At a university where nearly every athletic program is nationally relevant, there’s never a shortage of options. There are always electric playmakers to be found.

The Reveille Athlete of the Week is LSU all-around gymnast Haleigh Bryant.

No. 3 LSU gymnastics is on a four-meet winning streak, having just defeated No. 9 Kentucky on its home turf in Lexington.

After suffering a preseason injury to her elbow while practicing on vault, the all-around gymnast has been slowly returning to each event this season, and was not expected to be back on uneven bars anytime soon, especially as LSU upsetted No. 1 Oklahoma.

“You’re a little gun shy after you have something like that,” head coach Jay Clark said, referencing Bryant’s injury. “Sometimes you gotta get over that hurdle, to understand, ‘Hey, I’m good, I’m good, I’m not going to get hurt, and I can be aggressive.’”

And over that hurdle the 2024 SEC Gymnast of the Year climbed as she returned to bars in Lexington, competing for the all-around title alongside five-time SEC freshman of the week Kailin Chio.

Bryant posted a 9.850 on bars that night and a 39.500 for the all-around.

The 2024 NCAA All-Around Champion posted some of her highest scores against the Oklahoma Sooners with a 9.950 on both vault and floor, having returned to vault the week prior against Alabama.

“It was just really good to be out there with my team and just doing what we do every single day,” Bryant commented on her return to the vault in Tuscaloosa.

While Bryant lost the all-around title to Chio against Kentucky, her return to the competition is one that is expected to gear the Tigers against George Washington in the Podium Challenge this weekend.