The LSU gymnastics team suffered a setback last week, losing freshman standout April Burkholder to an ankle injury that could keep her out for sometime. She was out of the lineup for last week’s match against Alabama, and head coach D-D Breaux said she does not expect her to return to full strength for at least two more weeks.
Practicing on the vault, Burkholder hyper-extended her knee while also spraining her ankle. During the weekend the swelling lessened and she began light workouts this week.
“She’s getting better everyday,” said gymnastics athletic trainer Greg Penczek. “We can’t put a timetable on it, but she’s going to have a full recovery.”
If she continues to improve this week, Burkholder will compete on the uneven bars in this weekend’s meet at Nebraska. A final decision will not be made until Friday, according to Penczek.
Breaux is using the same philosophy to rehabilitate Burkholder she has used to develop the young team– patience. She is weary of pushing Burkholder to recover too quickly fearing an incomplete recovery.
“I think if we tried to push her, she would respond to it,” Breaux said. “But I doubt we would get the product we’re looking for.”
Next week the Tigers will return home for a meet against Arkansas. Fans, coaches, Burkholder’s teammates and Burkholder all hope to have her as close to 100 percent as possible by then.
“I definitely want to be ready for that,” Burkholder said.
Breaux is remaining realistic about the injury and trying to look at the longterm as opposed to short-term benefits.
“We’re probably looking at having her back as much as we can for our home meet against Arkansas and perhaps 100 percent for Georgia,” Breaux said.