This weekend, for the first time in the modern era of gymnastics, the SEC Championship will take place in the state of Louisiana. The championship has been held in major cities like Birmingham and Jacksonville since 2002 but will find a home in New Orleans' Smoothie King Center on March 23, providing a bit of a home-field advantage for the No. 3 LSU Tigers as they seek to earn their fourth championship title.
Baton Rouge hosted the very first SEC Championship in 1981 with LSU as the regular season champion, setting a precedent for the next two decades of championships. It then saw three years in Birmingham then saw rotations throughout major Southern cities. Georgia holds the most titles with 16, followed by Florida with ten, Alabama with nine, and LSU with three.
"It's just so gratifying that the state of Louisiana, that our governor and our lieutenant governor worked very hard worked very hard with the commissioner to make this happen, and of course Joe Alleva supported it all the way and made phone calls to the SEC office and it became a reality," said HC D-D Breaux after senior night. "For a long time it's been a conversation, it's been a dream, and it became a reality, I think as a result of all the energy and enthusiasm that surrounded this program."
Let's get into seeding. With a Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) of 197.680, LSU is the overall No. 1 seed, competing as the home team in the night session. Joining them in the night session will be Florida, Georgia, and a fresh new appearance by an up-and-coming Kentucky team coached by Tim Garrison in only his eighth season. Seeing Florida and Georgia isn't a surprise, but Kentucky makes their second consecutive night appearance with an RQS of 197.085.
The day session includes Alabama, Auburn, Missouri, and Arkansas with Alabama competing as the home team. Alabama is historically a top-4 team while Auburn beat LSU early in the season. It will be very interesting to see how true scoring is to seeding, seeing as Alabama came in third last year with a 196.975 and narrowly missed out on the Super Six at the NCAA championship.
Sixteen athletes have competed in the all-around this season for the SEC with two from each program. Currently LSU senior and AAI Award Finalist Sarah Finnegan is on top with an RQS of 39.675, closely followed by freshman standout Trinity Thomas of Florida with an RQS of 39.645. Thomas is a three-time national team member earning nine consecutive SEC weekly honors both for Freshman of the Week and overall Gymnast of the Week. Rounding out the top five are Sydney Snead of Georgia, Kennedi Edney of LSU, and Alicia Boren of Florida, also an AAI finalist. Finnegan took home the title last year, but with a 39.500, far below Thomas' average score. The all-around race in New Orleans will be tight and will truly come down to who can stick the landings.
On her podcast I Have Cool Friends, former NCAA champion Samantha Peszek noted that a common critique of LSU is that they tended to peak at the wrong time. This season, LSU is finding their stride perfectly, shattering their season high three weeks in a row and scoring tens at each of those meets despite critical SEC judges. New Orleans is shaping up to be a tight race, and while an LSU vs Florida face-off is likely, the strength of the SEC makes this anyones game.
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