Kennedi Edney is LSU’s “fire-breathing dragon.”
At least that’s how coach D-D Breaux described the freshman gymnast after her 9.95 score on vault and 9.875 on uneven bars in her first gymnastics meet.
“She’s a freshman,” Breaux said on Jan. 6. “Look at her face. She tends to get a little bit timid sometimes because she doesn’t know what kind of monster she is. Once she has that awaken[ing] and says ‘You know what? I’m going to be a force to be reckoned with,’ and she’s going to step into her own.”
Several top-ten gymnastics schools recruited Edney, including UCLA, Utah, Oklahoma and Minnesota.
“I would get letters from schools like Utah and Oklahoma,” Edney said. “Other schools wouldn’t recruit me because they thought I was going to UCLA.”
Kennedi’s father, Tyus Edney, is a former basketball player at UCLA and was a part of the Bruins 1995 National Championship squad.
For some people, it might seem extraordinary, but it never phased Kennedi.
“He’s my dad. I see him no different,” Kennedi said.
She grew up going to UCLA’s campus and had been there multiple times before going for her official visit. Even though she is familiar with UCLA, Kennedi described LSU as feeling like home.
“I chose LSU for the environment,” Kennedi said. “It was very positive, and it felt like home here.”
Regardless of what school Kennedi picked, it didn’t matter to her father, as long as she was happy.
“If I’m happy, he’s happy,” Kennedi said. “LSU didn’t let go. They were going to keep on pushing until they got me.”
Breaux mentioned how Kennedi and other teammates do what is expected of them every day of training.
“They’re doing a tremendous job,” Breaux said. “Every day they are doing everything we ask them to do, both in and out of the gym.”
Before coming to LSU, Kennedi looked up to her friend and former gymnastics team member Kaitlyn Clark, who competed in gymnastics at the University of Alabama.
“She pushed me to be better and always supported me throughout,” Kennedi said.
Kennedi described her first NCAA meet on the road against Alabama as “normal” and untroublesome.
“My favorite event is vault,” Kennedi said. “Training is going well so far, and I’m training in all four events. I really want to start competing in floor.”
Against Alabama, Kennedi scored a 9.90 on vault and 9.80 on bars and beam, respectively.
Since moving to Baton Rouge from Chino, California, Kennedi has enjoyed the weather, food and people.
“I actually like the difference here because in California you get no rain,” Kennedi said. “Here you get different weather, culture and environment. The people here are more friendly than they are in California.”