LSU gymnastics set to compete in River Center for quad meet

Editor’s Note: The following is an official press release courtesy of LSU’s athletics department.

BATON ROUGE – The No. 6 LSU gymnastics team will face No. 7 California, No. 23 Washington and George Washington for a quad meet inside the Raising Cane’s River Center in Baton Rouge on Friday, March 3, at 6 p.m. CT.

“I’ve been impressed with how our team has been true to our message and stayed on course this entire season,” said head coach Jay Clark. “They just keep climbing, and that has to be our continued message. We’re taking it one step at a time and only letting ourselves define us. It’ll be an entertaining podium meet on Friday and I hope our fans show up.”

Live stats of the meet will be available on meetscoresonline.com.

Tickets

Tickets for the Podium Challenge inside the Raising Cane’s River Center can be found on Ticketmaster and also through the River Center box office.

The Series Record

The Tigers own an overall record of 2-0-0 over California. This will be the first time the two meet away from the PMAC during the regular season.

Against Washington, the Tigers are 13-4-0 and 3-0-0 away from the PMAC. The last time the two teams met was in 2018.

LSU is undefeated against George Washington as they hold a 9-0-0 record over the Colonials and are 6-0-0 in the regular season. This will be the first meeting between the two since 2018.

Last Time On The Floor

LSU defeated No. 9 Alabama with a season high road score of 197.975-197.925 last Friday night in Coleman Coliseum.

It was a career night for the Tigers as the team posted a season high road score of 197.975 to take down the Crimson Tide. LSU won their fourth competition against the Crimson Tide in the team’s last five meetings inside Coleman Coliseum.

Junior Haleigh Bryant and sophomore Aleah Finnegan both recorded perfect scores to lead the Tigers to victory. The last time two gymnasts earned a perfect score in the same meet was in 2022, when Kiya Johnson and Haleigh Bryant both earned 10’s in the Tigers win over Auburn. It was the first time since 2019 two 10’s were recorded on the road.

Finnegan’s 10 on floor marked her fourth straight in as many meets, making her the only LSU gymnast to record such an accomplishment. The sophomore now owns two career perfect scores on floor and four in her career. Bryant moved her career total to seven on vault.

LSU began the competition on bars, scoring a 49.175 for the event. Sophomore Alexis Jeffrey led off with a 9.800 followed by junior Olivia Dunne who made her first appearance of the year for the Tigers, scoring a 9.825. Sophomore Tori Tatum earned a 9.875 in the third spot and senior Alyona Shchennikova added a 9.750. Bryant anchored with a team-high 9.925 to send the team to the second rotation.

Junior Elena Arenas hit a huge 9.925 routine to lead off on vault and earn a season high. Chase Brock scored a career high 9.975 in the third spot and freshman Bryce Wilson followed with a 9.875 in her first career appearance in the event. Finnegan added a 9.900 before Bryant anchored with her perfect ten, which was the seventh of her career. The Tigers put up a 49.675 on vault to tie for the second highest score in program history overall and on the road.

LSU led at the halfway point with a score of 98.850-98.650.

On floor, junior Sierra Ballard led off with a 9.850 followed by Jeffrey, who made her first appearance in the lineup for the Tigers and scored a 9.750. Brock continued her career night and earned a career high with her 9.925 performance. In the fifth spot, Finnegan had another perfect routine to mark her second on floor for the year and take the win. Bryant anchored with a 9.975 as the Tigers earned a 49.575 in the third rotation.

In the final rotation, Arenas continued to show poise for the Tigers and led off with a 9.850. In her first career appearance on beam, Jeffrey scored a 9.900. Junior Sierra Ballard recorded a career high score of a 9.925 and Bryant added a 9.900. Finnegan closed the night out with a 9.975 to help the Tigers match their season high beam score of 49.550.

Despite injury setbacks, the squad continued to climb as LSU battled for the win in Tuscaloosa.

Bryant’s career high all-around performance helped lead the Tigers to victory, as she scored a 39.800 and recorded her seventh win. After earning two titles against the Crimson Tide, she now owns 20 titles on the year; two on bars, three on beam, one on floor and seven on vault and the all-around.

Perfect Scores In 2023

Bryant earned the first perfect 10 in 2023 for the Tigers after her vault against Missouri. It was her sixth career perfect score; all of them being on vault. The junior tallied another perfect score on vault at Alabama, moving her career total to seven after her second 10.00 this year.

Finnegan has recorded four perfect scores in four consecutive weeks to find perfection in all of February. The sophomore’s first career perfect score came on floor against Georgia February 3rd, followed by a 10.00 on vault at Auburn. She found her first perfect score on beam and third in her career against the Gators. Most recently, Finnegan recorded her second perfect score on floor this year and fourth in her career last Friday at Alabama.

She will look to be the first gymnast in LSU history to earn a perfect score across all four events.

Conference Honors

The Tigers have notched three weekly conference honors in 2023. Bryant earned the first conference award for the Tigers this season as she was named SEC Co-Gymnast of the Week on January 24. Against Missouri, she earned a perfect 10.00 on vault and scores of 9.900+ on all four events.

The junior notched her second award on March 1 after her career high performance at Alabama, where she recorded her seventh career perfect 10.00 and a 39.800 in the all-around to help lead the Tigers to victory. She now owns three weekly conference honors in her career.

KJ Johnson earned her first honor as she was named SEC Specialist of the Week on February 7 for her performance against Georgia. The sophomore earned a 9.875 on vault and matched her career high on floor with a 9.950 against the Bulldogs.

The Squad

Bryant and Finnegan are expected to be mainstays in the all-around as the team prepares for their first quad-meet of the season. Arenas could also appear in the all-around for the Tigers.

An eight-time All-American, Bryant has embraced a larger role this season and has earned 20 titles in 2023, including six straight all-around titles. She owns seven career perfect 10’s on vault as her front handspring-front pike half is considered to be one of the best vaults in all of NCAA gymnastics.

Bryant has recorded season highs of 9.975 on floor, 9.950 on bars and beam, and matched her career high 10 on vault against Missouri and Alabama. She set a new career high against the Crimson Tide to become only the sixth gymnast in program history to record an all-around score of 39.800 or higher.

Finnegan competed in the all-around for the first time in the team’s season opener at Utah and now owns a career high score of 39.800 after her career night at Auburn. After recording four straight perfect 10’s in the Tigers last four meets, the sophomore now owns perfect scores on floor, vault, and beam and a career high of 9.925 on bars.

Arenas has been a consistent contender in the vault, bars and beam lineups. The junior from Athens, Georgia, won the SEC vault title in 2021 and owns a season-high score of 9.925 on the event. She also recorded a career high of 9.925 on beam at Kentucky and 9.900 on bars against Florida. In her first appearance on floor this season against Florida, she earned a 9.825 and matched that against Alabama.

Shchennikova competed in the all-around for the first time this season against Missouri and matched her career high 39.525 against Auburn. The senior owns season highs of 9.925 on vault, 9.875 on bars, 9.800 on beam and 9.925 on floor.

Kai Rivers provides experience and leadership within the team. After a battle with injury throughout her career, the senior is a staple in the beam lineup and owns a season-high of 9.900, which she scored back-to-back against Auburn and Florida.

Junior Chase Brock made her vault and floor debuts against Oklahoma and has been continually making her mark in the lineups. After her career night against Alabama, she now owns highs of 9.975 on vault and 9.925 on floor.

Ballard continues to bring the energy to the floor leadoff spot and owns a season high of 9.900 on the event. The Louisiana native debuted on beam against Oklahoma and now owns a career high of 9.925 after her performance at Alabama.

A native of Dallas, Texas, KJ Johnson has shown out on floor and vault, where she owns season high scores of 9.950. Johnson also recorded a career high 9.875 in only her third beam appearance against Florida.

Tori Tatum, a sophomore from Chanhassen, Minnesota, made her debut on bars against Oklahoma after suffering from an injury last year. Tatum scored a 9.875 in her first ever collegiate routine and recorded a career high 9.900 against Missouri, which she matched again against Florida and Alabama.

A consistent bars leadoff, Alexis Jeffrey owns a career high of 9.925 on bars and made her beam and floor debuts in Tuscaloosa. The sophomore now owns highs of 9.900 on beam and 9.750 on floor.

Freshmen Ashley Cowan and Bryce Wilson have stepped up in only their first season with their Tigers. Cowan made her collegiate debut at Auburn where she scored a 9.775 on bars, while Wilson made her debut on beam against Utah and recently debuted on vault, where she earned a 9.875.

Fans can follow the Tigers on the team’s social media channels @LSUgym on Instagram and Twitter and www.Facebook.com/lsugym.

Week Eight Rankings

LSU (4-5, 4-3 SEC) moved up to sixth in the week eight Road To National rankings following a season-high road score of 197.975 last Friday night.

The Tigers own an NQS of 197.575 in the week eight rankings and continue to climb the top-10 for the sixth consecutive week. LSU’s six scores are 198.100, 197.700 and 197.450 from home meets and 197.975, 197.500 and 197.250 away from the PMAC.

The squad also climbed the event rankings to place in the top-10 in all four events for the first time this season. LSU ranks second on vault, fourth on floor, seventh on bars and tenth on beam.

Junior Haleigh Bryant ranked amongst the top-10 gymnasts in the nation for the sixth consecutive week at No. 4. The junior is tied at the top on vault and ranks in the top-25 on bars, beam and floor.

Sophomore Aleah Finnegan also ranks amongst the top-25 gymnasts in the country as she placed at No. 3 on floor, No. 4 on beam, No. 22 on vault and No. 12 in the all-around.

LSU ranks second in the conference, only behind Florida.

Week Eight Road To National Rankings (2/27/23)