The Florida gymnastics team entered the Southeastern Conference Championship as the nation’s No. 1 team, and the Gators backed the ranking Saturday.
No. 8 LSU finished fourth at the competition in Duluth, Ga., with a team score of 196.425, behind No. 1 Florida (197.150), No. 3 Alabama (196.775) and No. 5 Georgia (196.575).
“I keep saying when you lose, you learn, and when you win, you teach,” said LSU coach D-D Breaux. “We had some teaching tonight, and we had some learning going on tonight.”
Freshman Lloimincia Hall earned the floor title with a 9.925, winning the Tigers’ lone individual event. She’s excelled in the event all year, posting a 9.975 on floor in two of the three meets leading into the SEC Championship.
“This is her event,” Breaux said. “She’s a solid little all-around for us. She did a great job for us.”
Hall and freshman Rheagan Courville both earned first-team All-SEC honors, while freshman Jessie Jordan and senior Ashley Lee earned second-team recognition.
Courville finished third in the all-around with a 39.450, while Jordan placed sixth with a 39.350.
Lee finished second on vault with a 9.925. Her score was her second highest in the event this season, after posting a 9.950 on vault Jan. 20 at Arkansas.
Courville, Hall and Jordan were all named to the All-SEC Freshman Team.
“We had a fall on vaulting, we had a missed dismount on bars, we had a fall off a beam, and chased Georgia,” Breaux said. “We were on their heels, and if we’d have stuck our landing on bars, we’d have come out second.”
LSU’s meet started promisingly with a 49.150 on floor and a 49.375 on vault, but the Tigers couldn’t maintain the pace on bars, posting a score of 48.90. LSU finished the meet with a 49.00 on beam, led by Jordan’s score of 9.850.
“We didn’t put the dagger in them,” Breaux said. “There was just not enough ‘Braveheart’ there in the end.”
LSU will have two weeks before the NCAA Regional on April 7 and another two weeks before the NCAA Championships from April 20-22, which are also in Duluth, Ga.
“We will be able to carry everything we experienced in this meet to regionals and nationals, and this team is good enough to be in the Super Six,” Breaux said in a news release.
 
 
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Contact Rowan Kavner at [email protected].