The No. 7 LSU gymnastics team has worked toward nationals all year long, and it could reach that goal with a first- or second-place finish at the NCAA Central Regional Championship today in the PMAC at 6 p.m.
Coach D-D Breaux said the Tigers are ready for the challenge.
“I really feel that this team is very prepared, they’re very talented and what they do now and how they perform is 100 percent in their hands,” Breaux said. “And now it’s all up to them to step into that arena and do all they’re capable of doing.”
The regional will consist of six teams, No. 1 seed BYU, No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Arizona State, No. 4 Auburn, No. 5 Kent State, and No. 6 Michigan State. BYU is ranked No. 6 nationally, followed by the Tigers at No. 7. Arizona State, Auburn and Kent State are ranked No. 17, No. 23, and No. 24, respectively. Michigan State is unranked.
Breaux said the competition will be tough.
“You never underestimate your competition,” Breaux said. “I always expect people to come into that assembly center and have the best competition of their season. And of course, that is your goal — to be the best you can be at the end of your season. But that’s also our goal, is to be all we can be Friday night.”
Sophomore April Burkholder, the 2004 Southeastern Conference Gymnast of the Year, said the team needs to concentrate.
“I think that our team just needs to stay focused and do our job out there and not put a lot of pressure on us because that’s nerve racking already,” Burkholder said. “And we don’t need that; we just need to stay composed and do what we know how to do.”
Burkholder said qualifying for nationals is not a sure thing.
“There’s no guarantees because we can’t predict the future, but we know we’re more than capable of not only going to nationals but winning this regional championship,” Burkholder said. “If we just keep our heads on straight and stay focused and stay calm and hit our routines like we know we can do.”
Senior Lindsay Beddow said the team can not expect to have everything handed to them.
“We just can’t go in there and expect to win,” Beddow said. “We have to stay focused and we have to put together four good events and finish in the top two. We just can’t expect everything to come together; we have to make it come together.”
Breaux said the team should qualify for nationals.
“I think we have been as consistent and as powerful of a scoring team as anyone in the country,” Breaux said. “So do I believe we’ll go to nationals, I think if we don’t, the wheels have fallen off our wagon. This team is very capable and very talented, and they should go into that PMAC Friday night and prove that it’s their house.”
Breaux said the team becoming the 2004 Central regional champions is not out of the question.
“I think they’re talented enough to do it, we’ll see if they’re tough enough to do it,” Breaux said.