LSU gymnastics put on a show Friday as it defeated No. 17 Georgia with a season high score of 197.700-196.925.
The Tigers performed well all around, with Haleigh Bryant continuing her dominance and taking her sixth straight all-around title, but it was her teammate Aleah Finnegan who took the spotlight with the first perfect 10 of her collegiate career.
“We say a lot of ‘we.’ That’s really what I thought before I went out there tonight, I wanna do it for this team and for every single person out there.” Finnegan said about her performance. “So many emotions were going on, but the first person I wanted to see was my mom.”
Outside of the perfect 10 she earned on floor, Finnegan added a 9.90 on vault, 9.90 on beam and 9.85 on bars to round out her performance. It was her perfect 10 on floor, though, that helped spark LSU, earning a 49.675 overall score on floor, its highest of the night.
The Tigers fought hard for the entire meet, earning season high performances from multiple athletes and even a team season high scoring on floor. KJ Johnson matched a career high of 9.95 on floor which along with Finnegan’s perfect 10, led to the season high.
Haleigh Bryant registered another great all-around performance as she scored a 9.90 or higher in every competition, winning her sixth all-around title of the season and ranking her at seventh in the country amongst other gymnasts.
Overall, however, it was a complete team effort from the Tigers to secure a deserved win over the Bulldogs.
“Obviously proud of this team continuing the theme of their fight, and it’s sort of become their identity” Coach Jay Clark said on the overall performance. “We’re in a good spot. We’ll feel good about this tonight, and then we’ll get back to work on Sunday and look forward to getting in front of that [Auburn] crowd and doing it again.”
This momentum is key as LSU prepares for one of its bigger meets of the season next weekend. The Tigers will look to continue their success as they travel next Friday, Feb. 10 to take on the Auburn Tigers, a team featuring Olympic gold-medalist Sunisa Lee.
