LSU junior gymnast Jessica Savona has been listed as an all-arounder for the entirety of her college career, but through her sophomore season, she made her way into the starting lineup in only one event.
Savona was a mainstay in LSU’s floor lineup, collecting a Southeastern Conference Floor Championship and First Team All-America honors, while providing depth and sporadically appearing in the other three events when needed.
But the Mississauga, Ontario, Canada native returned to Baton Rouge from summer break without the kink in her bar routine that kept her out of the lineup.
Now Savona is key in the No. 2 bar lineup in the nation.
“She had a very difficult skill that she had competed at the Elite level, and it was something she was proud of, but she had some leg separations that are inherent to doing that skill,” said LSU associate coach Jay Clark. “I knew it was going to prevent her from getting into the lineup, so we learned a new release.”
The new release, called a bail, increases her scoring ability by eliminating some of the handstands that were necessary to perform an Ezhova, a skill judges score strictly on.
Savona’s new routine takes her to the high bar and right back to the low bar, a change that, if done correctly and consistently, would enable her to compete for a starting spot on bars.
But Savona had a difficult time accruing a good enough rhythm to perform the skill comfortably.
“With every skill, it takes a lot of repetition to get used to,” Savona said. “Some people say it takes 1,000 repetitions, but the number is infinite because with different people it will take more or less repetitions. I had more trouble with it, but there will be issues with changing any skill a person has performed since they were 12 or 13.”
After a year and a half of practicing the new move, Clark and LSU coach D-D Breaux challenged Savona to come back from summer, with the ability to live up to her all-around position title.
“She took exactly what [Clark] said to do [at] home with her this summer and she came back with a will to compete and a will to have that spot on bars,” said senior all-arounder Rheagan Courville. “She worked so hard to get there, and I think it shows because she has gotten so consistent.”
Savona’s improved routine landed her the leadoff spot in LSU’s bars lineup and catapulted her to the No. 15 ranking in the SEC.
In the first three meets, Savona averaged 9.833 on bars, including a personal-best of 9.875 in the season opener.
“I feel really accomplished, but I don’t want to say that in the sense that I’m finished with what I’m working on,” Savona said. “I really tried hard to make it into the bar lineup this year. Not only to be a part of the team by competing in the lineup, but to be an example for the upcoming freshmen and sophomores.”
You can reach Jacob Hamilton on Twitter @jhamilton_TDR.