The ninth-ranked LSU gymnastics team just captured a weekend sweep of two meets within 48 hours. On Friday, the Tigers traveled to St. Charles, Missouri for the GymQuarters Invitational where they earned the first spot with a score of 197.875. The Tigers were back in action on Sunday when they topped the Kentucky Wildcats with a score of 197.500- 196.625in the Maravich Center.
The Tigers victory was led by Kiya Johnson, the freshman from Dallas, Texas. Johnson has been the heart of this Tiger team since she stepped foot on campus and today would not be any different. Johnson led the scores with her performance on beam, floor, and vault, earning a 9.875, a 9.975 (her fourth 9.975 of the season) and a 9.925.
Following today’s meet, Johnson has now earned her 20th season title with victories in the all-around with a score of 39.650 and on floor with a 9.975. Johnson has won the all-around six times this season.
The Tiger upperclassman helped push the Tigers past the Wildcats with big scores from senior Ruby Harrold, who earned a career high score of 9.975 on vault, earning her the title. Along with Harrold was junior Sami Durante, who led the bar score earning a 9.925. Both Durante and Harrold took the bar title with a score of 9.925. On beam, the Tigers were led by Christiana Desiderio, Duante, and Bridget Dean who all earned a 9.875. Dean continued to come up big for the Tigers as she scored a career high 9.875 on the bars. Reagan Campbell, the junior from Dallas, Texas earned a career high score of 9.900 while on the floor.
“We needed this win. Everything counts. The fact that we are getting kids back in the lineup is critical in getting us some depth back. “
“Having back-to-back competitions will prepare us for the back-to-back regionals and back-to-back that are nationals,” Head Coach DD Breaux said.
With this victory, the Tigers improved to 9-2 overall and 3-2 in the conference while the Wildcats fell to 6-3 overall and 3-2 in the SEC.
Next up, the Tigers will head to Colombia, Missouri to take on the Missouri Tigers Friday, February 21st at 8p.m. The Tigers recently defeated Missouri while in St. Charles, Missouri at the GymQuarts Invitational the weekend before. Missouri is looking for their first conference win of the season. The meet will be televised live on the SEC Network.
