No.5 LSU gymnastics team will face an exquisite No. 11 Georgia squad, coming off of its huge win against then-No. 1 Florida last weekend on Saturday.
The Tigers (7-1, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) will face the Gymdogs at 3 p.m. on Saturday in Stegeman Coliseum after a “real big” conference win as senior all-arounder Randii Wyrick called LSU’s victory against then-No. 8 Arkansas on Friday.
Junior all-arounder Ashleigh Gnat said LSU is destined to thrive in Georgia after its dominating 197.425 to 196.150 win versus the Gymbacks last weekend.
“We’re coming off of a real big competition week for us,” Gnat said. “It’s a big boost for us to know we have the skills, we have the talent, and to see it coming together is really nice.”
And for Georgia, it’s smack in the middle of the two biggest weeks of its season with one win written in pen, and the other pending.
“That win really boosted our confidence,” Georgia senior all-arounder Brittany Rogers said in a news release. “The atmosphere with our fans pumped us up. I think we can carry that forward to the LSU meet. We know we’re strong and talented and it’s time for us to kind of unleash ourselves. The win over Florida was a great start for that.”
The Tigers’ meet against the Gymbacks featured a season-high team and beam score of 49.450 — LSU’s highest beam score since its 49.475 against Minnesota on March 6, 2015. All of which combined for a jet of momentum as LSU heads into four straight top-15 meets against Georgia, No. 8 Auburn, No. 2 Florida and No. 4 Alabama.
In the meet against Arkansas senior specialist Michelle Gauthier struck a new career-high beam score of 9.875. Sophomore all-arounder Myia Hambrick set three career-high scores on bars and beam with 9.950s on both and a new career-high all-around score of 39.625.
After recording a perfect 10 on vault in two-straight meets, Gnat nailed a nearly perfect routine against strict judging and scored a 9.875. Overall, the Tigers scored or tied 11 season or career-highs against the Gymbacks, their largest number this season.
As all of last week’s meet piles up, LSU is ready to head into its next meet with a head full of steam.
“Last Friday was really fun,” Gnat said. “Being out there in front of our fans was great. We had great collective energy. That momentum we got from last Friday, we think, will carry us into the meet this weekend.”
For Gnat, the hostile Georgia crowd will present a challenge for LSU’s younger gymnasts. She said the meet will be a strong first road test for LSU’s freshmen class.
“We thrive in that kind of environment,” she said.
Although LSU has competed away against N.C. State in Las Vegas on Jan. 14 and on the road in Fort Worth for the Metroplex Challenge on Jan. 30, Gnat said this will be the first time LSU’s young guns will see an SEC environment on the road at full force.