Gymnasts fall to Florida: Team preps for Friday match with No. Utah
   Consistency, or a lack thereof, was the apparent downfall for the LSU Tiger Gymnastics team this past Friday.
The Tigers dropped a 194.925-194.750 decision to the University Florida Gators in Gainesville.
The Gators, led by freshman Orley Szmuch, moved into the No. 13 spot nationally with their victory, up three spots from No. 16, while the Tigers moved down five spots to No. 10.
Szmuch, who garnered the SEC Gymnast of the Week for her performance against LSU, won the all-around title with a score of 39.525, as well as taking the titles in the uneven bars and balance beam to pace the Gators. Szmuch is the first Gator to claim the Gymnast of the Week award this season and the third to earn the honor in the three-year history of the award.
While the Gators were getting continuous improvement from their freshman phoneme that they hoped for, the Tigers were left wondering where the consistency they were hoping for had gone.
“We were inconsistent on every piece of equipment,” said LSU coach D-D Breaux. “We weren’t able to get any momentum going. Any time we did, we would have a break. We just weren’t here tonight.”
The Tigers were inconsistent at each event. One LSU gymnast failed to have a solid routine on each of their respective events, resulting in sub-par scores for the team.
The weakest link for the Tigers was their performance on the uneven bars. The Tigers got off to a slow start on the uneven bars, scoring a 47.875, and never really regained their composure from the poor start.
“The kids just never felt like they got used to these bars,” Breaux noted. “They said the rhythm and timing on them was just real different. It’s just little things like that, which you have no control over, that can hurt you.”
Despite the loss, LSU’s performance was not all bad as senior Nikki Arnstad won her third floor event for the season, which brings her to 10 total floor titles for her career.
Along with Arnstad, senior Marina Deteva and freshman Lauren Companioni both posted 9.850 in their respective events on the vault and the balance beam. Both placed second in their events.
The Tigers will be looking to rebound on Friday as they return home to face perennial power Utah, which is ranked No. 1 in the nation.
Two years ago Utah came to the PMAC with the No. 1 ranking and suffered a shocking 195.125-194.800 loss to the Tigers. It marked LSU’s first victory over a top-ranked team.
Utah’s Theresa Kulikowski holds the top spot nationally on the floor followed by Arnstad. Kulikowski was an alternate to the 1996 U.S. Olympic team.
The Tigers, meanwhile, remain ranked in the top five in the nation for two events — ranking No. 4 on the vault and No. 5 on the floor.
Patrick Foy