What a terrific night for LSU Gymnastics and Foundation 56 last night in the Tiger Stadium Club! Several hundred folks turned out to help support the gymnastics Tigers’ primary charitable cause – breast cancer awareness and research.
Alongside former LSU Tiger and current Dallas Cowboys football great Bradie James, whose number 56 is shared in his foundation’s name, Head Coach D-D Breaux and many others joined to raise several thousands of dollars for both a silent and live auction. James’ mother, Etta, died of breast cancer in 2002 while he was a member of the LSU Tigers.
Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints memorabilia were among the hottest items auctioned. A football signed by every member of the Saints fetched $1,800 in the live auction alone. Trips to Hawai’i, Wyoming and Fourchon were also auctioned. However, the most touching part of the night was seeing a hand-made king-size purple and gold quilt – sewn by D-D Breaux’s mother and two other ladies – draw a $1,500 bid.
Billed as the “Foundation 56 Tiger Tailgate,” the event served as the official kick-off to the Third Annual Etta James Memorial Meet weekend. Tonight’s gymnastics meet in the Maravich Center will also serve as a fundraising opportunity for Foundation 56 and its effort to promote breast cancer awareness in our local communities.
Tigers Perform Well In Georgia
Despite falling behind by four tenths after the first rotation in last week’s meet at No. 5 Georgia, the LSU Tigers battled the GymDogs even for the final three rotations in an impressive display of perseverance and focus. The Tigers were led by Sam Engle and Susan Jackson, who won the all-around title for the seventh time in 8 meets this season. Engle set a new career high mark on balance beam (9.875) and a season high on floor exercise (9.825).
Other superlatives included Sabrina Franceschelli’s 39.050 all-around score, Summer Hubbard’s 9.825 on both bars and beam, and Ericka Garcia’s 9.85 on vault.
Though not as large as expected (and largely quiet throughout), the Georgia crowd did little to rattle the younger Tigers.
Susan Jackson Notches Another Record
Some great research courtesy of LSU Gymnastics SID Jake Terry reveals another school record for senior gymnast Susan Jackson. The Spring, Texas native has been ranked No. 1 in the all-around nationally for seven straight weeks. This breaks the record of two-time National Champion Ashleigh Clare-Kearney who was ranked No. 1 for three weeks during the 2007 season.
How good has she been this season? Prior to this season, Jackson had earned 5 total all-around titles. She has 7 in 8 meets this season.
Jackson Throws Out First Pitch At LSU Baseball Game
The No. 1 LSU baseball team honored Susan Jackson last weekend by inviting her to throw out the first pitch of the Sunday afternoon game. Well, she “threw” it all right. Just take a look at the video on LSUSports.net and enjoy her “curve ball.” My-oh-my what that catcher must have thought! The video link is here: http://www.lsusports.net/mediaPortal/player.dbml?id=696022&db_oem_id=5200
Tigers Hitting Mid-season Stride
D-D Breaux has a simple philosophy about a gymnastics season. Start modestly. Find your strengths. Build up your weaknesses. Hit a mid-season stride, but don’t peak too soon. Go all-out from the SEC meet through Nationals.
That philosophy has been reflected in the last four gym meets, where the Tigers have notched team scores of 196.475 (twice), 196.200, and 196.050 at Georgia.
Rankings On Way Up Too
The Tigers’ RQS jumped two tenths of a point this week to 195.945 courtesy of the solid road score at Georgia. The 196.050 at Athens replaced the 195.050 the Tigers’ scored at Florida in the RQS formula. LSU remained ranked No. 10 in the national polls this week just behind 9th ranked Utah (196.155).
In the team event rankings, LSU jumped to No. 12 on the beam, No. 14 on floor, No. 10 on bars, and No. 12 on vault.
Cox Sports Broadcasting Tonight’s Meet
Lyn Rollins and Jewell Fourrier will have the call of the meet tonight as LSU takes on Oregon St. The meet will be recorded for broadcast on March 13 at 5:30 p.m.
Oregon State Is Very, Very Good
No. 6 Oregon State has a very good gymnastics team. The Beavers are 10-1 this season, with their only loss coming at No. 3 UCLA two weeks ago. As a team, Oregon State ranks in the Top 10 on each event. Senior All-American Mandy Rodriguez is outstanding and has a all-around RQS of 39.370. The Baldwin Park, California native will certainly give Susan Jackson a run for the all-around tonight.
As you might suspect, the Beavers compete in the PAC-10 Conference which has 5 teams ranked in the Top 25 this week. It’s been a while since Oregon State has ventured to Baton Rouge. In 1980, the Beavers and the Tigers faced off in the AIAW National Championships. Oregon State finished ahead of LSU that night, so the Tigers are officially 0-1 against the Beavers all-time in Baton Rouge.
The last time these two teams faced off they battled for the NCAA Central Regional title last season in Columbus, Ohio. LSU edged out Oregon State by .075 as both teams advanced to the NCAA National Championships in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Tonight marks the first time these two teams have squared off in a dual meet. LSU owns an overall lead in the series 9-6-1.
Mike’s Eye On The Tigers
Here’s what I will be watching for tonight as LSU hosts Oregon State for the first time in the Third Annual Etta James Memorial meet:
- LSU to hit a team score higher than 196.475. This will allow the Tigers to count both of its current season high scores of 196.475 towards the Regional Qualifying Score. This will continue to raise the Tigers’ seeding for the post season.
- A classic battle for the all-around tonight. Susan Jackson and Mandy Rodriguez. It will be fun to watch to say the least.
- Summer Hubbard and Kayla Rogers to have great meets tonight. They are both due for breakouts.
- Sam Engle and Sabrina Franceschelli to maintain their consistency on multiple events.
- A large crowd, approaching a record, in the Maravich Center tonight. The school record is 7,717 fans. Can we break it and, in so doing, raise our goal of $56,000 for Foundation 56?
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