LSU gymnastics responded to the flames of a top 15 fire at the Metroplex Challenge with the team’s highest score since March 2010.
LSU coach D-D Breaux’s team posted a 197.100 in Fort Worth, Texas, on Saturday night, despite having to overcome a less-than-stellar performance on the beam.
“The team got over [to the beam], and I think they became more focused on staying on the beam than they did executing their skills,” Breaux said in a post-meet radio interview. “We need to go 49 on a bad night. We couldn’t stick the landings, and it’s the only event we couldn’t stick our landing on.”
When all was said and done, the lackluster score on the beam ultimately cost the Tigers the team title, falling just short of No. 2 Oklahoma’s 197.275, but not before sophomore Rheagan Courville secured the co-all-around title with Oklahoma junior Taylor Spears. Both gymnasts scored 39.450.
“We would’ve loved to walk out of here with a win,” Courville said. “But I think we really did make a statement, and that was our goal. We can only move forward from here. … We’re going to get [beam] together and go to Kentucky next week and be even better.”
Courville also took home the bars crown to bring her career individual title count to 23.
After the meet, Breaux and her team focused on the high score and beating No. 9 Georgia and No. 16 Oregon State rather than the loss to Oklahoma.
Junior Kaleigh Dickson earned her first start in the all-around competition Saturday after spending the early season struggling with her bars routine, her weakest event, according to Dickson, despite it being her highest score Saturday.
“We’re really happy about our score,” Dickson said. “Obviously we wanted the win, and if we had had beam, we would’ve gotten a higher score and been able to win. There’s nothing to be upset about. We hit our routines, we just have to do a little better on beam next time.”
The Florida native credits the increased support of her coaches and teammates to her success on the uneven bars.
“I really pushed two kids this week: Maliah Mathis and Kaleigh Dickson,” Breaux said. “Those two kids really got the wrath of D-D all week long. I didn’t let up on them because I knew we were going to put a lot on Kaleigh this week. We wanted her in the all around.”
Dickson posted a career-high 39.275 in the all around.
