Wednesday Update From Lincoln, Nebraska

The LSU Tigers’ trip to the NCAA National Gymnastics Championships in Lincoln, Nebraska couldn’t have been smoother on Tuesday afternoon. The charter jet was “wheels up” from Baton Rouge at 3:05 p.m. Just before 5:00 p.m., LSU touched down in the Capital of Cornhusker-land.

After settling in to the Embassy Suites team hotel, many of the Tigers took in a movie at the nearby Grand Theatre, while others hit restaurants and shopping. Head Coach D-D Breaux, with Assistants Bob Moore and Philip Ogletree, led a contingent to nearby Misty’s Steakhouse – one of the most renowned steakhouses in America. I recommend the ribeye. It was good – very, very good.

A team breakfast at 8:00 a.m. started the Tigers’ Wednesday. And, as I write this update, LSU is completing its practice inside the Bob Devaney Center on the Nebraska State Fairgrounds in Lincoln. This is the second time the Devaney Center has hosted the national championships for women’s gymnastics. In 2003, UCLA won their 4th of 5 national titles here.

This evening, LSU will have a team dinner and an early bed time because it’s off to the arena at about 9:30 a.m. Thursday morning. Open stretch begins at 10:45 a.m., then warm-ups followed by the competition at 1:00 p.m.

Tigers Sport New T’s At Nationals Practice Session

Custom designed practice T-shirts have been a staple of Nationals practice day for a number of years. This year is no different. The Tigers stole the show as they arrived in the Devaney Center sporting an all-black T-shirt with the word “WITNESS” across the front in white letters. On the back are the last names of each gymnast and the Eye of the Tiger. Check out the pictures of the Tigers wearing their shirts in the photo gallery.

On the other hand, Utah took a different approach to its custom T-shirt. In large letters on the back: "New Year, Our Year." Just below that in small letters: "2009 National Champions." Wow, predicting a win? Both are shots at defending national champion Georgia - with which the Utes share nearly three decades of bad blood.

Seedings & Pairing For The National Championships

Here are the seedings and pairings for the 2009 NCAA Gymnastics Championships. Five teams from the Southeastern Conference makeup the Final 12 schools competing for a berth in the Super Six – and ultimately a national championship. Three SEC teams (LSU, Florida, Georgia) are in Thursday afternoon’s session while two (Arkansas, Alabama) compete in the evening.

SESSION 1 – 1pm Central Time Thursday

#1 seed Georgia 394.955 NQS
#4 seed LSU 393.635 NQS
#5 seed Florida 393.490 NQS
#8 seed Oklahoma 393.065 NQS
#9 seed Stanford 393.025 NQS
#12 seed Penn State 392.040 NQS

SESSION 2 – 7pm Central Time Thursday

#2 seed Utah 394.865 NQS
#3 seed Alabama 393.925 NQS
#6 seed Oregon St. 393.320 NQS
#7 seed UCLA 393.205 NQS
#10 seed Arkansas 392.740 NQS
#11 seed Illinois 392.715 NQS

The top three scoring teams from each session advance to the Super Six on Friday evening.

Can The Tigers Score Big?

Well, in the words of a famous American politician “You betcha!” Eight of the final 12 teams competing for the National Championship have scored better than 197.000 this season. Of the 8, only 4 have scored 197.400 or better. Those teams: Georgia, Utah, Oregon St., and...LSU.

Top Guns Remain 3, 4 In Nation

Senior Ashleigh Clare-Kearney and junior Susan Jackson enter the NCAA Championships as the 3rd and 4th ranked all-arounders nationally. LSU is one of two teams in the NCAA Championships with two gymnasts ranked in the all around Top 10. Utah is the other team.

With No Home Team, Ticket Sales Sluggish

According to local media reports, fewer than 2,000 tickets have been sold for the championships in Lincoln – a low number no doubt a reflection on the lack of a “home” team. Host Nebraska finished third in their regional two weeks ago and failed to make the final 12.

To put that in perspective, the lowest cumulative attendance (all four sessions combined) of all-time for the NCAA gymnastics championships is 21,269. That occurred in 1989 when Georgia hosted nationals for the first time.

Nationals Old Hat For Some, New Fit For Others

The NCAA began sanctioning women’s gymnastics in 1982. Since that year, one team has made EVERY national championship – Utah. That’s 28 years in a row for the Utes. By contrast, Illinois is making their first-ever appearance on the big stage. LSU is one of only 6 programs in the country to have competed at Nationals 20 years or more.

Here are the number of times each of this year’s Final 12 have made it to the championship:

Utah 28 times
Alabama 27
Florida 27
Georgia 26
UCLA 25
LSU 21
Oregon St. 19
Penn St. 16
Stanford 10
Oklahoma 9
Arkansas 3
Illinois 1st time ever

Thursday’s Probable LSU Line-Up

Rotation 1 - Balance Beam
Gloria Johnson
Samantha Engle
Summer Hubbard
Susan Jackson
Ashleigh Clare-Kearney
Staci Schwitkis- alternate

Rotation 2 - Floor Exercise
Kayla Rogers
Summer Hubbard
Gloria Johnson or Sam Engle
Staci Schwitkis
Susan Jackson
Ashleigh Clare-Kearney
Gloria Johnson or Sam Engle - alternate

Rotation 3 - Vault
Kayla Rogers
Gloria Johnson
Staci Schwitkis
Sabrina Franceschelli
Susan Jackson
Ashleigh Clare-Kearney
Ashley Lee – alternate

Rotation 4 - Uneven Bars
Staci Schwitkis
Summer Hubbard
Samantha Engle
Sabrina Franceschelli
Susan Jackson
Ashleigh Clare-Kearney

All Around
Sabrina Franceschelli
Susan Jackson
Ashleigh Clare-Kearney

Mike’s Eye On The Tigers

At the conclusion of today’s practice, the Tigers appear confident, loose, and ready to compete. With the specter of never making the Super Six a thing of the past, LSU should have little reason for distractions.

This afternoon, one Tiger gymnast told me that if each of her teammates hits routines tomorrow, there is no reason why LSU should not advance into Friday’s Super Six for the second time in school history. The Tigers are that talented. And I agree.

Specifically, here’s what I will be watching for on Thursday:

- The Tigers start on beam and that means ACK does too. Does she break her string of falls on the apparatus? I believe she does – and then runs the table on the all around.

- Who takes the third spot on floor? It’s a critical decision. Will it be an ailing Gloria Johnson who gutted out a 9.80 at regionals? Or will Sam Engle make a return to the floor lineup? Engle has not competed floor since early February. However, she looked spectacular in practice today and that has thrown her into contention for a spot in the lineup.

- Do the normally rock-solid starting three in the beam, floor, vault, and bars lineups remain so under the hot white spotlight of national competition? Kayla Rogers, Staci Schwitkis, and Gloria Johnson have been terrific all season in the lead-off positions.

Many have emailed and bugged me for my Super Six predictions so here goes. From Session 1, I like LSU, Georgia and Stanford. From Session 2, I like Utah, Alabama, and UCLA. I think it shapes up to be the most competitive Super Six in recent memory with three teams from east of the Mississippi River facing off against three teams from west of the Big Muddy.

Normally, I would say “Until Next Week” in this spot on the blog. But, there is no next week. The time is now. The moment has arrived. Let’s see if someone new can win the National Championship. This could be the year.