LSU Excited for 2013
LSU Excited for 2013
This should be a very exciting season for Coach D-D Breaux and her LSU Tigers. Their freshman class includes Randii Wyrick,Jessica Savona and Michelle Gauthier. Savona, former world team member and Olympic alternate for Canada, should be a major player for LSU. There are new faces on the coaching staff as well with Associate Head Coach Jay Clark. Clark comes to LSU following his 20 years at the University of Georgia. During his time at UGA, Gym Dogs won seven NCAA National Championships and 12 SEC titles.
Consistency was the name of the game in the LSU gymnastics team’s first intersquad meet of fall practice Friday inside the gymnastics practice facility in Maddox Field House.
Coming into the meet the coaching staff wanted to see the gymnasts display consistency in front of fans and family who attended the intersquad, and the coaches were not disappointed as the team produced a 49.100 or higher on each event to score a 196.675.
LSU competed in Olympic rotation starting on vault, and the coaches served as the judges for the intersquad. The Tigers earned a 49.125 on both vault and bars, a 49.100 on beam and a 49.325 on floor to wrap up the meet.
“We have worked really hard up to this point, and I think we saw what is going to be a really good product at the end of our fall preparation,” head coach D-D Breaux said. “They got out there and competed. If we are hitting these kind of routines today and we stay healthy, we are going to be successful, but the key is to remain consistent and to continue getting better each day.”
Because it was the first intersquad competition Breaux said many of the gymnasts completed routines with soft landings and had coaches spotting some of the skills.
“One of our goals today besides consistency was to practice the team unity and bonding we have been talking about,” she said. “There is a lot that goes into being a team, and we have spent a lot of time working on that and building leadership in the team.”
With a successful first intersquad in the books, Breaux said the plan at fall practice will shift from quantity to quality in routines.
“What I want to do is back off on our numbers and focus on pressure sets and the really fine details of each performance,” she said. “On floor we have to keep pushing because that’s an endurance event where you have to be as strong at the end as you are in the beginning, and we felt like our tumbling passes weren’t as strong as they need to be.”
While the gymnasts performed well in the first test of the fall, Breaux was quick to acknowledge the coaching staff has played an integral part in preparing the squad to hit routines in a pressure situation.
“Our staff is doing an absolutely great job,” she said. “With the choreography that Ashleigh Clare-Kearney has provided, the confidence that Jay Clark has brought to the team, the enthusiasm that Bob Moore and I have, it just clicks so well. This staff is special, and we love the direction we are headed.”
The Tigers return to practice Monday as they work toward the second fall intersquad on Nov. 16 and continue preparation for the season opener in the Maravich Center against North Carolina State on Jan. 4.