Ranked No. 10 in the Women’s Gymnastics Preseason Coaches Poll, the LSU gymnastics team and coach D-D Breaux are getting ready for another season, and poised to reach the Super Six.
“If we continue to train like we are now with the intensity and the focus that we are training with and always keep our goals in front of us and stay focused and committed with what we’re doing and how we’re doing it, we’re going to get better as the season progresses,” Breaux said.
Breaux said she expects this will be the best team she has coached in her 27-year career. One of the team’s goals is to reach the Super Six national tournament for the first time in school history.
“That’s our goal and I believe in this team as much as any team I’ve ever had,” Breaux said. “All we can do is control those things that we can control. We can’t control an official’s like or dislike, but if we stick our landings, if we do 10.0 sets and execute it without any major deductions, then I would think were as good as anybody in the country. A 10 is a 10.”
Last year’s team failed to qualify for the Super Six because of immaturity, Breaux said. She said this year’s team is responding much better in workouts.
“Last year’s success was all about me having to pull the kids and them not understanding the process, not understanding why we work this hard why we do what we do because most of them were freshmen and they had no idea,” Breaux said. “I feel like they’re a totally different team, totally different mindset. So I think that this team will respond to positive motivation and they’ll respond to competition.”
Jade Jenkins is in her junior year on the team and coach Breaux said Jenkins is a positive person. Jenkins finished last season with averages of 9.738 on the vault and 9.635 on the beam.
“Jade Jenkins is a spark plug,” Breaux said. “She’s positive. She’s real fun to have out on the floor. She never waivers in her ability to be resilient. She always plays that role.”
Jenkins said she would rather be a team player than focus on her individual accomplishments.
“If I’m not going to be competing I just want to be on the side letting my team know that I’m with them,” Jenkins said. “I believe in them and when I perform on an event I want to do the very best I can for my team and contribute as much as I can to this team. We’re an incredible team and we can go so far this year. Any way I can help my team out, I’m there for them.”
Last year’s freshman sensation April Burkholder is back and she said she wants to eliminate the mistakes she made last year.
“April is intense. She’s very focused she’s very serious,” Breaux said.
Burkholder said she would like to contribute to the team. She finished last season with averages of 9.84 on the vault, 9.773 on the beam, 9.861 on the floor, and 39.234 all-around.
“I just expect myself to keep my composure and hopefully make less mistakes than last year,” Burkholder said. “I guess [I want to] just contribute the best that I can and stand behind my team good times and bad.”
The gymnastics team finished second at the Michigan State Invitational on Jan. 9, behind Arizona. The Tigers dropped to No. 16 in the polls.