At the climax of a season like no other, LSU gymnastics put up an elite showing on senior night that gives the team all the momentum at the perfect time.
LSU came into its meet with Missouri having lost each of its last three meets and feeling like it had something to prove. The Tigers put together a very impressive showing against Missouri, winning by a score of 197.875-196.175. This was also LSU’s second-highest score of the season, helping them secure the No. 2 seed in the SEC Championships.
The meet did more for LSU than just improving its score and securing the No. 2 seed, it gave the team confidence and momentum going into the postseason.
The Tigers put together a complete meet which was something they had not done since its heartbreaking loss to top-ranked Florida. The spark came early in the meet for LSU after freshman Haleigh Bryant scored a perfect ten on vault that seemed to give the team energy. Bryant said after the meet that the focus for her team was just going out and doing what the team was capable of.
“We came into this meet just wanting to do our normal gymnastics,” Bryant said. “We do amazing gymnastics in the gym and it showed tonight.”
It was also senior night and that too seemed to give the team energy and motivation. Six seniors were honored before the meet and many of these seniors made an important and early impact in the meet. After the meet, head coach Jay Clark was proud of the leadership that his seniors showed.
“The seniors did tonight what you expect seniors to do,” Clark said. “They provided us with a lot of leadership, a lot of great performances, but their emotional makeup is tremendous for us.”
This leadership has been huge for LSU all season and will continue to be a factor for the Tigers as they head into the postseason.
Another aspect of the meet that gives LSU momentum heading into the postseason was Kiya Johnson’s perfect ten on floor to end the meet. Johnson has been in and out of the lineup in different events over the course of the season due to injuries, but against Missouri, she showed what she is capable of at her best. This was the perfect way to end the meet for LSU, and Johnson believes that there are many positives to take from this meet.
“We still can improve, and we had a really high score,” Johnson said. “I think we need to take the positives from this meet and run with them.”
Overall, this meet was hugely important for the Tigers just to get them moving in the right direction heading into the postseason. Coming off a stretch of disappointing meets, it would have been easy for LSU give in and lose its fight, but the Tigers showed resilience and got back on the right track against Missouri.
“We did have those losses and they stung a little bit, but they motivated us to get back in the gym and work even harder,” Johnson said when discussing the mindset of the team going into the meet with Missouri.
This meet secured the No. 2 seed for LSU in the SEC Championships as the Tigers now go into a week off to prepare and get healthy. After a meet like the one against Missouri, the Tigers showed that when at their best, they can compete with anyone and according to Johnson, the best is still yet to come.
“We still have more; nobody has seen our best yet so we’re coming.”