LSU gymnastics earns top seed at SEC Championships next weekend

The Tigers have earned the top seed at the SEC Championships in New Orleans on Saturday.

The LSU gymnastics team capped off the regular season on Friday night with a victory on its home floor over North Carolina, and now it’s gearing up for Saturday’s SEC Championships after concluding the season with a 12-3 (5-2 SEC) record.

The Tigers rank No. 3 nationally, and with the top National Qualifying Score in the conference, they’ve earned the top seed at SECs. LSU will compete in the second session on Saturday at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, which begins at 7 p.m. CT.

LSU will be joined in that session by the other top-four seeds in the league: Florida, Kentucky and Alabama.

The Tigers are seeking their fifth conference title and the first since 2019, which was the last time they were the top seed and the last time the event was hosted in New Orleans.

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Clemson drops final meet of the regular season to UCLA

Clemson falls in their final regular season meet.

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. – Selena Harris tallied a 39.900 all-around score to lead No. 11 UCLA past No. 27 Clemson, 198.550-196.825, on Saturday afternoon inside Pauley Pavilion. Clemson tallied a season-high 49.450 on vault, highlighted by Molly Arnold’s 9.975, in their final regular-season meet of the inaugural season.

BARS

The Tigers started the afternoon on bars and tallied a 48.700 team score. Lilly Lippeatt led the Tigers on the event with a 9.875, while freshman Trinity Webb earned a 9.825. Kaitlin DeGuzman and Eve Jackson each had a 9.800, while Rebecca Wells rounded out the scoring with a 9.400.

Clemson trailed UCLA, 48.700-49.475 after the first rotation.

VAULT

Clemson turned in its highest team vault score of the season, a 49.450, in its second rotation. Molly Arnold turned in a career-high 9.975, scoring a 10.0 from the first judge, to lead the Tigers, while Eve Jackson picked up a 9.900. Rebecca Wells recovered after struggling on bars, scoring a 9.875, while Maggie Holman and Madison Minner rounded out the scoring with a 9.850 each.

UCLA stretched its lead over the Tigers to 99.100-98.150, thanks to Selena Harris’s two 10.0 scores for the Bruins, on vault and bars.

 

FLOOR

In the teams’ third rotation, Clemson finished with a 49.375 on floor. Eve Jackson continued her strong day for the Tigers with a career-high 9.925, followed by Lilly Lippeatt with a 9.900 in the leadoff spot. Molly Arnold tallied a 9.875, followed by Lauren Rutherford with a 9.850 and Rebecca Wells with a 9.825.

UCLA led Clemson 148.775-147.525 with one rotation remaining.

BEAM

In the final rotation of the day, Rebecca Wells and Kielyn McCright led the Tigers with 9.925 each, which tied a career-high for McCright. Lilly Lippeatt led off with a 9.875, just 0.25 shy of her season high, while Sierra Church tied that mark in the anchor spot.

UCLA finished with a 198.550 overall score to the Tigers’ 196.825, thanks to their third 10 of the day, this time from Chae Campbell on floor.

In the all-around competition, Wells led the Tigers with a 39.025, while Jackson tallied a 38.600. UCLA’s Harris, who earned two 10s and two 9.95s, finished the all-around with a 39.900.

Clemson returns to action next Saturday, traveling to Greensboro, N.C. for the 2024 ACC Championships. The Tigers enter the meet as the No. 2 seed, beginning on bars. The meet is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m. and will be shown on ACC Network.

– Via Clemson Athletic Communications 

LSU gymanst Haleigh Bryant named a finalist for AAI Award

Haleigh Bryant has had a legendary career at LSU.

[autotag]Haleigh Bryant[/autotag] is having a fantastic final season with the Tigers, and she’s in the mix for quite a bit of postseason hardware.

On Friday, Bryant was named a finalist for the 2024 AAI Award, which is given annually to the top senior gymnast in the country. She joins a list of finalists that also includes Luisa Blanco (Alabama), Audrey Davis (Oklahoma), Maile O’Keefe (Utah), Gabby Wilson (Michigan) and Raena Worley (Kentucky).

Bryant is seeking to become the fourth LSU gymnast to win the award after Sarah Finnegan (2019), Ashleigh Gnat (2017) and Susan Jackson (2010). She’s LSU’s all-time leader in career perfect 10s and has won 11 SEC Gymnast of the Week honors.

Bryant and the Tigers host North Carolina on Friday night for the final meet of the regular season.

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LSU superstar Haleigh Bryant earns 10th career SEC Gymnast of the Week award

Hailey Bryant recorded a season-best score in Friday night’s win against Alabama.

The No. 1 gymnast in America continues to add hardware to her collection.

On Tuesday, LSU’s [autotag]Haleigh Bryant[/autotag] was named the SEC Gymnast of the Week for the fifth time this season and the 10th time in her illustrious career. She leads the conference through all nine weeks of competition, and she’s coming off a season-best 39.850 as she helped lead the Tigers to a top-10 win over Alabama on Friday night.

She posted scores of 9.900 or higher in every event in that meet, including her 14th career perfect score on the floor. Her four titles in the meet put her at 78 in her career, which ranks sixth in program history.

With two weeks remaining before the SEC Championships, Bryant and the Tigers will be back in action at the Raising Cane’s River Center on Friday night for the Podium Challenge, which will feature No. 14 Auburn, George Washington and Texas Women’s.

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UCLA’s Selena Harris records second-straight perfect 10

Selena Harris continues to impress for UCLA.

During UCLA’s gymnastics meet on Monday night, Selena Harris scored a perfect ten for vault. The impressive part? It was her second perfect mark in a row.

In the close loss in the meet against #4 ranked Utah, the #9 Bruins came up short by a mere .325 points. The main story of the night, however, was Harris.

Completing the always difficult blind landing, Harris’ performance on the vault earned her a second-consecutive perfect ten in the event and her third overall in her career.

On Monday night, Harris also went home with victories in the All-Around, scoring 39.675 points, uneven bars with 9.95 points, and floor exercise at 9.95 points in a dominant showing.

The 2023 Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Year and seven-time All-American, Harris has already cemented herself as one of the top gymnasts in the nation. Only a sophomore at UCLA, Harris has an opportunity to continue to build her legacy as a Bruin and continue to rack up awards and perfect tens.

With the NCAA championship around the corner in April, watch for Harris to make some more noise in the meantime and potentially take home some hardware soon.

LSU’s Haleigh Bryant takes home another SEC Gymnast of the Week award

Haleigh Bryant became the first gymnast in LSU history to record a perfect 10 in every event in her career on Friday night.

For the second time in as many weeks, LSU star [autotag]Haleigh Bryant[/autotag] has been named the SEC Gymnast of the Week. It’s the fourth time she’s received the honor this season and the ninth time in her career.

Bryant was the Tigers’ top performer in a win over No. 19 Georgia on Friday night, recording an all-around score of 39.750. She also took home titles in the vault, beam and floor events.

She recorded a perfect score on the beam, giving her a gym slam — a perfect 10 in every event. She’s the first LSU gymnast to do so and the 14th gymnast in NCAA history. Bryant now has 13 career perfect 10s, the most in program history.

Bryant has ranked as the top gymnast in the nation for four weeks in a row now, and she will be back in action with the No. 3-ranked Tigers on Friday night as they return home to host Auburn.

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Best photos from Oklahoma women’s gymnastics win Friday night

The Oklahoma Sooners set a new season high in their win on Friday night and here are the best photos from the meet.

The No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners women’s gymnastics team is off to another phenomenal start to the 2024 season. On Friday night against BYU, Utah State and Texas Woman’s University, the Sooners produced a season-high score.

Their 198.450 was their third score of more than 198 on the season, with their score on the floor leading the way. Their 49.750 score on the floor was the second best in OU program history.

Jordan Bowers won the all-around with a 39.750. Her night included 9.95s on the vault and the bars to lead the way for the Sooners. Katherine LeVasseur also had a big night, posting 10s on the vault and on the floor.

The Sooners are rolling as they get ready to head to Fort Worth for the Metroplex Challenge where they’ll take on Arkansas, Washington and Cal.

Here’s a look from the win on Friday night.

Gabby McLaughlin wins SEC Specialist of the Week

The senior captured two event titles in Auburn’s quad meet win last Friday.

No. 14 Auburn gymnastics posted its season-high overall score on Friday, and one of its best competitors is being recognized due to her strong efforts.

The SEC announced Tuesday that senior [autotag]Gabby McLaughlin[/autotag] has won SEC Specialist of the Week after winning two event titles in Auburn’s quad meet win over Fisk, Temple, and Talladega last Friday, where the team scored 197.425.

McLaughlin scored a 9.925 on the beam in Friday’s competition and reached a career-high on floor with a 9.95. Floor has been her strongest event this season, as she has scored a 9.9 or higher in four straight meets. Between floor, beam, and bars, McLaughlin has posted 9.9 eight times this season.

McLaughlin and the Tigers host No. 7 Alabama on Friday for what is expected to be a solid meet between two of the nation’s best squads. Alabama averages an overall score of 197.285, with bars being its strongest event with an average score of 49.460. As for Auburn, the Tigers average an all-around score of 196.950, with beam being their strongest.

The Tigers and Tide square off on Friday at 8 p.m. CT at Neville Arena.

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PHOTOS: No. 5 LSU gymnastics sets program record in win over No. 7 Arkansas

The Tigers put up the highest score in program history and matched the highest score in the nation this season on Friday night.

The LSU gymnastics team delivered its most impressive performance yet this season in a win over No. 7 Arkansas on Friday night.

The No. 5 Tigers won 198.475-196.200 at home against the Razorbacks, marking the highest score in program history and the highest score posted in the country this season. It also ties for the 14th-highest score in NCAA history.

LSU matched its season highs on vault and beam scores, and the performance was anchored by a program-best 49.775 floor score thanks to Haleigh Bryant’s school-record 12th career perfect 10.

“Well, we got better. That’s what this week was about. The focus and the main goal was to get a good performance, a complete performance,” coach [autotag]Jay Clark[/autotag] said in a release. “I know everyone wants to talk about the score tonight and that’s great. I do not focus on whether we get a low or high score. It’s about our performance. We did our job tonight and we can do that same performance somewhere else. For us it’s about keeping our eye on the next step ahead of us and just taking it one step at a time.”

LSU will be back in action on Friday night when it hits the road to take on Georgia. In the meantime, here are the photos from the win over the Razorbacks.

No. 20 Clemson drops a close one to NC State in front of sold-out crowd

Clemson gymnastics dropped a close one to NC State.

CLEMSON, S.C. – In front of its second-consecutive sold out home crowd, the No. 20 Clemson Tigers fell to the No. 32 NC State Wolfpack, 196.300-195.600, on Friday evening inside Littlejohn Coliseum. In only its third home meet, the gymnastics program welcomed back 8,631 fans to help celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day in collaboration with 10 other Clemson Athletic women’s programs.

The highlight of Friday’s meet consisted of the Tigers posting a program-best 49.525 on the floor, which is the 15th-highest score on the event by any program in the NCAA this season. The high score was spurred by both Molly Arnold and Lauren Rutherford scoring back-to-back 9.950s, the first 9.950s on any event by a Tiger.

Vault

With the Tigers back at home, they followed the Olympic style rotation to kickoff the meet on vault, while the Wolfpack opened the meet on bars. Both Arnold and Maggie Holman led Clemson with 9.850s Arnold’s 9.850 tied a career high on the event, while Holman appeared on the apparatus for the first time this season to anchor the event. Further helping Clemson finish with its second-highest score on vault this season, Rutherford followed closely behind Arnold and Holman with a 9.825. Trinity Brown and Madison Minner rounded out the scores for the Tigers with a 9.775 and 9.750, respectively. Through the first rotation, both teams stood at a stalemate with a team score of 49.050.

Bars

Continuing to the second rotation, the Tigers had Eve Jackson and Kaitlin DeGuzman score 9.850s to lead Clemson on bars after both athletes stuck their dismounts. Competing in her first rotation of the season, Trinity Webb opened her season with a 9.825, and Lilly Lippeatt joined her with a 9.825 of her own after she stuck her dismount. Rutherford rounded out Clemson with a 9.800 to help the team post a 49.150 to tie the second-highest score on the apparatus this season.

With every Tiger posting a 9.800 or higher, Clemson finished the second rotation slightly ahead of NC State with a score of 98.200-98.100.

Beam

Lippeatt led off the third rotation with a 9.775, while Jackson put up a 9.700. Redshirt senior Rebecca Wells stayed composed on the event to post a team-high 9.850 to boost the Tigers. Making her Clemson debut was freshman Sierra Church, who scored a 9.650. Kielyn McCright had to catch her balance on two of her passes to finish with a 8.900.

Clemson finished with a 47.875 and moved to the last rotation trailing NC State, 147.450-146.075.

Floor

Clemson rebounded in the final rotation by posting the team’s highest score on the event this season with a 49.525 that was spurred by three Tigers finishing with 9.900 or higher to anchor the meet. Arnold powered the way by scoring the first-ever 9.950 for a Clemson gymnast this season. The momentum didn’t end there as Rutherford followed with a 9.950 of her own in the fifth spot. Holman notched a career-high of her own with a 9.900 to open the rotation, while Minner (9.875) and Jackson (9.850) rounded out the Tigers with season-highs of their own.

Despite battling back in the final rotation, Clemson dropped its first meet of the season with a final score of 196.300-195.600.

The Tigers return to action on Feb. 9 with their second road meet of their inaugural season. Clemson will travel to Pittsburgh to face Pitt at 7 p.m. on ACCNX.

– Via Clemson Athletic CommunicationsÂ