In front of the largest crowd in gymnastics history, top-ranked LSU defeated No. 9 Alabama 197.450-196.625.
LSU coach D-D Breaux celebrated her 60th birthday by watching her team get its 30th-straight win in the PMAC with 13,729 people in attendance.
Junior all-arounder Sarah Finnegan clinched the vault and bars titles with scores of 9.90 and 9.975, respectively. The bars title is her new career high.
Finnegan and senior all-arounder Myia Hambrick* shared the all-around title with a score of 39.550. The last time that they shared a title together was in the national semifinal last April.
“We always joke in the gym because she’s a super fast worker, and I really try to keep up with her pace,” Hambrick said. “I guess that shows if we tie in the all-around or if she edges me out, that shows about how much we push each other. That’s what you want from a teammate and that’s what you want from a friend.”
“I love working out with Myia,” Finnegan added. “Whenever we’re put in the same group, we try to level each other out.”
Junior floor specialist Julianna Cannamela replaced sophomore all-arounder Kennedi Edney in the anchor spot and scored a 9.875. Edney ended up competing in bars and beam.
“[Cannamela] earned the spot of being our alternate in our intrasquad on Thursday,” LSU coach D-D Breaux said. “So by virtue of her hard work and her dedication, it was her spot to have when I pulled Kennedi out. We made a decision not to drop the whole lineup but to slide her in that spot, and she gave us exactly what we needed.”
Cannamela’s last floor appearance came in her freshman year as she scored a 9.015. She had shoulder surgery last summer and starting training more this winter.
“When [assistant coach] Jay [Clark] told me that I was going in Kennedi’s spot, I was like, ‘I can do this,’” Cannamela said. “When we got closer and closer, that’s when I started feeling more pressure and I started getting more nervous. It just didn’t feel real.”
LSU and Alabama were tied at 49.150 after the first rotation. Hambrick, Finnegan and junior specialist Lexie Priessman each score a 9.80.
The Tigers’ bars score of 49.625 is the second-highest in school history. All six of the gymnasts in the rotation had scores of 9.90 or better. Edney, Priessman and freshman specialist Sami Durante had the same score of 9.90.
“It’s the discipline that they exhibit in practice and the demands that Jay makes on them,” Breaux said. “Of all of the events, we probably do more numbers on the event because it’s not as pounding.”
LSU’s next meet will be next Saturday at the Metroplex Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, at 6:45 p.m.
*Editor’s Note: Myia Hambrick is a former employee of The Daily Reveille
