The No. 5 LSU gymnastics team has already put together an impressive season.
The Tigers have broken team scoring records that have stood for years and currently are in a position to perhaps contend for a national title.
But the team knows that without a good showing at the Southeastern Conference Championships, held Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Ga., those national championship dreams mean nothing.
“We’re working on the Super Six, and SECs can still put us in a good or bad spot in the regional rankings,” said sophomore gymnast April Burkholder.
The Tigers do have momentum going into the conference championships following their season-high score of 197.650 in last week’s meet at Centenary.
LSU coach D-D Breaux said the meet was good practice for the conference championships.
“It was good to get the kids in a meet where they had to really push from within,” Breaux said. “There was no value to the meet other than going out and feeling like we had to do a good job to once again be consistent. The kids really had to push internally to put out the kind of scores that they did.”
LSU gymnast Annie Gagnon said the Tigers are more relaxed this season heading into the SECs.
“I think what’s different this year is our team is ready to go,” Gagnon said. “We have no pressure, so we’re going to go there and just compete having fun with no pressure for the rankings for regionals.”
Gagnon said she knows the judges are going to be a lot tougher at the conference meet.
“We can’t look at our scores because we’re going to be disappointed,” Gagnon said. “I’m sure the scores are going to be at least half a tenth lower than in the regular season. So we’re not going to look at that and just do our job.”
If the Tigers are going to capture their first SEC crown since 1981, they will have to defeat several quality opponents. Alabama, Georgia and Florida are all ranked in the national top 10, and each defeated LSU in head-to-head competition this season. Auburn and Arkansas are also ranked in the Top 25.
Breaux said the high level of competition in the SEC makes this meet one of the best in the country.
“It will be as tough as the highest level of competition at the national championships,” Breaux said. “It really is a competition that will test our strength and test our weaknesses. We’ll see what we’re made out of.”
LSU brings an impressive resume of its own to the conference meet. The Tigers are currently ranked No. 5 in the country and are in the top 15 in all four events.
The Tigers’ season has not been without difficulty, however. Ranked No. 10 in the preseason polls, LSU struggled out of the gate with a disappointing 194.875 score in the season-opener. The Tigers then suffered back-to-back losses to Alabama and Florida and dropped to No. 20 in the rankings, before winning its first meet title Jan. 30.
Against Georgia on Feb. 13, the Tigers began to finally show their potential. Although they lost to Georgia’s national season-high score, LSU put up an impressive total of 197.300. The Tigers then went on to win their next five meets, and scored above 197 in each competition.