FORT WORTH, Texas — There’s a first for everything.
On Saturday, nine of LSU’s 15 gymnasts will experience their first NCAA Super Six, after LSU posted a 197.3375 in a second-place finish in Semifinal I.
To prepare the rookies, LSU coach D-D Breaux said she will not do anything different than any other meet.
“You don’t talk about it, you don’t make it bigger than it is,” she said. “It’s just another meet. There’s a lot of great gymnastics and we are one of those great teams. These young kids have to know that their gymnastics is good enough to measure up.”
During preparation on Friday night, Breaux said LSU plans on eating as a team, and she hopes to “get the kids to bed early” she said. LSU will also spend most of Saturday getting massages and stretching, after its stellar but “not good enough” performance on Friday afternoon.
For six Tiger gymnasts, Saturday will mark their second — or third — Super Six appearance, which junior all-arounder Ashleigh Gnat said she remembers as a embryonic performer.
“I was an infant the last time I competed in a Super Six,” Gnat said. “This is a different feeling. At LSU, making the Super Six is a huge deal and we can’t wait for that.”
Gnat, a one-time Super Six veteran, said the younger squad of Tiger gymnasts aren’t worried about the championship competition or the back-to-back meet days.
“The most important thing is to focus on our mentality, begin able to keep the same energy level that we had today,” Gnat said. “Resting as much as we can until tomorrow. These two days in a row are hard on your body. They’re prepared. This entire season prepares you for this.”
Coincidentally, to aid the Super Six newcomers, LSU will compete in the same rotational order as it has since March 4: bye, bars, beam, bye, floor then vault.
The event order experience will benefit LSU’s youngsters, Gnat and Breaux said.
Gnat, though, said she doesn’t expect LSU’s rookies to compete any different than every other competition.
“They know what’s at stake tomorrow, they know what’s important,” she said. “We’re going to just be us.”
You can reach Christian Boutwell on Twitter: @CBoutwell_TDR