No. 2 LSU is facing some of its toughest opponents this season in Fort Worth, Texas on Saturday.
In its first of two quad meets this season, LSU (3-0) will travel to take on No. 4 UCLA, No. 14 Washington and No. 28 NC State at the Metroplex Challenge.
“It’s going to be different just because it’s a quad meet, which means there’s going to be three other teams on the floor,” junior all-arounder Sarah Finnegan said. “It won’t be just one other team so there’s going to be a lot of stuff going on. Everyone’s doing their gymnastics at the same time.”
However, the biggest difference in this meet is the podium equipment. Podium, the same style of equipment that will be used at the Super Six, is on a raised surface that makes all the apparatuses bouncier.
LSU will see podium again in St. Louis, Missouri, for the Mardi Gras Invitational on Feb. 16.
Finnegan says the difference is just enough so that it’s noticeable, but it’s good for the entire team to get a feel of it, especially the freshmen who may not have had an opportunity to compete on podium before.
“In club gymnastics you don’t really see that, it’s more like what we have in the PMAC,” Finnegan said. “It is going to be something different for them, something that they’ve never experienced. It’s a step in the right direction and it’s another meet that can prepare us for postseason.”
Despite the difference in equipment, LSU coach D-D Breaux won’t change the training and the workload of each individual gymnasts.
Breaux likes to hold off on all-around gymnasts like Sarah Finnegan and Myia Hambrick* as to not put so much pressure on on them. Sophomore all-arounder Kennedi Edney will have to ease back into her training after tweaking her knee and being limited to bars and beam in LSU’s win over Alabama.
Overall, the Tigers want to continue to prepare for this meet the same way they would for any other one.
“I think we just need to do the same thing we’re doing now,” junior all-arounder Lexie Priessman said. “We don’t need to overthink it, overdo it. Podium always a little bit more bouncier. That’s actually a good thing in gymnastics.”
LSU hopes to use this environment as a stepping stone to the postseason.
“I think it’s going to be a great experience,” Finnegan said. “Come nationals and postseason, we will have that podium, we will have all the distractions, all the crazy energy from different teams so we definitely want to use this as an advantage going into postseason.”
The experience isn’t all all that Breaux is concerned with for this meet.
Texas is one of the largest breeding grounds for athletes in the nation, so Breaux wants to make sure LSU has recognition in the state. Most schools that LSU competes against have at least one gymnast from Texas, Breaux said.
“The Metroplex meet is a huge national meet that draws a lot of young athletes from all around the country,” Breaux said. “Texas has a lot of great athletes, a lot of great coaches and we do a lot of recruiting in Texas so we really feel like we have to have a huge presence there.”
Breaux is anxious to bring the same level of excitement that LSU brings to conference meets to a neutral site against championship caliber teams.
Fourth-ranked UCLA has six national championships to its name and averages 196.917 this season. No.14 Washington averages 196.325, while No. 28 NC State averages 196.350.
“Four teams will be there, UCLA ,Washington and NC State,” Breaux said. “Teams that we don’t ordinarily have on our schedule. It’s a great opportunity for us to see different teams compete in a venue that eventually, we go back to Fort Worth in a couple of years for our national championship. We want to continue to have a big presence in Texas.”
*Editor’s Note: Myia Hambrick is a former employee of The Daily Reveille
