by Jake Terry, Graduate Assistant Sports Information Director
BATON ROUGE – LSU gymnastics head coach D-D Breaux announced the signing of four outstanding gymnasts after receiving their National Letters of Intent Monday.
The gymnasts will compete as freshmen in the 2011 season and include Sidney Sanabria-Robles from Caguas, Puerto Rico; Gabby Swart from Coopersburg, Pa.; Sarie Morrison from Dallas, Texas; and Maliah Mathis from San Antonio, Texas.
Sanabria-Robles has competed for Club de Gimnasia del Sur before moving to Orlando, Fla., to train with coach Jeff Wood at Orlando Metro where former LSU gymnast Kelly Phelan and current gymnast Janelle Garcia trained.
Sanabria-Robles has represented Puerto Rico in several international meets, including the 2008 Pan American Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Argentina and became the first Puerto Rican gymnast to medal at the competition as she captured the bronze medal on vault.
Sanabria-Robles won the floor title, finished second in the all-around and vault and took third on beam and bars at the XIV Puerto Rico International Cup in 2008. She secured the silver medal on floor at the 20th Central American and Caribbean Games in 2006. She also captured the all-around titles at the 2005 Olympic Festival in Puerto Rico and the VII Agot Cup for elite 12-14 year olds held in Mexico.
“Sidney is a very strong international elite level gymnast,” Breaux said. “She is continuing to prepare for international competition but will be joining our team next fall. She has a lot of international experience and is an elite level gymnast with a very high skill level, and she is an excellent student. She will make our team very strong with a very high degree of difficulty.”
Swart will come to LSU from Parkettes, the same club that produced former Tiger Kelly Lea, and she has competed at the international elite level. She won the all-around at the 2008 Fiesta Bowl Invitational for her division. She captured the Region 7 Level 10 all-around, bars and floor titles in 2006, and she also won the Level 10 state all-around, bars and floor titles. At the Junior Olympic National Championships in 2006, Swart took home a top 10 finish on bars.
In 2005, Swart captured the all-around title at the Friendship Classic for the Level 10 gymnasts in the 13 and under division. She finished first on floor as well and finished second on vault, bars and beam. At the 2005 regionals she took third-place in the all-around and finished second on bars and beam.
“Gabby trains at Parkettes, and they have a rich history in coaching and producing outstanding athletes,” Breaux said. “Bill and Donna Strauss and their whole staff are fabulous coaches. We are really excited about Gabby. Not only is she a solid gymnast with a lot of difficulty, but she also competes at the international elite level. We are excited and think she will bring a lot to the table for us.”
Morrison trains at Elite Champion Gymnastics in Plano, Texas where she competes as a Level 10 gymnast. She competed as an international elite gymnast in 2005 and 2006.
In 2009 at the Texas Prime Meet, Sarie won vault, bars, and the all-around. She continued her winning ways by taking vault, bars and the all-around at the WOGA Classic. She won the same three events at the Houston National Invitational.
She added a floor title at the Rose City Classic as well as winning bars, vault and the all-around. She won vault and bars at the Texas State Championships in 2009. She took the all-around and bars titles at regionals. She finished sixth on vault at the J.O. National Championships.
Morrison also competed as a high school athlete two straight years. She was the Texas High School two-time all-around and vault champion and added the bars title to her list of state high school wins. She now holds the Lake Highlands High School record on vault and bars.
She was named a Fox 4 High School Hero and Dallas Morning News 2008 & 2009 All-Area Girl Gymnast of the Year. She was also listed as an ESPN DFW 2009 Athlete of the Year finalist.
“Sarie was competing as an elite level gymnast when we first saw her,” Breaux said. “She is one of those kids when she was at the elite level where she was five-feet tall, and she has grown about seven inches. Now, instead of doing little gymnastics she does big gymnastics. Vaulting is her strongest event, but she is a very solid all-arounder and we are looking forward to the additions that she will bring to the team. Her consistency and degree of difficulty make her a solid and exciting gymnast.”
Mathis trains at Aerial Athletics in San Antonio, and she competes as a Level 10 gymnast. Outstanding on vault, Mathis has already scored a perfect 10.00 on the event at the 2009 Alamo Classic. She captured the vault title at the 2009 regionals and finished second in the all-around and floor.
In 2008 Mathis won the floor title at regionals and finished second on vault, and in 2007 she won the vault title at nationals.
“Maliah is a solid all-arounder and is a Level 10 gymnast who is coached by Heather Schnelzer, who I respect very much,” Breaux said. “Maliah has an outstanding foundation and will come in and get better and better. Vaulting and tumbling are her real strong points. She has competed Level 10 and has had a lot of success, and we feel like she will only get better when she steps on campus at LSU. Maliah is still growing in her gymnastics. I am confident that her natural strength and power will make her a real asset to our team in all events.”
