coming into the meet, but once we actually got on the floor it all just went away because everyone’s attitudes were just great and we were having a great time,” Engle said. “It was really good.”
The Tigers scored a team season high on the balance beam and matched their season’s best score on the uneven bars, where senior Summer Hubbard walked away with the title.
The proceeds from the meet went to Foundation 56, a breast cancer awareness foundation founded by former LSU and current Dallas Cowboys linebacker Bradie James.
The meet raised more than $38,000 for the foundation.
LSU has raised more than $120,000 for Foundation 56 in three years of hosting the Etta James meet.
“Everybody had such a great impact on putting this together,” James said to the crowd following the meet. “So it’s not just us that put this together. You all gave the money so give yourselves a hand.”
Breaux was also very appreciative of all the work that went into putting on the Pink Meet.
“I feel like people have taken ownership of the event,” Breaux said. “The meet tonight was about LSU gymnastics, but the whole event — the silent auction, the tailgate party we had Thursday night in Tiger Stadium — that’s about the community.”
The Tigers’ next meet will be Friday night against Iowa. The meet will be the final home meet for the four seniors on the squad — Hubbard, Jackson, Sabrina Franceschelli and Kayla Rogers.
“Senior night is always exciting, and it’s always kind of sad because we have a great senior class,” Breaux said. “The significance of this particular senior class — this group that has taken us to two Super Sixes, this team that has won individual national titles — I just think they’re a tremendous, competitive group, and I don’t think you replace that. You just have to rebuild from that.”
Contact Rob Landry at [email protected]