LSU Gymnastics fell short in their quest to defend their national title, placing third in the semifinal round of the national championship in Fort Worth.

Head Coach Jay Clark spoke to media after the loss, mentioning the emotions the team is going through.

“There’s a bunch of broken hearts in that group because they’ve poured their souls into this program,” Coach Clark said. “Those seniors have been here a long time and they’ve worked hard and blood, sweat and tears for a long time. They wanted it. They wanted it so bad. Sometimes you can want it too bad.”

One of those seniors is Haleigh Bryant, who Clark shared a moment with after the meet was over.

“I just told her to reflect on where we were when she got here and where we’ve come,” Clark said. “Much of that was due to her leadership and her example and I wanted her to not define or allow this moment of disappointment to be in any way a defining moment for her.”

Coach Clark also told media how proud he is of this team and how they got to compete for a national championship in back-to-back seasons.

“Their grit, their fight. We had injuries, we’d get somebody back, someone else would go down,” Coach Clark said. “We moved things around a lot this year, they never quit fighting. They finished the year with six in a row 198-plus scores, they won both levels of the conference, they won the NCAA regional in a very very tough field that included one of the teams on the floor here tonight. I’m proud of them. They’re a championship team. We fell short today, but that’s about the only spot we fell short.”