Throughout the season, LSU assistant gymnastics coach Philip Ogletree will submit a weekly diary of updates and happenings with the LSU gymnastics team.

Oct. 15, 2008

Fall is upon us and we are getting in to the swing of things.  Recently the team has been very busy with school, practices and community service projects. 

In school we are inching closer to the dreaded midterms.  The girls are working diligently with our Academic Center to stay on top of their studies and prepare for their upcoming exams.  The Academic Center offers tutors, mentors, specialized learning tools and over 400 computer terminals specifically for the athletes to meet any need that might arise.

In terms of practice we are beginning to put together routines.  On Floor, the girls are picking out their music and getting those mixed, as well as making any adjustments to their choreography if they want to change.  They are doing endurance floor sets and working the individual passes they want to compete this year.  Vault consists of a lot of drill work and flipping competitive vaults on to a soft surface.  On Bars we are doing some skill development but mainly doing internal bar routines which is everything but mounts and dismounts.  On Beam they are rocking away with full sets.

We recently participated in several community service projects.  We split the team into three parts and walked for three causes, the Juvenile Diabetes Walk, the Lou Gehrig Walk, and the Downs Syndrome Buddy Walk.  Some of our upcoming events are a Halloween Boozar, and at Christmas we adopt a family and raise money by selling cookies to buy presents for the family that otherwise might not have any or very little. 

Each year provides us with different challenges.  We, the coaches, feel the challenge for at least the first part of the season is to get everyone healthy and fit.  By that I mean we had several surgeries after last season that we are still trying to be patient with and let the healing be complete.  The line up we start with may not be the same as the one we finish with at the end of the year.  Initially we are going to depend on the same people week after week until we can get others healthy and ready to compete.  We are getting great leadership from a number of people who are doing what we ask and more.  We are going to have our first test, if you will, on October 25th when we do our first of several intra squads. 

Our first meet is the Cancun Classic on January 2, so it looks like it is going to be a short break for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

As we say at Louisiana State University, Go Tigers!

September, 2008

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Friday February 29, 2008

Last weeks meet was against Alabama at home in PMAC where a record crowd of 7700 people witnessed a tight, closely fought competition.  The meet was publicized as our Pink Meet which we ran in conjunction with Bradie James, former Tiger football great and current Dallas Cowboy, and his Foundation 56 to help find a cure for Breast cancer.  Specifically $30,000 was raised to go towards creating mobile units to get to the people in need versus having sites set up.  These mobile units will conduct early screening and detection of Breast Cancer. It was a terrific success and the LSU Gymnastics along with our promotions and marketing dept. played key roles in making it all happen. 

We started on vault of course getting great scores from Nicole Lyons, Susan Jackson, and Ashleigh Clare-Kearney.  The momentum carried over to bars with Summer Hubbard scoring a 9.9 to win the event.  Vault and Bars have been our two best scoring events all season so we felt good about the meet at that point being up by about .3 or .4.

Beam and floor have been 2 events where we just have not hit like we are capable.  On Beam Nicole Lyons and Ashleigh Clare-Kearney gave us our two highest scores but it felt like we had to scratch hard to keep the momentum rolling.  Heading to floor everyone was pumped and ready to win the meet.  But it was not to be.  We watched as one routine after another went 9.75 because of poor landings.  Little by little the meet was getting away from us and in the end we lost by .175.  To Bamas credit they went over and hit good beam when they had to. 

The meet was a huge success in terms of all the good things we accomplished but we left with the disappointment not being able to stay focused throughout the meet and secure the win. 

This week in practice we have tried to continue to stress the little things that have made us successful thus far and fix the problems that surfaced on floor and beam.  We have changed up the practice routine to include more game like circumstances.  2 on 2 competitions and cold sets or routines that have to score a certain score or they don’t count just to name a few of the things we have added. 

Tonight we face Michigan State, but we really face the challenge of putting together a complete meet.  I am excited about tonight because this week has been challenging for the girls.  They understand the importance of how much everything we do from here on out effects our RQS and our bid for Nationals.  Sunday we go on the road to Centenary and get our first taste of competition after one day of rest.  Thanks for reading.

Go Tigers!

Philip Ogletree

February 20, 2008

Academics have always been very important for the LSU Gymnastics Team. DD stresses it to the girls and we have a great Academic Center to insure all athletes get the support and help they need to be successful. This past Sunday night was the annual Academic Gala, where all athletes with a 3.0 or higher GPA are invited to attend. Freshmen are not allowed to the Gala. Every other girl on our team was invited and attended the Gala. We won many awards but of particular note is the team award given called the Tiger Cup. This was the first time such an award has been given and goes to the team with the highest overall GPA, the highest national finish, and the most number of community service hours. The LSU Gymnastics Team won the trophy. Lauren Klein won the 2008 Female Scholar Athlete of the Year and Kelly Phelan won the TAF Female Athlete of the Year. Klein’s award is based on academic performance and Phelan’s award is based on academic achievements and community service.

Last weekend we competed in Gainesville against the Gators. We started on Bars where we had a season high 49.3. Kristi Esposito leads off because she hits all of her handstands and gives us a veteran leader in that first spot. We inserted Sabrina Franceschelli into the line up because her Jaeger has really improved and she has looked very solid at practice. Summer Hubbard has fought through her back injury to regain her form and confidence. Nicole L, Ashleigh, and Susan J anchored us that event. Sam Engle is very close to being ready and in fact has the routine but struggles with the new dismount at the end.

Vault was also a very good event that night. Paige C started us off with a 9.8 followed by Kayla who came up a little short on the landing. Staci S and Nicole L are doing really well trying to maintain an open body and stick their landings. Susan J and Ashleigh both hit dynamite vaults and received huge scores.

Going into Floor we were .2 behind but lost momentum on the floor with uncharacteristic missteps and poor landings. Kayla Rogers and Susan Jackson both did outstanding routines but we needed more than that. Floor has always been a strong event for LSU and we have been working hard at practice this week to fix those problems. Lauren Klein’s absence is very noticeable on this event. She has been released by the doctors to begin training and should be ready in a few weeks.

Heading to Beam, Florida had pulled ahead with great scores on Beam. We competed well on Beam but need to be more aggressive and nail our landings. unfortunately we ended up counting a fall scoring a 48.65. We scored a 196.3 which was a good score but we were disappointed because we had an opportunity to 197 +. It would not have beaten Fla. on this night because they put together an all around terrific meet.

We look forward to coming home this week against Alabama and know that we will have to put together four solid events. We don’t expect to see any changes in the line ups but we are committed to giving people experience.

Thanks for reading.

Philip Ogletree

LSU Gymnastics

February 13, 2008

The Tigers are coming off their season high score of 197.05 against Auburn and W. Virginia.  We had a few people step up and do a great Job.  Paige Cippolloni and Kayla Rogers both did great on Vault giving us two solid scores and filling in the gap left when Lauren Klein went down due to injury.  On Bars, Kristi Esposito has done super in the lead off position giving us leadership and a clean, tight, hit set.  Sam Engle did an exhibition routine on bars that was a 9.9 till the dismount, which is a double front she only learned in the fall, where she took two steps.  Our two freshmen Nikki Lyons and Staci Schwitkis have proven themselves vital to vault and bars. 

Beam really came together this past weekend.  Nikki Lyons stepped in and hit a 9.85 to fill the gap left by Lauren Klein.  Other than Nikki the beam line up is a veteran group that is beginning to hit a groove. 

Floor was ok in terms of scoring, a 49.05.  Kayla Rogers stepped in again and did a nice job in Lauren’s spot, scoring a 9.8.  We upgraded Ashleigh’s and Susan’s floor with Double layouts, in each of their first passes giving them two E passes and D dismounts.  They made all of their passes but gave a tenth away on landings, which they will get back with practice.

After the meet one of our booster groups put together a meal and many former gymnast and alumni ate and talked with this year’s team. 

We go to Gainesville to compete against a hot Florida team this Friday night.  This weeks practice has been focused on the details.  We have to get better at landings, handstands on bars, and leaps. 

Our next home meet is Feb. 22 against Alabama.  This is our Pink meet with funds being raised for Breast Cancer awareness.  Former Tiger and current Dallas Cowboy Bradie James will be on hand to promote his Foundation 56, which he started to honor his late mother that passed away two years ago due to cancer.  We are looking for a big turnout with lots of prizes and give a ways.

Go Tigers!

Philip Ogletree

Friday February 1, 2008 

The LSU Gymnastics Team is back at home in front of their fans in the PMAC tonight facing the Kentucky Wildcats.  The Wildcats are not currently ranked in the top 25 but they will be.  They have recruited powerful gymnast and it shows on floor and vault.  I’m sure they, like us, have been working hard to put together consistent routines that will score well and they would love to have a break out meet here against LSU. 

Last week we competed at Georgia in front of 12,000 Georgia fans.  It was a tough place to compete.  We knew going in that Georgia has not lost anyone from last year’s team and gained a few more that could only make them deeper and better.  Our squad is relatively young but very capable.  We have more difficulty than ever before and have stressed the basics, like handstands, leaps, turns, and landing positions all year.  If nothing else we believed if we could not count a fall and compete like we practiced we would do well.  And that was our goal.  Facing Georgia and competing in front of all those home town fans will make us tougher and more prepared for SEC’s and Nationals, which will both be in Georgia this year.

Much has been written about the meet already so I am not going to into that but would like to say something about the way we trained and the motivation we have after that competition.  We reviewed the tape several times and could see that our focus needs to be on the little things that slowly hack away at the score and separate good teams from the great teams.  On Monday, after giving the girls Sunday off, we had a hard specialized practice that centered on specific skill development on each event, like body lines, correct head positions, and finishing positions.  One area that needed big improvement was the transitions from tumbling to dance on floor.  We just weren’t seamless in that area.  The other big deduction for us was landings.  We gave tenths away there that could easily have boosted our score.  The girls responded enthusiastically and did everything we asked them to do.

This week has proven to be challenging in other ways because almost everyone has come down with some kind of sickness.  DD lost her voice and is just now getting it back.  Ashleigh came down with Strep.  Kristi and Susan along with a few others are suffering with Flu like symptoms.  We are vigorously treating everyone and feel that we are on the good side of most of those. 

Tonight we expect a good crowd and the theme for the meet is a “sock hop”.  The first 400 dressed in 50’s attire receive a free Coke float.  There will be music and other giveaways throughout the night.  We have a made a few changes in the line ups on each event because more girls are getting ready and competing for spots. Thanks for reading.

Geaux Tigers!

Philip Ogletree

November 27, 2007

Everyone has returned from their homes for Thanksgiving with only a few flight delays. We have an intra-squad on Friday December 7 at 6 pm. So we are looking at 2 good weeks of practice before that Friday.
We do have some injuries that have sidelined a few people or temporarily limited them. Summer Hubbard has a stress fracture in her back that needs 8 weeks rest, 3 girls have cists in their wrists, Amanda Morales, Paige Cipolloni, and Yvette Triay. They are working through the pain but trying to be smart about they do. Nicole Lyons is limited right now because of a hamstring strain. Otherwise we have the normal soreness and aches and pains associated with gymnastics.

Floor is coming along. As I mentioned in a previous article we felt that this event was lagging behind the others. We are starting to see a line up of girls that are ready to compete. We have brought one pass out on the floor but continue to do the others onto a soft surface. The new choreography is fun and lively. Ashleigh C has her hip hop dance, Lauren Klein always performs beautifully, Sabrina is doing a good job with new choreography that should be a staple in the line up and Kayla Rogers has a fiery ending to her routine, just to name a few.

Bars and Beam are continuing to improve for all the girls. They are consistently hitting full routines with the focus on amplitude and polish. Since my last report on bars Amanda Morales has come on strong with hardly any room for deductions, as well as Kayla Rogers who had her best day on bars just yesterday. We are going to miss Summer Hubbard for perhaps the first couple of meets but she won’t be out long. She is very competitive and will get herself back to the top quickly.

Vaulters showing improvement over the past few weeks are Amanda Morales, Kayla Rogers, and Samantha Engle. The biggest improvement has been with Lauren Klein who has taken a tuck Yurchinko full and a half and turned it into a beautiful stretched layout full. This vault is for real!

After the intra-squad the girls have finals, then go home for Christmas break but will return on Dec. 26 for the final week and half till leave for Cancun. Please come and see the intra-squad but if you can’t we will try and have some video available as well.

Geaux Tigers!
Philip Ogletree

November 5, 2007

This past Friday we had our final tune up for our big intra-squad on December 7.  We split into two teams starting with vault and bars and finishing with beam and floor.  Each team picked their line ups and at least five girls on each team had to compete in the event.The girls on the team that threw and made their 10.0 vaults are, Sabrina Franceschelli, Lauren Klein [ with a new layout Yurchenko full], Staci Schwitkis, Nikki Lyons, Susan Jackson, Kayla Rogers and Ashleigh Clare-Kearney, who threw a Yurchenko full and half. 

On bars these girls hit their sets with everything including dismounts, Sabrina Franceschelli, with new piked Jeager, Kayla Rogers, Nikki Lyons, Susan Jackson, Summer Hubbard, Amanda Morales, and Ashleigh Clare-Kearney, with new full twisting double dismount. 

On Floor they showed two passes into resi pit and one pass out. Some of the girls threw new tumbling like Lauren Klein with a double layout and full in.  Ashleigh threw double layout and double Arabian.  Sam Engle threw her double Arabian.  Staci Schwitkis does a nice double Arabian. Susan Jackson does a double layout.  Some of these skills will be ready early and some will wait depending on the consistency.

Beam has gotten better and we saw nice routines from Sabrina F, Staci S, Ashleigh, Kristi Esposito, Lauren Klein, Susan Jackson, and Sam Engle.  Five of the girls dismount with Double tucks, so that is a step up from last year.

Overall it was a good showing.  We have a lot of cleaning up to do and have several people on each event that are close to having that remaining skill or that connection they need to get before they begin to push for a spot in the depth chart.

Our poster and media guide will be out soon with our new team.   The signing date is Nov. 14th when we can officially announce new members for 2008/09.

Go Tigers!

Philip Ogletree

November 2, 2007

We are approaching Thanksgiving and the girls are all looking forward to getting a break and visiting with their families.  I think it is a well needed break similar to our football team getting a bye week last week after competing for eight straight weeks.  We have some nicks and bruises.  Several girls have sore areas that just need some rest.  We have been pushing hard both in the gym and in our studies.  I must say everyone has responded positively in giving us their best effort.  We are getting routines done on a fairly consistent basis but there is a lot of work to be done on cleaning up and polishing.  Floor is a little behind in terms of routines because we just finished choreography a week ago.  The tumbling skills look good so we have to put it all together. 

We have been involved in numerous community outreach projects that can all be viewed on the website.  Everyone has been super about giving their time and energy to all these worthy causes. 

It is the point in the pre-season where we are finding ways to challenge the girls to raise their game and keep things interesting till season starts.  I have to commend everyone for their effort and energy.  We look forward to our first meet in Cancun in January.

Go Tigers!

Philip Ogletree

Thursday October 4, 2007

We are finishing up our second week of mandatory practice.  The girls are getting over their initial soreness from going through rigorous work outs.  We are beginning to put routines together on all the events and working new skills that we want to insert.  We have scheduled our first informal intra squad for this Friday.  We expect the team to be able to do internal sets on the events which will give us a good idea of where we are at this point in our training.  We have a lot of good things coming together and we expect to be getting contributions from everyone on this team.  On Floor we are doing uphill drills and working all their passes on a resi mat in the pit.  We should have several, if not more, of the girls with E and D level tumbling this year.  On Vault, again there is a lot of drill work being done to strengthen their positions coming on the horse and blocking off the horse.  We will see on Friday how good our vaults are at this point.  On Bars we are connecting all our major skills and working dismounts.  We are further along on Bars than we were at this point last year.  Beam seems to be going strong with the girls doing full sets with dismount timers. 

Everyone trains every event unless they have an injury that is preventing them from doing so.  I would say all of our returning upperclassmen are making strong bids to be all arounders and our freshmen will be contributors on two or three events, maybe more.  Time will tell. 

Outside of the gym our team is building on our past tradition of community service.  We have won the trophy that represents the team that contributes the most amounts of hours to the community in a voluntary service for the past three years.  We have recently built houses in New Orleans for Habitat for Humanity, helped build a playground at a local school that Shaquille O’Neal sponsors, and answered phones for the MDA Telethon. 

One thing is for sure this team is going to depend on strong leadership from our returning girls and our freshmen class will have to make major contributions if we are to be successful.

Thank you for your interest in our program

Philip Ogletree

LSU Gymnastics

September 2007

The 2007 LSU Gymnastics team has begun its’ preparation for the upcoming season. We are currently in our 8 hours of conditioning phase which will last for a couple more weeks. Everyone has a great attitude and is undergoing rigorous training, which includes running, lifting, conditioning, and flexibility, with a very willing spirit. We are a relatively young team with only one senior, Krisit Esposito. We have three juniors, Ashleigh Clare-Kearney, Amanda Morales, and Lauren Klein. The rest of the team is made up of sophomores and freshmen. We have had many different types of orientation meetings, nutritional seminars, athletic cookouts, and community service projects. We recently hosted our first recruits this past weekend for our home opener football game. The girls had a great time, with the freshmen making t-shirts for the game and everyone having a great time. 

These are some of D-D’s comments about the team:

"This is the first week of school for all of us. The freshmen are getting adjusted to their new home, new friends, new school and new team. We have had meetings and physicals; all of which are going well. The upperclassmen are busy helping the freshmen make these adjustments. Team bonding is very important so the girls are doing things like taking the freshmen to get manicures."

Not exactly what the football players do, but it works for us!!

Last year was a great year for us. We enjoyed another trip to the NCAA Championships and a great season that was laced with many outstanding accomplishments. It is our expressed goal to improve on last year's accomplishments. With that said, you all know the depth and talent we have graduated over the last two seasons. It will be a real challenge for this team to rise up and achieve that goal. After meetings with this team and talking to them I think that they are ready for the hard work that lies ahead!

A Look at the Returning All-Americans

Kristi Esposito 2007: Competed on the bars, beam and floor for the Tigers ... Earned first-team All-America honors on the beam for the third time in her career after notching a season-high tying 9.875 on the event during the prelims of the NCAA Championships ... During the season, proved to be one of the Tigers’ most consistent performers on the floor, averaging a 9.804 over 13 meets ... Competed on the bars in six meets and twice notched a season-best 9.750.

Susan Jackson 2007: Developed into a solid allarounder for LSU by the end of 2007, seeing four-event action in each of the Tigers’ last three meets ... Capped the year by earning first-team All-America honors on the floor at the NCAA Championships ... In the allaround, notched a career-high 39.200 at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships ... Tallied a 39.150 at the SEC Championships ... Throughout the season, posted career-highs of 9.900 on each of the four individual events.

That is a good look at our 2007 LSU Gymnastics team.  We look forward to the challenges that lie ahead and the many lasting memories we will create.

Thanks for reading,

Philip Ogletree
LSU Gymnastics

March 9, 2007

The LSU Tigers are now ranked 6th in the country! Our three away scores are pretty good but we are still counting two 195s at home. We have two more home meets and two away meets including SEC Championships. So, we have a few more opportunities to improve on our RQS.

At this point of the season practice in the gym has been about trying to work on the little details that are preventing us from scoring higher. Landings and handstands are the main two areas that plague us. I felt that we did a better job of fighting for stuck landings at Alabama. But we are well short of hitting handstands the way we are capable of. Our ratio of the number of stuck landings was up in that meet with bars hitting six for six, and vault hitting three of six.

The team went into Bama very confident and competed well. In fact we were leading going into the last event, Beam. However, we lost .4 in start value for two routines that missed their combination leap bonus, which proved to be the difference in the meet. We lost by .325.

Practice this week has been very productive which has allowed some of the girls to work on upgrades that might be ready for the end of the season. Nothing too drastic but the girls are excited about it and we hate to squelch their enthusiasm.

This week we host Penn. State who outscored us early this year at the Super Six Challenge. We think it is going to be a great meet and we are going to press the girls to do the little things and be consistent. Our line ups will be close to the same with maybe a couple of changes to get some people ready and rest others. We are getting contributions from everyone, even if they are not in the line up they are pressing those that are to stay on their toes. But its all for the good of the team and everyone is on board.

Our little nagging injuries are slowly coming around but we are still being extremely cautious because depth is always an issue. the girls are pumped about competing again and we look forward to a great crowd tonight at the PMAC.

Thanks,

Philip Ogletree
LSU Gymnastics

February 22, 2007

The Tigers are at home Friday night at 7 pm. against the Florida Gators.  We come home after two road trips to SEC foes Kentucky and Auburn.  We came away from both meets with wins and built momentum for the rest of the season. 

At Kentucky we started on bars and struggled with handstands but put together a 49 + score heading into vault.  Vault was good, not great, but good.  If our vault team can learn to stick landings they will be dangerous.  At floor we had made a few changes in the line up to build depth and give some people experience before we get to the championship part of our season.  We did good floor but lost .3 in start value on two routines still managing a 49+ event score.  Our struggles on beam continued with tentative routines giving us hit sets that only scored 9.5 or 9.6.   While the win was important we know that we have to get a handle on handstands, landings, and aggressive beam.

We went back into the gym and worked harder on fixing handstands on bars, some skill selection on beam, and inserting the skills we were missing on floor that cost us the .3 in start value the week before. 

Auburn is not an easy place to compete.  They have been very consistent the whole year and we knew that we would have to hit every event to come away from there with a win.  I felt that we would be up by .3 or .4 after two events, vault and bars, respectively.  I hoped that we could then go to floor and build another.2 or .3 on them before we headed to beam.  Auburn is a great beam team and they did not disappoint.  We did not help ourselves on floor with uncharacteristically poor landings.  After 3 events we were less than .2 ahead with no cushion for error.  The stage was set and LSU would have to win it on beam.  The girls rose to the challenge putting up a 49+ event score for the first time this year.  Auburn had to count a fall on floor making the score look as though the meet was not as close as it actually was. 

We felt great to get the win and great about beam coming around but the fact still remains that we are not hitting handstands and sticking dismounts.  Those two areas have been a focal point for us this week along with getting some rest as we head into Friday/Sunday meet weekend. 

We have a couple of little injuries hampering the team.  Kristi Esposito took off half of her toe nail on her big toe Wednesday bagging it on the low bar during a bar routine.  We think that she will be ok for Friday.  Summer Hubbard rolled her ankle and still has residual swelling but will hopefully be ready for bars.  Other than those two we are doing well.

We have had a great week of practice in getting ready for Florida.  The meet starts at 7 pm. and is being promoted as Student Night with gifts and contests.  There will be a live streaming video on Friday in the Geaux Zone at www.lsusports.net and live audio on Sunday for the Master’s Classic in Nebraska.

Go Tigers
Philip Ogletree, LSU Gymnastics

Behind The Scenes
February 6, 2007

The LSU Gymnastics Team finished up a three week home stand this past weekend in front of 3,764 Tiger fans against the University of Georgia. We finished the meet with a 196.45 which is a decent score. But I can’t help feeling that this team is capable of so much more. Going into the third event, beam, we were down by .3 with the opportunity to go to beam, hit well, and put some pressure on Ga. to have to finish on beam in a much tighter meet. However, the team was tentative, checking landings and just being cautious. We did not have to count a fall but counted only one score in the 9.8 range. To the credit of the team they stepped up and did the kind of floor that they are capable of doing, scoring a 49.425. We were pleased with the score, 196.45, which moved us up to number 12 in the rankings.

We travel to Kentucky this weekend and Auburn the next weekend, before returning home on February 23 against Florida. Our goal is to get two good away scores because we will soon be using RQS for the rankings.

In the gym we are still concerned with doing sets under pressure, but we are also working extremely hard on the details. We are fairly healthy with some minor nagging injuries. We believe our line ups are beginning to take shape everywhere. We are still looking for one or two people on each event to give us our six best routines.

We are going to use the next two away meets to give some people the opportunity to compete who have really improved in practice. Kayla Rogers is one of those people who should see more action, along with Sabrina F. and Susan J. Our upperclassmen are giving us a measure of leadership but need to step it up in the area of mental toughness. It may sound hard, but it’s because we have high expectations from them and knowing them, as we do, I can say they have the same expectations.

We are almost at the halfway point of the season and there are some great challenges ahead of us. With the toughest schedule in the nation there is no easy meet. In the end we believe, and expect, it to make us better and more prepared for Nationals.

Thank you for taking the time to visit our website. Geaux Tigers! {It means Go}

Philip Ogletree
LSU Gymnastics

January 23, 2007

D-D Breaux has been the head coach at LSU for thirty years.  She has seen numerous head football, basketball, and baseball coaches come and go, as well as numerous Athletic Directors.  But she has persevered taking this program from a small room with borrowed mats and very little support through the years of fighting for the rights of females to have as many quality options as their male counterparts to where we are today, one of the premier sports on the campus of LSU.  DD was honored Friday night for those accomplishments prior to the start of the meet. 

The meet started well on vault.  We came away with a 49.05 which is a few tenths below what we have been doing but still a pretty good start.  On bars we inserted Kristi Esposito into the line up because she is so clean and does a good job of hitting handstands.  We did just ok on bars, but well enough to keep momentum going over to beam.  We started great on beam with three solid hit sets scoring in the 9.8s.  I really thought we were going to have a break out meet on that event but our last three competitors fell bringing the event score way down and digging a hole for us heading into floor.  We counted two more falls on floor but did have some outstanding new tumbling.  Lauren Klein scored a 9.925 on the best floor routine of the night.  She opened with a new pass, a full in, and finished with a double tuck.  Ashleigh Clare-Kearney inserted her double Arabian into her floor routine but had trouble landing her last pass which cost a tenth or two. 

We won the meet against Illinois but we were very disappointed with the inconsistent performance.  Practice this week has had a much more competitive edge to it to replicate meet situations.  We have to get tougher and handle our nerves under pressure.  We will get another opportunity to do so this Friday as we host the 14th ranked Arkansas Razorbacks, who are coming off a narrow loss to Georgia. 

The Tigers are back in the gym competing everyday to be their best.  The Razorbacks are hot right now but the Tigers are coming up.  It will be a great meet.  Hope to see you there.

Philip Ogletree

Jan. 18, 2007

Hello from Tigerland.

As I write this the LSU Gymnastics team is preparing for its home opener against the University of Illinois, Friday night, 7:00 at the PMAC.

We are inviting all former LSU Gymnasts to come back and be honored at the event, and then hosting a tailgate for them and the current team after the meet.

Our last meet was against the University of Iowa. We went into that meet feeling much better prepared having been able to get another week of practice in since the Christmas break. The girls and the coaches prepared harder and we all felt more ready to compete than the week before. Everything was better except for one thing, every single one of us was sick. We all had been fighting the flu and sinus problems. But I have to hand it to the girls. They fought and trained hard all week in spite of it.

We started on bars with much better routines. We hit handstands and handled our nerves. We are still looking for our line up on this event and will continue to give people opportunities till we find six that click. Susan Jackson sprained her ankle earlier in the week but should be back in a week or two.

Vault was awesome again. The last four vaulters are a veteran group with Nicole Butler, Ashleigh Clare-Kearney, Emily Ellis, and Kelly Phelan. The first two are newcomers Kayla Rogers and Sabrina Franceschelli both of which are becoming solid performers on that event.

Floor was better this week simply because four people did not go out of bounds as was the case a week before. Kristi E was out due to illness as was Susan Jackson because of the sprained ankle. We still have not hit our stride on Floor. The line up is still open for people to try and earn a spot. Overall we feel that they will have the break out meet very soon that we all know is possible.

Beam continues to be a struggle for consistency. Kristi E and Susan J were both solid the week before but were not able to go for the reasons mentioned. Sabrina F and Lisa R filled those two open spots and did well. DD feels great about Beam in practice and is waiting for the same team to show up at the meet. When they do it is going to be a great event.

Overall we are in better shape going into the meet this weekend against Illinois. Susan J is out and Kristi E is a game time decision but otherwise everyone feels much better and has had a good week of practice. Kudos goes out to Ashleigh Clare-Kearney who won the all around at the meet and also received her first SEC Gymnast of the week award. We are home for three weeks hosting Illinois, Arkansas, and then Georgia.

We have a team that is capable and is training very hard. They have character and we know that good things are going to come for them.

Philip Ogletree

LSU Gymnastics

November 21, 2006

As the end of November approaches and we reflect on this pre-season we feel encouraged and optimistic about the upcoming year.  DD feels the level of intensity in the gym has been very high and consistent from day one.  We have a good mix of upperclassmen and freshmen.  Right now the girls are doing three mornings a week in the weight room with a focus on cardio and body weight circuits.  On the days they are not in the weight room we have additional circuit training and cardio programs that are done as part of their in gym conditioning. 

At this time we have had several intra-squad competitions to see how they will respond to pressure situations.  The results have been very positive and have allowed the coaches to determine a pre-season depth chart. 

The most improvement has come on vault.  Several girls that were either not anticipated to be a factor on that event or were not able to train due to injury have stepped up and shown that they are capable of doing their respective vaults.

Beam looks very consistent.  Many of the girls are competing upgraded dismounts.  Lauren Klein, Sabrina Franceshcelli, Susan Jackson, and Kristi Esposito are all doing double back dismounts.  Those four join a solid group of performers from last year including Kelly Phelan, Nicki Butler, and Lisa Rennie. 

The girls are doing full sets on bars and showing tremendous improvement each week.  They have spent time everyday working the basics like the kip cast hand stand that seem separate the good teams.  Hopefully that is what we will see in competition.  It would be tough to pick a line up right now because all the girls are doing well.  We will continue to evaluate and try to put the best six up.

On Floor we are bringing tumbling passes out of the soft surface and on to the floor.  I expect that you will see a few freshmen on this event as well as some seasoned veterans. 

The next intra-squad is December 8th.  Competition will begin at 5:30 pm.  The public is invited and encouraged to come watch this great team with all of your favorites plus some new future stars.

The girls leave tomorrow for Thanksgiving and return for practice on Sunday.  We are in the final stages of pre-season with an exciting, new season right around the corner.  Go Tigers!! 

Philip Ogletree

October 26, 2006

LSU Gymnastics

Today is a much deserved day off for the LSU Gymnastics team.  They do have group pictures this afternoon in the PMAC.  What I mean by much deserved is that the team has been working extremely hard in the gym, in the weight room, at school, and with the various community service projects.  Their bodies and their minds are a little broken down and could use a day off.  They would be the first to tell you.

The coaches are very happy with the progress we have seen thus far in the gym.  The freshmen are doing the skills they were recruited for.  The upperclassmen are regaining their former routines and putting some new skills in.  Considering that this time last year we were still dealing with Katrina and the residual effect from that storm around the LSU campus, we feel very encouraged by where we are in the process.  We have had several intra squads and each time the girls have raised their respective levels of proficiency. 

Let’s talk about the girls and their events. 

Seniors this year are Kelly Phelan, Nicole Butler, and Lisa Rennie. 

Kelly Phelan is training all around.  She is working on a full in on floor and some new choreography.  Kelly’s bars and beam will remain pretty much the same.  Kelly’s working a Yurchenko full and a half on vault that she has stood up onto soft mats at floor height. 

Nicole butler is also training all around.  We have added a toe on toe off / Tkatchev and are in the process of a full and a half pirouette to overshoot.  Floor, beam, and vault will remain the same as last year at least for the start of the season.  Upgrades may come later.

Lisa Rennie is training floor, bars, and beam.  She is ready to go on bars and beam and really looks great.  She took a bad fall on beam the other day and hit her rib on the corner of the beam.  So, we are letting that heal and she is doing tons of cardio.  But we will look to her for leadership this year.

The juniors are Ashleigh Clare-Kearney, Emily Ellis, and Kristi Esposito.  Ashleigh is training all around.  She is still slightly hampered by the injury to her foot which she had surgery on at the beginning of summer.  Consequently, we have to guard what and how much we do on floor and vault.  She is pushing through it and wants to be an impact player for this team.  Beam is looking very good with a side somi, a back handspring layout step out and a gainer dismount.  On bars we will have a giant full/ Tkatchev / to straddle back/ toe shoot sit up and hopefully a half in half out dismount.

Emily Ellis is training all around.  Last year she did three events most of the time..  She is very clean and precise on floor, with tight, high, powerful tumbling.  She will have new choreography this year.  Beam is getting better.  She has been working hard to get her beam up to the level of the other three events.  She is gaining confidence and becoming more consistent.  She swings beautiful bars and we are playing around with some combinations.  But, it looks like we will have a Higgins / to inverted giant / half turn / Tkatchev, and a double layout dismount.  She is training a new vault, the Yurchenko full.

Krist Esposito is training all around.  On bars she has learned a pac salto which will be in combination with a giant full / to giant half.  She will dismount with a double layout.  Vault will be a front pike half out.  Floor will have front and back tumbling and a little bit of hip hop choreography.  Beam is where she shines.  She is amazing on beam.  We are thrilled to have her in the line up after sitting out last year.

The sophomore duo has Lauren Klein returning from her freshman year.  Lauren is really improving.  She is upgrading her floor routine with some higher level tumbling like a full in.  She is swinging much better bars.  In fact she has the major components for a great bar routine and only needs to put it all together.  Beam is very good.  She may have a tuck Yurchenko full and a half on vault.  She is doing them onto soft landing mats. 

Amanda Morales is the other returning sophomore.  Amanda comes back off of rehab from a surgery last spring.  She tested 86% on Cybex the other day and we are expecting her to be contributor in several areas.  Bars are ready to go.  Beam is doing well.  Floor and vault are the two events that we have had to wait on.  We hope to have her in our vault line up with a Yurchenko full.  Amanda is also our Academic captain in charge of being the liaison between the gymnast and the coaches. 

The young and mighty freshmen as I said earlier are doing very well. 

Susan Jackson has a minor ankle sprain but will soon be back at full strength.  She should be doing all the things we remember her doing as an elite level gymnast.  Floor should be very exciting to watch.  She should be an all around competitor for us and one to look out for.

Kayla Rogers is training all around.  She comes from GAGE where they do fantastic basics and fundamentals.  She has many skills, so we are trying to find the right ones on each event to maximize her scores.  Vault should be a Yurchenko full.  Beam is looking good with a lay/lay combo.  Bars has a giant half / Tkatchev, a giant full /  pac salto, and a double lay dismt.  Floor is going to be fun.  She is a good dancer, or so I have heard, and we are still working out which passes we will use.

Sabrina Franceschelli is from Boston and has the accent to prove it.  She has been a real pleasant surprise.  She came in doing all her skills and is close to being ready on bars and vault.  Beam and floor are in a good place.  She has nice tumbling with a double Arabian, a back two and a half/ punch front, and good choreography. 

Summer Hubbard comes from Tampa / St Pete.  What can we say about Summer’s bars? They are outstanding.  My main goal is not to change a thing. [Thanks Brad]. She is training all around and has made improvements on tumbling and vault.  Those two events have been pleasant surprises for us.  Beam is good to go.

Yvette Triay comes from right here in Louisiana.  She is training all around.  She is already very good on every event so she is working very hard on presentation.  She will definitely be contending for spots in the line up. 

That is our team for 2007.  They are extremely talented.   They have been busting their tails to get ready.  We have about 80 more till the start of the season.

This Saturday we are making pancakes along with ZTA sorority to raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness. That brings us up to date.  Thanks for following the LSU Gymnastics team.

September 7, 2006

Another summer has come and gone and the campus of the greatest university in the world is hustling and bustling once again.  Of course football at LSU is king.  Saturday night at Tiger Stadium is like no other place in the country.  When Mike the Tiger roars to start the game, Death Valley turns into an opponents worst nightmare.  The sights and sounds of the Golden Band from Tigerland, the LSU Cheerleaders, the Golden Girls and all the crazies that dress up and paint their bodies make the whole experience unforgettable.  Behind the scenes, another team prepares for its upcoming season.  The LSU Gymnastics team is back in training and more focused and determined than ever before. 

Three veteran seniors Nicole Butler, Kelly Phelan, and Lisa Rennie are back to lead and set the example.  Three juniors Ashleigh Clare-Kearney, Emily Ellis, and Kristi Esposito will also be looked to for their experience and competitiveness.  Two sophomores Lauren Klein, and Amanda Morales and five young, talented freshmen Summer Hubbard, Sabrina Franceschelli, Susan Jackson, Kayla Rogers, and Yvette Triay make up the underclassmen group that will prove to be vital to this team’s success. 

The team is going through their eight hours a week of conditioning.  They have already been involved in one community service project, answering phones for the Jerry Lewis Telethon on Labor Day, and one team building exercise on the ropes course.  The ropes course challenges the girls to work together, depend on each other, problem solve, trust one another, and learn to communicate.  To be successful on the ropes course and throughout the course of this season we will fall back on the lessons learned and the bonds created by knowing that if one of us needs a rope we have a team mate who will throw it. 

This Tiger team is different.  They are special and they are coming together as a team for a terrific season.  So while the mighty LSU Tiger Football team dominates our thoughts and the headlines know that another Tiger team looms on the horizon doing the preparation that it takes to be successful. That’s the tradition and the pride you get at being at the Worlds Greatest University, LSU.

See you at Tiger Stadium

Philip Ogletree
LSU Gymnastics  

January 10, 2006

The Tigers welcomed five other teams to the PMAC on Friday night for the Super Six Challenge to a crowd of just over 3000. Alabama, Nebraska, Iowa State, Auburn, and the University of Missouri were the other teams in the competition. This is a tough way to start the year because it is a big meet, on ESPN, and everyone just came off the Christmas break. With about nine days of practice all the teams were feeling a crunch to get six solid line ups on each event that could compete at the highest level possible without taking unnecessary risks. Everyone watered down difficulty to stay on the safe side hoping to avoid injuries.

LSU started the meet on floor. We struggled with our middle four competitors all making some kind of mistake. They either had a fall or a misdirected tumbling pass or a problem getting the 10.0 start value. Kelly Lea and April both hit solid sets but we found ourselves in a hole after one event.

Vault was our second event. One of our vaulters, Ashleigh, suffered a mid foot sprain on floor. Amanda Morales was inserted. Amanda does a Yurchenko tuck full, which is worth a 9.9. We had four 10.0 vaults and two 9.9 vaults. The vault team did a nice job of managing their vaults and trying very hard to stick landings. They really got us back into the meet with six solid vaults.

The Bar team executed the things they have been practicing, and handled the pressure of having to hit to get us into contention. There were a couple of mistakes that costs us a few tenths. But overall they were very solid, hitting most of their handstands and catching all of their release moves. Their landings on dismounts were also sharp.

After three events we were in the meet and looking to hit beam. We ended up having a fall and lost the 10.0 start value on three routines. We were disappointed but learned some things that we need to work on. We look to make adjustments this weekend at TWU, where we are part of a quad meet with TWU, Centenary, and Utah State. Competition is Sunday at 2 PM.

Overall the Super Six was a fun experience. We received numerous compliments on the PMAC where renovations have been accomplished making the arena more fan friendly and aesthetically pleasing. Everything ran smoothly and all the teams had a great experience even if there were some individual disappointments. Look for all six of these teams to be very competitive on the national level. Thank you for following the LSU Gymnastics Team. Go Tigers!

Philip Ogletree
LSU Gymnastics

Wednesday December 21, 2005

The LSU Gymnastics Team is home for the Holidays. They were allowed to leave on Friday or Saturday after their final exams. They will return the day after Christmas December 26th. At that time we will work hard to get ready for our first meet which is the Super Six Challenge. The meet will be televised on ESPN at a later date. We will have the date and time on our website when it is announced.

On Friday, Dec. 9, we had our final intra-squad of the pre-season. We divided the team into two groups allowing them to put up five competitors on each event with all five scores counting. Each team had its strengths and weaknesses. The Gold team had many of the same girls that were in our beam line-up last year. They seemed to be banking on Beam being the event that would decide the meet, which is not a bad strategy. Purple was loaded with vaulters. The other two events were fairly evenly matched. You can read about the meet on our website and watch some of the videos. Nicki Butler put together four good events, which was great to see because she has been working harder than ever. April and Kelly P were almost perfect but each had one slight mistake on beam. Ashleigh Clare-Kearney hit 3 for 3 with a stellar vault. Terin Martinjak has upgraded her vault to a front pike half and has been able to show that vault at each intra-squad. Terin did a nice floor routine as well. Of the freshmen, Lauren Klein and Teri Gibson will be fun to watch on Beam, and Floor. Vanessa Rodriguez and Tina Suhr performed well on Bars and Beam. Amanda Morales is very solid on Bars. Upperclassmen Lisa Rennie and Kelly Lea both have two strong events and are extremely close to turning the corner on another.    

Scores were given by former gymnast so they are not accurate. Some of the routines were over scored and others were pretty close.  Vault looks to be our strongest event with Floor a close second. Beam and Bars have the potential to be right up there as well if we are consistent.  We feel that our difficulty is very good but more importantly our ability to be consistent will be what wins most meets. The fact that we were able to hit 18 of 20 routines during the intra-squad is a good sign.

After the meet we had a team meal which has become a Christmas tradition for us. The team was given two days off to get focused for final exams. When they return we will have about eight days to put it all back together before the first meet. We hope you will come be a part of it at the PMAC. But if you can’t make that, catch the meet on TV.   Merry Christmas!

December 8, 2005

The Tigers have been busy. The girls are preparing for their final exams and training hard to get ready for a very high level beginning meet, the Super Six Challenge. Academics comes first so we have been shuffling our time to accommodate everyone's needs without losing our intensity and focus at practice.

We are doing full routines on each event with an emphasis on eliminating deductions and developing consistency. This means that some of the skills/tricks the girls have been training have been scaled back to the point where they are safe and consistent. For example, someone training a front double full on floor might scale back to the one an a half if the double full has some landing deductions or lacks consistency. They will, however, continue to train new skills in an attempt to assimilate them into the routines when they have had some success and have gained confidence under pressure. Our main goal is to do the highest level of consistent, clean, gymnastics.

I am going to take you through the events one at a time. I am not mentioning names because everyone one of the girls is giving their all to try to help this team have the best chance of winning. In other words they are all competing very hard for a spot in the line-up. Naturally, they read what I write too. On vault Bob has put together six to eight 10.0 vaults. I say six to eight because we have yet to see some of these vaults on a hard landing surface in a competitive environment. After those six to eight we have a few girls that are doing nice 9.9 vaults. They will see action with these vaults to give rest to some of the others when necessary. The bar line up is beginning to shape up. There is a group of four to six girls that are separating themselves by proving that they can come in and hit their routines every time and look great in the process. Then there is another group that just needs more time to develop and they will be challenging for their chance to compete. Basically we are without two routines from last year, senior Annie Gagnon and Ashleigh Clare-Kearney because of her wrist. So if we get the four back that were in the line-up last year then we have two spots up for grabs. We look forward to being able to move people in and out of this line-up to develop some depth. On beam we have basically our same line up returning from last year except for Annie and occasionally Lauren C. Right now we have a core group of four or five that look very solid. Three or four others are going to challenge for the next couple of spots. Then, there are several gorls that have the skills but have not demonstrated the ability to be consistent. We do appear to have some depth on beam so we will likely move people in and out to season some girls and add depth. Floor is tough this year. The new changes in the code are challenging. As I said earlier, some of the skills being worked may not be competed right away. This is especially true on floor. We have a group that can tumble from a 10.0 start value right now and others that are getting a couple of tenths in dance combinations. The girls are busting their tales to try to get new passes. We are using the whip half into front twisting combinations and the front one and half to replace the front lay, lay from last year. All the routines have new choreography and new music. Floor will be one of LSU's most exciting events to watch.

There is my overview. We have an intra-squad that the public is invited to attend on Friday, December 9th at 5:30 in the Field house. This is our final intra-squad before our Christmas break and our first meet. Look for pictures and video on our website. The LSU Gymnastics Media Guide is also now posted on our website. The gymnasts have raised around $150.00 through a bake sale to buy presents for a less fortunate child this Christmas. After Christmas we will have our team Christmas party and exchange gifts with each other at that time. Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and remembers the true meaning of Christmas. God Bless and Go Tigers!

Phil Ogletree
LSU Gymnastics

Monday, October 31, 2005

Hello from Tigerland.  Many great things are happening. The LSU Gymnastics Team is at work in the community.  They were attending the LSU Soccer game on Saturday and the LSU Volleyball game on Sunday, where we were participating in Breast Cancer Awareness fund raisers.  The girls raised over 600 hundred dollars to contribute to the fund. 

On Friday, October 14, we had our 2005 Team Reception.  This reception was one of the most exciting and well attended ever.  The combination of our great 2005 season, where we were ranked number one for several weeks, and special guest Mary Lou Retton made for a memorable evening.  Mary Lou competed at LSU in the Mardi Gras Inv. 20 years ago and was invited back to honor her and award her with an official LSU Letter Jacket.  Mary Lou was the first ever recipient of an honorary LSU Letter Jacket.  Judging by the fact that she would not take the jacket off for the rest of the weekend, we concluded she was thrilled and greatly appreciative of the honor.  She stated she had always longed to be a part of the college experience. She posed for pictures, gave a moving speech and relished the rest of her weekend tailgating and attending an LSU Football Game.

The LSU Gymnastics Team is working hard to make up for lost training time due to the hurricanes.  DD believes we are in a groove and will continue to make steady progress towards the target date of January 6.  We have some depth on every event except vault.  Bob is working hard to bring some vaulters up to speed.  We have a similar team structure as last year with one or two different people on each event.  Ashleigh Clare- Kearney is limited right now because of a wrist injury but Emily Ellis is stepping up on every event.  The changes in the code are causing us to go back to basics to develop some new skills in an effort to get combination value on floor.  On bars and beam we are working on execution and building our endurance.  Amanda Morales, Vanessa Rodriguez and Lauren Klein are three freshmen that may be ready to step into a spot in the line up on various events.  Amanda has shown consistency on bars and is in the depth chart on the other three events.  Vanessa has nice bars and is pretty on beam and floor.  Lauren is very clean and powerful on beam and floor.  We have had one informal intra-squad and it appears that Beam and Floor are our two strongest events at this time.   We will continue to have these informal weekly intra-squads culminating with an official intra-squad on December 9th. 

This season will undoubtedly be filled with memorable moments as our returning upperclassmen continue to carve their names indelibly into LSU Gymnastics history and our incoming freshmen learn what it takes to be a Tiger.  It is a proud, great tradition.  We strive to do it justice.

Phil

September 8, 2005

 

Hello from Tigerland. As you have heard Hurricane Katrina did incredible damage to New Orleans and the surrounding areas. LSU and its surrounding areas faired very well. The campus itself never lost power and had only minimal damage from wind. Baton Rouge was without power for a number of days, but everything is now back up and running.

 

Our campus is still being used as a hospital / triage center for hurricane victims. DD has been tireless in her efforts working literally around the clock organizing, taking care of patients, locating relatives, and even giving people rides to the airport. She has been nothing short of spectacular. Bob and I and the LSU Gymnastics Team have helped by cleaning up, assisting the rescue staff, and folding the thousands of pounds of laundry.

 

We are getting back to normal life with classes resuming this week and the team able to get back into the gym for practice. At this point in time we are in the eight hours of mandatory conditioning with work out being open optional. The girls are lifting and working on increasing their fitness levels. Everyone is excited about this team. The freshmen are doing very well adjusting to their new lives. The upperclassmen have done a great job of making them feel very welcome to the team. We have a lot of new faces and some very exciting new routines. April has been choreographing nearly everyone’s floor routines. All the routines are very different and will be exciting to watch. She has a new routine that includes some flashback moves from her past three years. You will want to look for those when you see the new routine.

 

Despite the hurricane, everyone is very optimistic. We will bounce back and persevere. Soon we will be in the throws of competition with our first home meet, the Super Six Challenge. Our schedule, which can be viewed on line, is one of the toughest we have ever had. We look forward to the challenge and welcome the competition.

 

Thanks for checking our website and for your prayers. Go Tigers!

 

Phil Ogletree

March 29, 2005

We are at the end of our regular season and are headed into the post-season. We have accomplished many great things along the way. As far as the rankings are concerned, it was never our goal to be ranked number one in the nation or finish the regular season with the highest ranking in the SEC. Our goal was to be consistent, to be clean, to have the highest level of difficulty, and more than anything, to focus on the process and not the outcome. We believe that if we do these things we will have some honors waiting for us and we will be successful. The level of our success is in direct relation to our ability to stay in our zone of focus.

Going into SEC Championships our team was very confident that they had a real opportunity to win. The practice day was not great. We struggled adjusting to some of the equipment. The Beam seemed very bouncy, which threw our timing off, and, like last year, the mats were cold and hard due to the fact that underneath the floor is an ice hockey rink. Bars and Vault were fine. As coaches we would like to go in on the practice day and have no adversity. But, adversity is a part of it. Every team out there has to struggle with adjusting to the equipment. Sometimes it is better to struggle a little. It keeps one from relaxing too much. It is safe to say that DD could not be accused of being too relaxed. The team, however, felt very good and assured the coaches there was no need for alarm. They would prove to be right.

Originally Emily Ellis was slated for Vault line - up with Ricki as the alternate. Emily struggled during the warm - up so the decision was made to go with Ricki. We feel confident that Emily just needs more time and numbers because she already believes she can do it. The Bar line - up would be the same as the week before. Beam and Floor each had a spot to be filled by the person who had the hot hand. DD went with whoever made the adjustments on Beam and showed confidence with their landings on Floor.

There were many superlative efforts which you can read about in other articles on our website. Three that should be pointed are, DD as Coach of the Year, April as Gymnast of the Year, and Nicki B and April B were both top six in the All Around competition.

It was a great meet for LSU and Georgia. We pushed them the whole time. One slip and we were poised to take it away. Give credit to Georgia. They hit their Beam when they had to. We were very disappointed but encouraged by the way in which we competed. We believe we will get better and look forward to Regionals in two weeks, which are being held at the University of New Hampshire. We are the number one seed and look to advance to NCAA Nationals at the University of Auburn on the weekend of April 23rd.

Geaux Tigers!
Phil

March 14, 2005

Hello from Tigerland. The LSU Gymnastics team had a tremendous weekend! The way in which this team interacts with one another is outstanding. I am not saying it is smooth sailing all the time. But, this past weekend we had the most fun together that we have had as a group this year. Not only were we successful with our gymnastics but also our time together laughing and enjoying each other's company was truly special.

Friday night we competed against OU in Tulsa at an outstanding venue called the UMAC. Great local crowds as well as our faithful supporters were on hand to witness this dual meet. We came out dressed in white and OU was dressed in black. DD emphasized that we need an "A" effort out of everyone.

The girls responded with event highs on Bars, Vault, and Beam. We changed the order of some our tumbling passes on Floor to finish the routines with double backs in an effort to prepare for post - season. We did not run any exhibitions but had everyone train even if they were not in an event. It was a tremendous team effort that gave us 197.8, setting a school record for LSU. Everyone was focused throughout the entire meet with the team hitting 24 for 24 routines. After the meet was over, Steve Nunno, the OU Head Coach, was extremely gracious calling for the crowd to give applause for the LSU Tigers. The Tigers and the Sooners signed autographs and posed for pictures with the enthusiastically appreciative Tulsa crowd.

The next day we boarded a bus for a four-hour ride down to TWU for a Sunday afternoon meet against the Pioneers. After checking in to our hotel, the girls took advantage of the sun and the pool. DD and Bob made plans for us to go to a live country western band / steak house for dinner. After the meal, the girls broke loose on the dance floor. It did not take long for our girls to completely take over the entertainment for the entire restaurant. I think we have turned Ashleigh into a real cowgirl, with the cowboy hat and everything. We have not laughed at each other so much in a long time.

On Sunday morning we did our usual power circle then headed over to the competition arena. Annie got extremely sick with fever and headaches so she was definitely out of Beam, Vault, and Bars. Ashleigh replaced her on Bars and Beam. Jade went in on Vault. Other changes include Kelly P in the Bar line up, and Kelly L competing her Tkatchev for the first time this year.

Friday night the Bar team set a season high and Sunday they set a new one. The girls wanted to reclaim the number one ranking but dug a hole on Vault having to count a fall. To their credit there was no sense of panic as we rotated and warmed up for Floor. Kelly L was first with a double back at the end. Jade, second, also with a double tuck at the end. Terin was third. Finishing Floor was Kelly P, who has a new middle pass, a front layout double twist, and Ashleigh with a double tuck at the end as well.

Friday night we scored a season high and LSU record 49.7 on Beam. We looked for the same consistency and execution on Sunday. Terin M is a rock! She nails her routine and looks so confident. Nicki B and Ashleigh are not new to the beam line up but they filled the spots opened by Annie and April. Nicki and Ashleigh both were outstanding. Lisa and Kelly P anchored our line-up with beautiful routines and stuck dismounts.

After Kelly P's Beam routine we got the answer we had been hoping for. We had done it! We scored a 196.8, which would be enough for us to reclaim the number one ranking.

From TWU we headed to Dallas for a short flight home to Baton Rouge. This Friday night we host Centenary for our last home meet and Senior Night, where five seniors will be honored. Annie Gagnon, Jade Jenkins, Lauren Companioni, Katherine Hilton, and Roxanne Voorhies. They will be missed greatly. I know they will be successful. Our goal is to develop leaders.

Gymnastics is the vehicle.

Bye from Tigerland
Phil

March 3, 2005

This week at LSU we are preparing for our fifth home meet. We are hosting a quad meet with Illinois - Chicago, UNH, and Western Michigan. DD told the girls this meet is one of the best ways for us to prepare for the upcoming SEC Championships because there will be four teams going all at the same time. She stressed the importance of treating it like SEC's in terms of focus and intensity. Our line-ups are beginning to solidify themselves into the ones we hope to have for the post season.

We rested April Burkholder completely last week due to the fact that she suffered a grade one concussion, which is the mildest grade, at Ohio State while attempting her tumble series on beam. She started full practice this past Sunday and looks like her old self again. Emily Ellis is a making a speedy recovery from her elbow fracture. She scored a 9.85 at Auburn last weekend in exhibition on Beam.

She is back to training full go on all events as she is due to be released by the doctor today. She is capable of getting high scores if she can crack into the line up. We are thrilled to have her back.

We have had some outstanding performances thus far from Lisa Rennie, especially on Beam, and Kelly Phelan, on Beam, Floor, and Vault. Nicki Butler has the highest vault average and made her way into the Beam line up last week. Annie Gagnon has been a contributor on three events and been very consistent. Katherine Hilton has made her way back into the Bar line up showing the same form that helped us get to Nationals last year. Terin Martinjak and Ashleigh Clare-Kearney have both been huge on two events and are close to being all arounders. Kelly Lea has been our rock on Bars as our lead off person. Jade Jenkins and Lauren Companioni and Ricki L'Heureux round out the line-ups in which they contribute.

While this team has achieved some great things this year they are by no means as good as they can be. Every meet someone different steps up to make a contribution that helps us win. We have yet to have everyone do her best all on the same night. We are hopeful that it will happen when it counts the most. As long as everyone continues to put team goals over individual goals we will continue to get better.

Next weekend we compete against Oklahoma and TWU in another two meet weekend. The following week is our last home meet and Senior Night against Centenary. Our regular season wraps up with SEC Championships on March 26 in Duluth Ga. All seven teams in the SEC are in the top 20 in the nation. So many great teams means it is anyone's to take. Thanks for your interest in LSU. Keep up with the team online at www.lsusports.net.

Geaux Tigers!
Phil

February 16, 2005

After our meet against Arkansas, we knew that we would be facing a dangerous Georgia team on Friday night. They are, of course, extremely respected for their accomplishments. But, even more than that is the fact that Georgia has not put an entire meet together thus far this season, and each week prior to our meet they were getting closer to doing just that. We did not want that happening in our building in front of our fans.

Our marketing dept. had been promoting the meet in conjunction with our Lady Tiger Women's Basketball team, which is currently ranked number 1 in the country. They had number 5 Tennessee in on Thursday night. One could use Thursday night's ticket to get in to our meet on Friday to watch number 3 LSU against number 7 Georgia. The Lady Tiger Basketball team did its part by defeating Tennessee on Thursday. Now, it was our turn to beat Georgia.

Our line up for the meet did not change from the week before except that we were running some exhibitions. Practice had been good and the kids seemed confident and relaxed. Our goal was not necessarily to beat Georgia. Our goal was to go in and put a meet together piece by piece, one step at a time.

Warm ups were efficient but seemed to lack enthusiasm. However, once the lights came up and the kids were introduced our intensity rose to another level. We started on Vault with Ricki doing a handspring double full, which she had scored well on the week before. But, tonight it lacked distance, height, and twist. It was not a great way to start but Annie picked us up with a great vault and a stuck landing. Kelly P followed with an even better vault and another stuck landing. Nicki, who has the highest vault average on the team, got us into the 9.9's with her vault. April and Ashleigh did their best vaults of the season. Both were high and had stuck landings. Our Vault team came away with their highest event score of the season. Meanwhile, Georgia put together their best Bars of the season and we led by slimmest of margins.

LSU's Bar team has been very consistent. We certainly hoped to get the same consistency tonight. Kelly L actually did a cleaner, better-executed set than in previous meets but lost a .1 on her landing. It was still good enough for a 9.8. Kelly P scored 9.825 giving the judges little to no room for deductions. April and Nicki both hit great sets but missed a handstand here or there scoring around 9.85. Lisa and Annie both struggled on their release move to the low bar, but each fought hard and finished strong.

We came away .1 lower than our season high. So I felt like we managed our Bars in the face of adversity. Beam was outstanding! Every one tumbled their series with confidence. Lisa R stole the show with huge amplitude and precision. We hit five good sets with April yet to go. [Meanwhile, Georgia had two and half falls on Floor]. April had a great routine with one minor wobble but came up short on her dismount. So, we missed an opportunity to increase our lead. Heading over to Floor we believed that we had the advantage because our floor team has been outstanding and Georgia would have to hit their best Beam this year. Lisa went first and did a nice, clean, safe set. Then things began to unravel. Terin had an uncharacteristic fall. Nicki left out a bonus tumbling pass that also contained her special requirement for a two-salto pass. We were getting a little nervous and you could see new life in Georgia's body language. However, the last few LSU gymnasts did their jobs and nailed the door shut. Kelly P, April, and Ashleigh all hit solid routines.

LSU defeated Georgia and remains undefeated at home. We felt good about the win and the fact that the girls were able to take advantage of the opportunity to get a good home score and improve our RQS.

On Sunday some of the girls participated in a fundraiser to help with the cost of care for an LSU soccer player that has recently been diagnosed with very serious cancer. April and her back up dancers, Ashleigh, Kelly L, Lauren, and Kelly P performed a rap/dance routine in front of a packed student center. Lisa Rennie won the event with her rendition of the dance at the end of the Napoleon Dynamite movie. You can visit our website at www.lsusports.net and go to teams/gymnastics/ photo gallery/2005 Talent Show to view photos of this event. That is all for now. I know you are reading this a week late but I thought it would be better to go ahead and post it.

I am working on the current Behind the Scenes today. There is a lot happening with LSU now ranked NUMBER 1 in the country.

Geaux Tigers!!
Phil

February 8, 2005

Hello from Baton Rouge. We are fresh off our win last Friday night against Arkansas. I have to say we were not taking Arkansas lightly for a number of reasons. They narrowly missed beating Georgia the week before. We had seen them on TV and thought they looked clean and well coached. They seem like a very dangerous team. It was crucial that we be our best. Our training in the week before was very good. We had decided not to make any changes in the Floor line up because we were getting such a high team score on that event. DD decided to switch Terin and Lauren in the Beam line up from first to third, in an effort to build the team score. On Bars we inserted Kelly P in the second spot to try and raise our team score on that event. Vault would remain the same as the week before. We are working on depth for Vault. Bob is having Lisa R and Lindsey T warm up vaults prior to regular warm up because they are getting close to being ready in the gym. He wants to bring them along slowly and try to have them ready in a few weeks.

In the meet, we started on Vault while Arkansas started on Bars. Ricki L went first for the Tigers and did a handspring double full that did not completely twist all the way around, and she had a small step on the landing scoring a 9.75. Annie did a better vault this week that had more height and distance scoring 9.825. Kelly P followed with the same score but was a little disappointed because she did some great vaults in the warm up that would have been 9.9 +. Nicki followed with a 9.9, her third week in a row.

April and Ashleigh both had tremendous vaults and much better landings to go 9.9 and 9.925, respectively. Ashleigh won Vault and is giving us the power we recruited her for. Meanwhile Arkansas was doing well at Bars. I was not watching their routines but I could see the scoring was pretty good.

After switching events LSU to bars and Arkansas to Vault, we held a slim lead. Kelly L has been our starter on bars all year and brings chemistry to the group by stepping up and hitting her set. She will be the first to tell you the routine is not loaded with difficulty but she is very clean and nails a big double layout dismount. Kelly P follows with a similar routine not loaded with difficulty but with no real deductions and she can stick the dismount. April is third with a routine that can score 9.9 or above depending upon her handstands and sticking the dismount. In the routine she had some minor adjustments to make but kept great form and stuck the dismount. Nicki B has been working hard in practice on handstands and every week she gets better. She did a great set scoring 9.85. Lisa R goes fifth and has the potential to score off the charts with so much difficulty and bonus combinations. She was swinging along fine until her hand slipped off the low bar on her overshoot. She almost single-handedly kipped up and continued with a strong finish. Annie hit a nice clean set but was short on a few of her positions. So we came away scoring 49.225 matching our season high.

By this time we had separated from Arkansas by almost a point. They went to Floor and we headed to Beam. First up for LSU was Lauren C. Unfortunately she fell on her tumble series but finished the routine in strong fashion. Annie hit her set and did a tremendous job of getting the team back on its feet and relieving a little bit of the pressure. Terin, who was up next, had been moved to third so that she could feel comfortable throwing her triple series. With a fall in front of her I did not know whether she would risk it or not. She did not. She went with a back handspring layout and did one of the cleanest sets I have seen from her.

Kelly P did a tremendous routine scoring 9.875 and succeeded in eliminating several little .25 deductions in the routine. Lisa R was a rock, nailing her triple series and winning Beam with a 9.9 for the second week in a row.

April had a slight wobble on her mount but after that was flawless until the dismount, a double pike, which she over rotated. She was very upset with herself but to her credit quickly put it behind her and focused on floor.

LSU had to count a fall on Beam and Arkansas did a good job on Floor. Going over to Floor we had decided to move Nicki B from third to last because she landed short on vault and was not sure she could do Floor. Our logic was that if we could get five solid scores in front of her we could protect her and let the foot heal for her and for the good of the team.

Once this change was made LSU, second in the nation on Floor, was ready to make it happen again. Lisa R started us off because she is so clean and looks so fit. She is quickly becoming a better competitor every week.

Terin followed with a stellar 9.925 performance. The home crowd loves Terin and her signature move on Floor. Kelly P scored 9.9 for a great routine that finishes with a D+D combination. Kelly P had the best meet of her young career winning the All Around title. Ashleigh was up next and scored 9.9 with a clean, powerful routine. She has crowd appeal to spare and she can really perform. Next up was April focused and ready. She nailed each pass with precision. She marked every position and leap. She danced her dance and by the end the crowd was screaming for a 10.0. Seconds seemed like minutes but finally the score came up. There it was, 10.0. I glanced over to notice that Arkansas was quietly, systematically going about their business and was on their way to one of their best away performances this year. So congratulations to them for handling a loud raucous crowd. But we still were not done. DD decided to let Nicki compete because she had warmed up well and really wanted to do it. Nicki had only one weak landing in an otherwise clean and technically excellent routine.

Our goal was to go out and hit every event, which we came up short on. However, we had a great team effort again with somebody different on each event pulling this team up. Georgia comes in this Friday in what will be an exciting SEC match up. Our goal will be the same.

We will try to stay in the Purple Zone and take it one step at a time. Go Tigers!

Phil

January 31, 2005

First of all let me just say how proud we are of the way this team responded to the opportunity they had to make a statement about what kind of competitors they are going to be. The tendency after a great meet is to let up and not be able to reach the same emotional level of excitement for the next competition. We told them the real test of their character would be how they responded to success. This week's practices have been good. Everyone has been relaxed, yet confident. Of course, no week can pass without some type of distraction and without going into details we had a few. However, we would try to employ the same strategy of keeping a very business like approach to our gymnastics. Before the meet we reemphasized the point and stressed staying in the moment.

Everyone knows warm ups don't count for anything however; it sure feels better when they run smoothly. Following an admittedly shaky warm up, the team went into the locker room and heard a few inspirational words from Head Coach DD Breaux. After the opening ceremonies, the team responded pride fully. Starting with vault, Ricki did one of the best handspring double fulls she has done thus far and scored 9.8. Annie did an ok Yurchenko Full with a great landing. Kelly P, Nicki, April, and Ashleigh all did fantastic vaults. The Tiger Vault team came away with their highest team score this year a 49.35.

We carried that momentum to Bars where we had the same line up as the week before except we had inserted Kat into the second spot that Kelly P held at Bama. We try to take these opportunities to make subtle changes in the line up to get more people ready to go. We have several weekends where we will be competing on Friday night then turning around and competing again on Sunday afternoon. We would like to be able to plug people in and out without the team score suffering. Kelly L and Kat were our first two competitors. They each hit their routines but, Kelly took a big step on her dismount and Kat missed a couple of her handstand positions as well as a chest down landing on her dismount. The next four girls really picked us up with great routines. April, and Nicki both hit their routines and stuck their landings with Nicki winning the event with a fabulous 9.9. Lisa did an almost flawless routine with just a minor step on her dismount. The change we have made in her routine by leaving out the heali/jeager combo eliminates some built in deductions and still gives her way above a 10.0 start value. Annie followed with her normal consistent great routine with a little step on the dismount. After counting five score we hit our 49.2 that we have been getting and marched to Beam.

Our Beam team did a tremendous job the week before at Bama handling pressure and showing a great deal of tenacity. We looked to build on that with another strong showing so we made no changes in the line up. Terin again started us off with a confident hit set. Lauren who left out her layout step out and probably took a composition deduction followed her. Kelly P did a beautiful set and has continued staying focused and being a rock for us. Annie and April hit their sets with beauty and power. The star tonight on Beam was Lisa Rennie. She won the event with incredible amplitude in her tumbling and just a great presence on the Beam. She scored 9.95 Heading over to Floor the team was so loose. Lauren C had the crowd up cheering and dancing. She alone can energize the entire arena. First up for the Tigers was Lisa who had a great routine until her last pass. She took two steps and went out of bounds to mess up what was going to be her highest floor score this year. Terin followed with outstanding tumbling and beautiful dance. She really moves well and the judges appreciate it. Nicki showed improvement in her tumbling and her ability to perform the routine.

Kelly P hams it up to a whole new level. She does this Michael Jackson medley that draws the crowd into it and her facial expressions just beg the judge for a higher score. April is always a crowd favorite and tonight was no exception. April has upgraded difficulty everywhere this year and her floor is amazing. Another person who is quickly making her mark on Floor is Ashleigh. She has a powerful presence on any event but especially Floor where her power and amplitude can be shown off. The crowd went nuts for her and she was rewarded with a score of 9.925.

After the meet the LSU Gymnastics Team signed posters and meet programs on the concourse of the Assembly Center. We had a great crowd on hand and look for bigger ones as the news spreads about this team.

This week we have Arkansas followed by Georgia. Both are home meets. Thanks for keeping up with the Tigers.

Phil

January 25, 2005

After our win against Florida, we came back in for practice on Sunday night to prepare for Alabama. We talked to the girls about going on the road to Alabama. We have the utmost respect for that program and believe that Bama' s season was running parallel with ours. They got off to a slow start then improved greatly in their second meet. This meet would be the one where everything might come together.

We discussed that there would be many distractions from, the crowd noise, TV, and scores to the fantastic environment they have created for home meets. For us to be successful we were going to have to stay completely focused on ourselves, in the "Purple Zone," as if there were no other team in the arena. We could not allow our minds to drift past the moment. Only focusing on the steps in the process of being successful. The team embraced this philosophy and practiced it all week.

We left LSU around 2pm on Thursday in the Tiger Bus. For trips less than six hours we like to bus. The girls love it! They spread their stuff out, watch movies, study, sleep, or whatever they want. After arriving we had a quick team meeting to give the girls the line up and reinforce our goals. The rest of the night was theirs to watch movies and hang out. Friday morning we met for Power Circle, which is our pre-meet ritual to focus the mind and mentally go through our routines in line up order on each event. Afterwards we had a team lunch and got ready for the meet.

Warm ups went well with everyone having a business like approach. We did make two changes in our line up. On Vault we took out Ashleigh and put in Jade. On Floor we took out Ashleigh and put in Kelly L. Ashleigh had become nauseous and was looking doubtful on Vault and definitely out for Floor.

After opening ceremonies, LSU started on Bars and Bama was on Vault. Kelly L started us off with her best effort this year scoring a solid 9.8. Kelly P fell on her Tkatchev but was flawless in the rest of her routine. April and Annie tied for first on Bars with 9.9s. Their handstands were great, their form was almost perfect, and their dismounts were nailed like darts on a board. In fact the entire bar team stuck their landings. Bart Conner would later say he believed our landings are what kept us in the meet.

Nicki and Lisa both hit their sets. We came away from Bars not having to count the fall and ahead of Bama by a slim margin. In the Vault touch, Ashleigh looked to have her color back in her face so we put her back in.

Our vault team performed their best effort this year with Nicki and Kelly P sticking their landings and scoring 9.9 +. Annie, Ashleigh, April, and Ricki all did well but need to improve landings.

Heading to Floor we still held on to our slim lead. Bama was rock solid on Beam. LSU had great performances from Kelly P, Nicki, Terin, April, Lisa, and Kelly L. I was proud of the girls that were not in the Floor line-up because their energy and enthusiasm doubled our chances for success.

Without their cheers and encouragement I am convinced we would have been flat on Floor.

Heading to Beam the score was tied. On Beam, we had to be excellent. We had to be competitors. We had to do it right when it counted the most. Terin, who is beautiful on Beam and Floor, started us off with a hit set.

Lauren C hit and showed confidence throughout her performance. Annie, Lisa, and Kelly P all did excellent routines and stuck their dismounts. April came up and did her best beam this year nailing a double pike dismount and scoring 9.975. Bama hit their Floor sets and edged us out for the win. But you could not tell who won because both teams had put it out there all night, one great routine after another.

After enjoying a job well done, we are back to work. We have a lot of areas to try to improve upon. We get back in action this Friday night, with a home meet against a great Michigan State team. Our script is the same. Maintain a high level of focus for the entire meet and complete the steps in the process of being successful. Stay in the Purple Zone, and compete as a team.

Be sure to watch LSU vs. Alabama Sunday January 30th on ESPN 2. Check your local listings for times. We appreciate you being behind us. Let's all come out and make this the best LSU team ever. Geaux Tigers!

Phil

January 17, 2005

Hello from Tigerland! In this Behind The Scenes I will take you through our meet this past Friday night against the Gators from Florida. Let's go back to the Sunday, two days after our debacle at Michigan State.

We came in to practice that Sunday night determined to get back on track. After some time digesting the meet it appears that most of our problems were because of nerves on Floor, Vault, and Bars. That explains tentative landings and short handstands.

It does not, however, explain four falls on beam. There was never any indication in practice that we were going to have this problem. But, we did, and we had to find some answers. We don't have a young team. We don't have an inexperienced team. But we were lacking leadership on this night. We lacked mental toughness and someone among the girls to say let's go.

The week went by and we began to feel better because everyone was working as a team trying to get better. We were having fewer excuses and more production. Thursday came around and it was time for up to decide on our line-ups. Ashleigh Clare-Kearney has gotten herself ready and needed to get some experience on floor. In order to put her in we had to pull someone out. The only fair way is to replace the lowest score, which was Lisa.

Lindsey Thompson is showing that she is ready to go back in the vault line-up with a 10.0 vault that will replace Jade's 9.9 start value, making Jade the alternate on vault. We were not going to make to many changes on Beam because the girls that fell need to know that we are going to stick with them and work through it. We did put in Lauren C who had been very consistent all week.

We were looking to get one other person in the bar line-up. We need more people with competition experience because we have several Friday/Sunday competitions coming up. The problem was we could not decide on whom to put in. Five people have proven they are ready to go in for one spot.

On Thursday instead of doing a light walk through, we had a bar competition with those five girls. Everyone had one shot to do a routine. We took three scores. We then threw out the high and the low and kept the middle score. Whoever had the highest score was in the line-up and the next highest was the alternate. It was a pressure situation. We were ready to go with whoever came out on top. Two girls emerged, Katherine H, and Lindsey T.

In the meet we started on vault, while Florida was at Bars. We vaulted fairly well with good body positions but could not stick landings. Meanwhile, Florida had two falls on bars but otherwise looked very good.

The LSU Bar team did extraordinarily well! They stuck every landing and executed handstands and body positions much better than the week before. Florida vaulted well but we managed to hang on to the lead by 0.7.

In the third roatation Florida went to Floor and did outstanding routines. LSU struggled again on beam, though not as bad as the week before. We did have two falls and let Florida take a slim lead. Going into to Floor we needed some big scores because Florida is a great Beam team.

The girls responded with gutsy performances. Kelly Lea got us off to a great start. Terin M, Kelly P, Nicki B, and Ashleigh K put up solid scores. We were keeping an eye on scores coming up at Beam because we felt the judging was very hard on us and we were relieved to see that they maintained consistency with Florida.

At the end of the meet Florida had two inquiries in to the judges. We looked back over our Floor scores and put in an inquiry on Nicki Butler's routine, which was judged harshly. The judges had several conferences.

Finally the announcer had the score sheet. Only 0.05 separated the winning team, LSU. It was a thrilling climax to an exciting night of SEC Gymnastics.

Both of these teams are going to be very good when they can put it all together and gain mental toughness. We have our next test this weekend at Alabama.

The girls are excited to get in front of the crowd. Our goal will be to stay in the "Purple Zone", the mental zone where you continue to execute at a high level regardless of distractions around you. Excellence is doing it right when it counts the most. That is the LSU way.

Phil

January 10, 2005

We had our first competition this past weekend at Michigan State. It was a quad meet with Michigan State, Denver, Ball State. Our goal going into the meet was not necessarily to win the meet but to hit all of our routines by just focusing on the process. If we do that the winning will take care of itself.

We have two girls injured that we knew would not compete, Emily Ellis, and Melissa Wason. Emily has a mild elbow fracture that will need four or five more weeks to heel. Melissa is quickly coming back from a severe ankle sprain. Other than those two and some nagging hurts, we are healthy.

We took off from New Orleans Thursday morning and arrived in Michigan on Thursday evening. After bussing to the hotel and checking in we held a team meeting and let the girls get dinner at one of the many local spots.

On Friday morning we got together for a light stretch and mental preparation that we call Power Circle. We do it to insure that everyone maintains a normal schedule and does some exercises to wake up. We had a team lunch at the hotel and did some sight seeing in the afternoon. The meet was set for 8:00 pm. We had a great warm up, free of any problems.

Lisa, Kelly L, Kelly P, Nicki, Terin, and April were the six Tigers on Floor. We came out and did a pretty good job on Floor. Everyone had some trouble on landings, but we managed to hit all of our sets.

After Floor we moved to Vault where we went from having nine 10.0 vaults down to having five because of injury or inconsistency. Ricki, Jade, Kelly P, Nicki, Ashleigh, and April made up the vault team. Four of the six girls hit vaults. It was one of the lowest vault scores I have seen since being here. If the meet were a boxing match we would have just taken a punch right in the nose and been knocked on the canvas.

To our credit we went over and hit bars relatively well. We did not have any falls but we did miss some of our connections and hopped around on our landings. Kelly L, Kelly P, April, Nicki, Lisa, and Annie did bars for us. I felt that we had righted the ship heading into beam.

Beam has been one of our most consistent events in practice, but on this night, LSU self destructed with four falls. It should be noted that Terin Martinjak and Kelly Phelan both hit their sets. Nicki Butler had a great meet hitting Floor, Vault, and winning Bars. It was an extremely disappointing finish and not what this team has shown in practice.

Since returning we have had two tough days of practice. The girls have shown they are determined to do better. We do have some openings in the line-ups and won't make a determination till Thursday who will be the six to go on each event. Our foe on Friday is the University of Florida. We have a lot of respect for that program and know that we will have to be at our best.

Tuesday and Wednesday the girls have promotional appearances at local schools and gym clubs to sign autographs and give out tickets. They are quality people and will not settle for anything less than the best. That is why they came here. They are LSU Tigers.

Thank you for reading.

Geaux Tigers!
Phil

December 6, 2004

Hello from Tigerland. It has been several weeks since my last entry so I will try to be as comprehensive as possible. We have had several intra-squads, one every Friday, where we split the team into two groups and did full or modified sets. The girls have responded to the pressure. They are getting better each time out and enjoying the friendly competition.

These competition type formats have allowed the coaches to get an idea of whom we would go with if we had a meet tomorrow. We have been able to get a clearer picture of our depth on each event and how far away we are from really being ready to compete.

This past Friday was the real deal with a four-judge panel that gave real scores. We had around one hundred fans and friends of the team in the gym to watch the drama unfold. Each team had to decide six competitors and the order in which they would compete.

The Purple team, consisting of Jade J, Ricki L, Nicki B, Kelly P, April B, Terin M, Katherine H, and Megan D, started on beam.

The Gold team, made up of Lindsey T, Emily E, Lisa R, Annie G, Ashleigh K, Lauren C, and Kelly L, started on vault.

Gold went first on vault. Lindsey T and Emily E started off with a Yurchenko one-half layouts scoring 9.75 and 9.85 respectively. Lisa R, Annie G, and Ashleigh K all did Yurchenko fulls scoring 9.825, 9.85, and 9.9, respectively. Of note, Lisa R competed the yurchenko full for the first time ever.

The Purple team, in its first rotation on the beam, started with Megan D, 9.125 with a fall, Nicki B 9.8, Jade J 9.725, Terin M 9.85, Kelly P 9.825, and April B 9.85. Of note on beam, Nicki B nailed a beautiful new routine, April B stuck a new double pike dismount, and Jade J nailed a new triple series.

The two teams switched events and, after a quick touch, Purple started on Vault. They competed Jade J 9.075 with a fall, Ricki L 9.675, Nicki B 9.925, Kelly P 9.825, and April B 9.9. Of note, Kelly P threw a Yurchenko full and a half for the first time and Nicki and April did outstanding Yurchenko fulls.

Meanwhile, the Gold team was touching Beam. Their line up was Lindsey T 9.325, Emily E 9.65, Kelly L 9.75, Annie G 9.075, Ashleigh K 9.65, and Lisa R 9.85. Kelly L, and Lisa R have both been very solid hitting again on this night. After two rotations Purple held a slim lead 78.65 to Gold's 78.3.

In the third rotation, Gold went to Floor while Purple was at Bars. Gold had outstanding Floor routines from Lindsey T 9.8, Emily E 9.875, Lisa R 9.925, and Ashleigh K 9.9.

Over on the Bars, Purple team counted Ricki L 9.7, Kelly P 9.7, Nicki B 9.8, and April B 9.675. Kelly P, Nicki B, and April B all have at least one if not two new skills in their routines. After three events Purple had a 117.525 and Gold had a 117.8.

In the final rotation, the Purple team counted a 9.875 from Jade J, a 9.8 from Nicki B, a 9.875 from Kelly P, and a 9.85 from April B. Of note, Kelly P is competing four D passes, April B is connecting two passes back to back, and Nicki B and Jade J are tumbling outstanding.

Gold team Bars counted scores from Kelly L 9.825, Lindsey T 9.675, Lisa R 9.75, and Annie G 9.725. Annie and Lisa both have two new connections in their routines.

The final score was Purple 156.925 and Gold 156.775. That was our final test of the year before the season begins in January. To try and get a better idea of how we might do in competition, the coaches put together a line up of our own before the meet started. Counting five scores on each event we had a 49.4 on Vault, a 48.8 on Bars, a 49.025 on Beam, and a 49.425 on Floor, totaling a 196.665.

Comments from the judges after the meet were very positive. Most of our work is deciding whether or not to have certain things in routines, polishing body positions, and sticking landings.

This week there is no mandatory practice because of final exams. The gymnasts will be allowed to leave after their last final and are expected to return on Dec. 27th. Upon returning we will have about two weeks to get ready for our first competition.

The pre-season is almost behind us now and everyone is taking a breath. The girls have worked extremely hard in the weight room, in the gym, and in the classroom.

Thanks for reading the Behind the Scenes. Have a great Christmas!

Phil

November 4, 2004

We are into November now and I have no doubt that teams are getting ready, working hard, and beginning to see what is real and what is not. We are no exception. Each event has seen maturity in terms of who is going to be ready and what skills we will be able to do cleanly and consistently. We have tried to streamline routines by taking out skills that are not ready in order to have the girls feel great about competing in a pressure situation. We are balancing that attitude with a measure of patience to allow them the repetitions of progressions for new skills they will plug in sooner or later.

Last Friday we had an informal intra squad. This was the first time we have asked the team to do a timed warm up and then compete. Two teams were created, one purple, one gold. Go figure. One team started on vault while the other team started beam. Vault was sensational! We landed on a very soft surface with more emphasis being placed on doing the vault explosively. We saw stellar Yurchenko full vaults from April, Ashleigh, Nicki, Kelly P, and Annie. Kelly P then did a Yurchenko full and a half! Emily, Kelly L, and Lindsey T did the Yurchenko half front layout. Emily will be ready with a full twist very soon. Lauren C and Jade competed front handspring front vaults with twists. Rikki did a nice tight handspring double twist. The vault team should be stronger and deeper than ever before. It was the highlight event on this day.

Beam, as is usually the case, was the event where the pressure seemed to show up. The gold team started with the first four girls, Kristin J, Ashleigh, Jade, and Kelly L all hitting their sets. The next three, Annie, Kelly P, and Terin all had a fall. DD was a bit shocked by this because those guys hit six for six daily. Let's go to the purple team. First up were Melissa W, Megan D, and Lauren C. All three hit good confident sets. Emily E missed her mount, which is new, and then went on to hit the rest of the routine beautifully. Lindsey T and Lisa R both hit great sets with Lisa being even more exact in her positions than last year. Nicki B had a couple of falls, which disappointed her. But in the overall scheme of things I believe she will be a contributor on this event.

Bars, as DD has mentioned, is the slowest event to develop. We did internal sets with no mount or dismount. As soon as they came down from the competition bar they went over to pit bar and did their dismount. We had great routines from Lisa R who has two new combinations from last year. Annie G added a Tkatchev to an All American routine. Nicki B hit a terrific set with great extension in her lines. Lindsey T has a great pac salto that she does out of nice combination work. Emily E hit her set, which includes toe on Tkatchev and L grip giant work. She is feverishly working a pac salto. But I am being doggedly patient on putting it in. Ricki L is as consistent as ever and is working a new combination that is not quite ready. Kelly P looks to be in bars this year. She has been very consistent and added new difficulty over last year. Ashleigh K has cleaned up dramatically and as soon as she puts her mount together, which is a Shaposh to overshoot, she'll be fighting for a spot in the line up.

The floor assignment was a routine to music with just tumbling. No dance. We were trying to get a watermark that showed their level of fitness. How strong are they at this point in the season at the end of the routine? Kelly L did two double backs and is working a whip half combination. Kelly P, and Ashleigh K have probably a point in just their tumbling bonus. Look for those two to provide a strong punch in our line up. Terin M is as elegant as ever with the same tumbling but new dance. Lauren C will energize the crowds again this year with her electrifying personality. Lisa R is solid on all three of the events that she competed last year and is having success on vault. She might challenge for the All Around. Look out April! Speaking of April. She has been working hard on several people's choreography while trying to keep some good stuff for her own floor. She did not do floor on this day because she had a class to go to. She does have new dance and some challenging new tumbling. Nicki B looks solid with new dance that we are excited about and high-level tumbling.

In the classroom the girls are doing their best to keep our team GPA as high as possible. Outside of school and gym we are involved in a number of community projects. The two newest ones that have not appeared on our website yet are a pancake breakfast for Breast Cancer Awareness and a bake sale to raise money for a family that we will support this Christmas. We have an outdoor exhibition planned for the next home football game on Nov. 13. We will put up a set of bars and a beam outside the stadium and give the thousands of fans a taste of what they can expect to see this year.

Our next pressure Friday will be tomorrow. We will give the gold team a chance to redeem themselves, while the purple team looks to keep the hammer down. It is great to see them have so much fun pulling for each other.

Thanks for reading Behind The Scenes.

Phil

October 12, 2004

Hello from Baton Rouge. We here in Tigerland are doing well. The coaches are encouraged by what we are seeing at practice. The biggest thing is everyone coming in everyday trying to get better and keeping a positive mind set in the face of adversity. That adversity might be frustration or school or a combination of other things. But up to this point I believe everyone is handling their circumstances admirably.

The girls just returned from fall break which was not really a break from gym but from school. Most of the girls used the free weekend to go to the LSU-Florida Football game. If you have not heard it was a great last-minute win for LSU. So that made the trip worthwhile.

Midterms are either happening or about to happen so we are bending our routine to allow the girls time to get their schoolwork done.

Let's talk about gymnastics event by event. Practices begin with a good warm up involving some type of cardio exercise such as a mile run or jumping rope. Then we'll do a team stretch, followed by partner stretches and overstretch. Because of the nature of this type of slow stretching we follow it with quick leg kicks and basic tumbling. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday we tumble as a group. Tuesday, Thursday we do tumble trac and trampoline instead of tumbling hard to rest their legs.

Some of the things we are doing include Double layouts from Emily Ellis and Ashleigh Claire-Kearny. April is working on a two and a half punch front layout. Jade is working a front full step out to a double back. Melissa Wasson and Kristen Julian both have good, strong tumbling and clean execution. Look for new floor routines this year from Terin, April, Jade, Ashleigh, Emily, and Kelly Lea.

Nicki Butler did nice tumbling yesterday including Triple full. She is coming off of being out of the gym for a week due to some kind of virus that gave her a 104-degree temp. Just about the whole team has new routines or like in Lauren C's case she is using the routine she had her first year when she made it to finals on floor and achieved All-American status.

Beam has some exciting new, higher-level tumbling and bigger dismounts. DD says that she is very pleased with the group's ability to do more repetitions and do them successfully. Several people have new tumble passes. Lauren, Jade, Lisa R all have new triple series. Nicki B is gaining consistency and can really help the team. Melissa Wasson looks very solid. Kelly Lea is looking like she will have shot at the line up. Kelly P and Terin are both solid and confident. All and all the nucleus of the beam team remains the same from last year but we have five or six more people looking to get into that line up.

The LSU vault team had six 10.0 vaults last year and we added a few more this year. Competition to get into this event should be fierce. Bob is doing lots of drill work on all phases of vault including their entries, block off the horse, air awareness, and ability to stick landings. Bob has a depth chart of people ready to go. Ashleigh, April, Annie, Nicki, and Kelly P are leading the charge.

Last but certainly not least is bars. At this phase of our training we are concentrating on new skills or new combinations three days a week and routines two days a week. Last week we put together the middle of the routines without the mount or dismount in a "pressure situation". Ricki, Annie, Lisa, April, and Katherine Emily, and Ashleigh put 85% of their full routines together without dismounts. Nicki B will be ready. She has several new things she is working that look great with her long lines. Kelly P, Kelly L, Terin, and Lindsey T are one skill away from being ready and will all be looking to fight for a spot in the line up. Bars will be another tough event to break into. The deciding factors will be who can hit under pressure, have the fewest deductions, and give the team the best chance to win.

The Tigers will continue to train hard to look their best for our first home meet against UF. It will be fight you don't want to miss. So make plans to be there. Check our website for all the info.

Phil