BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – On the eve of the Southeastern Conference championships, the No. 2 LSU gymnastics squad (10-3, 5-2 SEC) congregated to the uneven bars before they started Friday’s practice session.
Instead of a straight-eyed focus teams typically display before the start of postseason, the Tigers looked more like a group of friends enjoying each other’s company.
That’s was the goal.
“We perform at our best when we’re loose and having fun,” said junior all-arounder Rheagan Courville. “As you can see, it’s happening now. But we need to keep that energy.”
Friday was the Tigers’ final practice before the SEC Championships, which take place Saturday. LSU will be competing in Session Two at 6 p.m.
Entering the conference championships, LSU has scored at least a 197.000 nine consecutive times, a school record. But the Tigers will be tested more than they’ve been at any point thus far this season. On Saturday, they will face Florida, Alabama and Georgia, three of the top six ranked teams in the nation.
Being in the presence of elite competitors on a huge podium can crack any team’s nerves, and it’s why LSU coach D-D Breaux has continuously stressed to the squad the importance of remaining loose and free-spirited. Given the many smiles and laughs on each gymnast’s face before the start of Friday’s practice, it seems the squad heard their coach’s message.
“They’ve got to have that reckless abandon feeling, like bust the door down here we go,” Breaux said. “If you start getting tight and start trying, you start failing.”
But the Tigers have some freshmen that haven’t yet experienced the immense stage they’ll step on Saturday, and their performances could be a determining factor in LSU’s success.
One of the key athletes for LSU will be freshman Ashleigh “Bugs” Gnat. Gnat has scored a 9.950 on beam in each of the past two meets, and she’s the only freshman in the SEC to do so multiple times this season.
“We’re relying on freshmen in some key spots to give us big scores,” Breaux said. “I don’t know if anybody else is in this meet. But if our freshmen do a great job for us, I think we’ll come out of here really well.”
Fortunately for Breaux, she has upperclassmen that have experienced the same emotions that her freshmen are having, and they are setting the example for the young gymnasts.
Fortunately for Gnat, her roommate for the squad’s road trips is junior Rheagan Courville, the No. 2 all-around gymnast in the nation, and Courville is pretty intuitive on how to best handle nerves in high-pressure situations. 
“[Rheagan] helps me calm a lot down before the meet,” Gnat said. “She’s really good to travel with because she sets the energy level, and the way that she sets it calms me down.”
Being calm has helped the Tigers complete the greatest regular season in program history. LSU ranked No. 1 three weeks this season, matching the school record set in 2005. The squad also tallied at least a 197.000 in 10 of its 11 meets, which was also a school record.
With such a historically strong season, the outside expectations for the Tigers are perhaps higher than ever.
But outside opinion doesn’t matter to junior all-arounder Jessie Jordan at this point because the squad has already shown the nation what they’re capable of accomplishing. The goal is to stay calm and do what they’ve been doing.
“Our coaches basically told us to stay loose and act like its another meet because we don’t have other’s expectations on us,” Jordan said. “All we have are the expectations we put on ourselves.”