LSU Gymnastics began their dance to Fort Worth in the second round of the NCAA Penn State Regional Final Thursday night where they put up a dominating 198.100. The Tigers win over Arkansas, Michigan and Maryland moved the Tigers forward into the Penn State Regional Final on Saturday.
Standout Senior and Olympian Aleah Finnegan claimed two individual titles Thursday night. She took a share of the beam title (9.950) which she shared with Kentucky’s Isabella Magnelli and Maryland’s Maddie Komoroski. She also took a share of the floor (9.925) and all-around (39.625) titles which she shared with SEC Freshman of the year teammate Kailin Chio.
The Tigers spent the first half of the night at the leg events, which have been their strongest all season long.
Opening the night on the floor, the Tigers kicked off the meet with a 49.550. The top scores of the rotation came from Chio and Finnegan (9.925) but all six gymnasts in the rotation did their part, with five scoring at least a 9.90 or above.
The second rotation saw LSU on the vault where fan-favorite senior KJ Johnson started the rotation off with a 9.90. Five of the six Tigers in the lineup put up a score of 9.90 which gave the Tigers a rotation total of 49.500. At the halfway point of the meet, LSU boasted a staggering 99.050 to remain in the top spot.
The third rotation took the Tigers to the bars where freshman Lexi Zeiss opened the rotation with a 9.90 to set the tone for her teammates. Junior event specialist Ashley Cowan handed LSU their top score on the bars with a 9.925. The next three gymnasts in the rotation all put up a 9.90 letting the Tigers only count scores with a 9.90 or higher on three consecutive events.
Going into the fourth rotation the Tigers led with a 148.575 but the Arkansas Razorbacks weren’t far behind, posting a 148.075 as the final six gymnasts on both teams prepared for the last events.
LSU ended the night on beam where Sierra Ballard kicked off the rotation with a 9.80. Sophomore Kylie Coen followed with a 9.875. The Tigers continued to build off of this momentum with Chio, sophomore Konnor McClain, and Haleigh Bryant all scoring a 9.90. Beam anchor Aleah Finnegan’s 9.950 was more evidence of the senior’s ability to perform under pressure. Her score solidified the Tigers as the meet champions with a final of 198.100.
The score from Thursday night is the third highest at a NCAA Regional in program history.
Saturday’s NCAA Regional Final will include No. 1 LSU, No. 16 Arkansas, No. 8 Michigan State and No. 9 Kentucky. The meet will take place at 4 p.m CT in Rec Hall where the top two teams will advance to the NCAA semi-finals in Fort Worth Texas.
