LSU gymnastics coach D-D Breaux said despite the unlucky number of returning letterwinners from the 2004 squad — 13 — she expects the Tigers to make their own luck this season.
“We’ve got eight or nine deep in each event,” Breaux said. “Some of that 13 is going to weed itself out because I really expect that everybody on this team is going to compete and practice at a championship level.”
But the Tigers are off to a rocky start so far this season. LSU, ranked No. 8 in preseason and finished third place out of four teams in the season opener at Michigan State on Jan. 7.
Michigan State won its home meet with a score of 195.475, followed by No. 20 Denver (193.875), LSU (193.725) and Ball State (190.025).
Breaux said that she was “very disappointed” after the team’s performance in East Lansing, Mich. The Tigers went into the event with a 26-3 all-time record against the three opponents.
“The plain and simple of it is we didn’t do well,” Breaux said.
Junior All-American April Burkholder provided a bright spot for LSU in the meet, scoring an event-winning 9.900 in the floor routine. Burkholder said the team needs to compete with the same intensity and consistency that they do in practice.
“I think that we just have to keep working hard like we’ve been working in the gym, and stay positive and confident,” Burkholder said.
Expectations are high for LSU this season, especially after the success the team enjoyed in 2004. LSU won the 2004 NCAA Central Regional Title, defeating No. 6 BYU and No. 18 Arizona State along the way.
LSU advanced to the 2004 NCAA Championships in Los Angeles and finished in 7th place overall — LSU’s best finish at the championships in 10 years.
Breaux said she recognizes how much pressure is on the team to equal last year’s accomplishments. But she said with all of the experienced athletes returning to compete this year, there is no excuse for not being able to handle all the added expectations.
“They should feel more pressure to perform at a higher level, to be more mature, to manage your gymnastics better,” Breaux said.
Breaux said she feels like the team is starting over at an inopportune time.
“We trained extremely well in the fall, and before we went home for Christmas this team was a championship caliber team,” Breaux said. “We came back from Christmas as a bunch of individuals.”
Two of those individuals — Burkholder and senior Annie Gagnon — earned All-America honors for LSU in 2004. The accomplishment marked the 12th season in a row an LSU gymnast has earned such honors.
Despite the lackluster start to the 2005 season, Burkholder said the Tigers remain hungry for an NCAA Championship run this year.
“I feel that there’s pressure on us because we did finish high [in 2004],” Burkholder said. “But I also feel that it made us want it that much more because we were so close to making the Super Six.”