2013 SEC Championship Preview

2013 SEC Championship Preview

2013 SEC Championship Preview

Mar 22, 2013 by Brittany Norton
2013 SEC Championship Preview

                                   

The SEC is one of the most competitive of all conferences, and the battle for the SEC title is the first step in post season toward the famous NCAA Championship.

The SEC has won seven of the last eight NCAA titles, and seven of the top-20 teams are from the SEC. SEC programs also claim a whopping 12 of the top-20 scores this season.

LSU head coach D-D Breaux said, “We try to approach SEC’s as though its our biggest, grandest of all of our dual opportunities that we have during the year.”

LSU has done very well this year, upsetting top teams like Florida and Georgia. Floor specialist Lloimincia Hall has scored two perfect 10.0’s this season to help boost the Tigers’ scores.

Alabama’s head coach Sarah Patterson explained exactly why SEC’s are so important to the athletes. “There are two things. It’s all about competing for the pride. You know you want to win the SECs, and you want to win the ring.”

The Crimson Tide lost last years SEC title and used it as fuel to win NCAA’s. Patterson says, “It depends on the moment. It’s the best team on that given night.”

Florida is the favorite coming into the competition, but according to head coach Rhonda Faehn the girls don’t like to think about it. “We don’t ever think that way. We can’t control what people think. The only thing we can control is our mind set and how we perform.”

Florida has yet to win a NCAA title although it has always been a top contender. The Gators won the SEC title last season, but lost the NCAA title by 0.075 to Alabama. Only one team has ever won back-to-back SEC titles (Georgia ‘04-‘06). So can Florida pull a repeat and win SEC’s again?

“The University of Florida Gymnastics team is absolutely thrilled to be in Little Rock, Arkansas. We have a great feeling, a great memory winning the SEC championship there in 2007,” said Faehn. “[Little Rock was] welcoming to all teams so we are excited to be back.”

Breaux said, “The neutral site concept is great because I think it does lend fairness. I think the level of intensity and focus makes this a premiere event. The focus that the conference has made with the off-campus sites and also the tremendous commitment to the podium adds so much to this competition.”

The setup for this meet will be much different than years past. With Missouri entering the conference this season, the competition will have eight teams. This would require the teams to go through four byes. The SEC coaches decided in a meeting that the meet would run similar to NCAA’s and be split session.

Faehn commented, “We really just could not ask our athletes to go into a four bye competition, putting them at a severe risk of potential injury, so much down time. And putting the fans through a four-hour competition is just too much.”

                      

Florida has stolen four of the eight gymnast of the week awards (including event specialist), and Bridget Sloan has won three SEC Freshman of the Week awards.

You can watch Florida as they prepare for SEC’s by clicking here.


LSU’s Rheagan Courville also ranks sixth in the nations all-around.

Georgia’s freshman Brandie Jay is one to watch, giving her team a 9.975 on floor helping the Dog’s to their season high of 197.8. Chelsea Davis, another Gym Dog, is ranked first in the country on the uneven bars. Danna Durante, the Dog’s first year coach, has done a fantastic job keeping the team on track.

Hopefully SEC’s will give us a peek into the possible results of the future NCAA’s.

SEC’s will be on Saturday, March 23. You can watch SEC’s on 3/28 at 5:30pm on ESPNU, or 3/30 at 7:00pm on ESPN.

Follow LIVE Updates of the SEC Championships, and other NCAA women's gymnastics conferences, this Saturday HERE on Gymnastike


High scores from SEC teams in 2013: