Back-to-back LSU Gymnastics wins the SEC Championship. The path to securing the crown was powered by consistency.
The Tigers now have six SEC Championship titles. This one came in, with some uncertainty during the meet.
LSU started strong on uneven bars, beating Oklahoma by .175. Four Tigers scored above a 9.9.
Jay Clark’s team had the lowest score during the second rotation, but still led by .75. Sierra Ballard, Kylie Cohen and Kailin Chio scored a 9.85, while Connor McClain, Haleigh Bryant and Aleah Finnegan finished strong with 9.9 or above.
By the third rotation, things shifted, as Florida put an impressive performance on uneven bars, taking first place away from LSU, for the first time. The Tigers had great floor routines lead by Haliegh Bryant, Kailin Chio and Amari Drayton how scored a 9.95.
The pressure was on for the last rotation. LSU gymnasts, and coach Jay Clark, were aware that they had to be nearly perfect in vault to win. They came in as the best vault team in the nation, led by Kailin Chio, also No. 1 vaulter in college gymnastics.
Haleigh Bryant, Lexi Zeiss, Aleah Finnegan and Kailin Chio scored above a 9.9 to secure the crown for the Tigers.
Despite being the only team without a perfect ten, LSU finished up being the only team above 198, surpassing runner-up Oklahoma by .275.
“We didn’t have to have that one home run moment, we just need bases, base it, after base it, after base it. We are not looking for home runs, and I honestly think that’s a great picture of how tonight went, we didn’t have a million home, but it was the bases that got us where we wanted to be,” said Aleah Finnegan.
Haleigh Bryant finished up as the best all-rounder in the SEC Championship, with a 39.725. Followed by Aleah Finnegan and Kailin Chio.
“It feels amazing, like you said I kind of started slow, in the beginning of the season, and kind of worked my way into all four events kind of towards the end of the season. It just felt really good, just to gain my confidence at this competition. I’ve been working hard on just the little details and building the confidence, because the gymnastics is, and I know it’s there,” said Haleigh Bryant.
While the competition felt like a National Championship, LSU Gymnastics Head Coach, Jay Clark, believes that this is a crucial step towards the team ultimate goal.
“We’ve got the best three teams in the country on the same floor, I definitely think it prepares our teams for the post season as we go forward.”
Everything seems to be clicking for LSU, as they sum up four meets in a row scoring above 198, with two of them competing away from home.
“I think we also had it in us, it just came all together at the perfect, and we are all picking at the right time in the season,” said Olivia Dunne.
With the Tigers, confidence level at it’s peak, the purple, and gold are now focused on defending the National Championship.
