FORT WORTH, Tx. (BRPROUD) — The Fort Worth Stockyards is a historic district that celebrates a long tradition in the cattle industry. It pays homage to an old way of life that brought prosperity to the area.
Perhaps it’s a fitting setting to be only a 10-minute drive from Dickies Arena, where LSU finally reached the summit of college gymnastics and secured the program’s first national championship.
Yet, before head coach Jay Clark could even celebrate the achievement, he looked in the crowd for a woman instrumental to the legacy of the Tigers. “D-D’ Breaux spent 43 years as the LSU Gymnastics coach, the final nine alongside Clark before finally handing over the reigns to him.
“She gave me an opportunity to join her when I needed one. And and she had worked 35 years on building this program and then treated me like a partner rather than an assistant,” Clark said.
So before Clark took any pictures with the large “National Champions” sign, he waited for Breaux to join the Tigers on the floor. Despite a security guard stopping her on the steps, the urge of Tiger fans and an administrator finally brought Breaux to the center of the celebration.
The LSU Gymnastics coach of past and present embraced one another, and celebrated an accomplishment 50 years in the making.
“She was a big part of this program. The facility we have and the 43 years that she put in there and the battles that she fought, whether it was Title nine or anything else, I just felt it was important that when this program won its first national title, that it be hers as well,” Clark said.
Before Saturday’s championship, Breaux spoke with our Geaux Nation team and predicted a Tigers win. When asked what she was most excited for, it was raising an LSU Gymnastics banner that said “National Champions” in the PMAC.
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