Emily Innes didn’t need to adjust to LSU’s colors because they were already familiar. After three years at University of Washington, the purple and gold followed her to Baton Rouge.
What changed, however, was everything around them.
Emily mentioned that the support system she was welcomed into in her conference jump was what stood out to her most after receiving the offer from LSU.
“The coaches are so genuine that it made it feel welcoming,” Innes said. “Going from Big Ten to the SEC is a big jump, so just trusting that they believed in me and seeing me in their program was the reassurance that they continue to give me.”
How she ended up in Baton Rouge sprouted from a desire for stability. Though she came from a team that felt like family, a constant revolving door of staff changes at Washington pushed Innes to look for a program where both the culture and coaching foundation felt solid enough to support her senior year.
“I didn’t leave because of anything negative,” Innes said. “There was just a lot of change throughout my time there. I just felt like I had more to give, and the place I was at, I felt like I’d given everything I had to that school and wanted something more for myself.”
During her time at Washington, Innes proved her talent on a comeback from a season-ending shoulder injury in her senior year of high school. Over three seasons as a Husky, Innes earned countless awards, including Newcomer of the Year in 2022, and became the NCAA regional floor champion while being named to the Pac-12 2024 Winter Academic Honor Roll her sophomore year.
In her junior season, Innes earned both the Distinguished Scholar award and was named to Big Ten Academic Honors. Career-wise, 2025 was the first time she had been named to the All-Conference Second Team, and she also earned a spot on the Big Ten All-Championship Team for Floor Exercise.
Even with all the success, Emily still knew she had more to accomplish.
“I knew I only had one more year and decided to switch it up,” Innes said. “Trusting that I would go to a place that would welcome me the same as [Washington] did and continue to grow for my last year of gymnastics.”
Though the decision itself was obvious for her, she admits that turning down the other programs wasn’t as easy.
“I think the hardest part was just telling other people no, but I feel like I knew what my heart wanted,” Innes said.
One of the biggest things this transfer brings to the program is a competitive edge on the vault and floor rotations. Emily set career highs during her time in Washington for both events, with the highest being a score of 9.950 on floor and 9.875 on vault.
The senior also shines on the balance beam with a career high of 9.900 that she earned in her sophomore season. As she prepares to take the competition floor in 2026, she hopes to add her competitive experience to the Baton Rouge lineups.
“I would hope to be in the three events I train in, which are floor, beam and vault,” Innes said. “I’ve been upgrading my vault, so I’m really excited about that. A lot of the LSU lineups are very competitive because we have so much depth, so as long as I’m training and gaining consistency, I feel like it’ll fall into play wherever I’m meant to be.”
Aside from what she adds to the team’s overall score on Friday nights, she also adds to the team’s dynamic. Having three seasons under her belt, Innes has stepped into a leadership role despite being a newcomer to the squad and tries her hardest to be a role model for underclassmen.
“I think perspective is very important,” Innes said. “I’ve gone through a lot and learned a lot of things in my time at college with different coaches now on two teams. I feel like my perspective can be very beneficial for this team, just as a leadership aspect. There’s a lot of upperclassmen on this team, so I think all of us together are helping to navigate the underclassmen.”
Even as a first-year Tiger, Innes has quickly become a member of the LSU family. She brings a great deal of competition experience and leadership to a team that’s on the prowl for a finals appearance after a late upset last year.
As one of the four transfers helping to reshape the roster for the 2026 season, Innes adds depth to competitive lineups built for a championship run and hopes to close out her career as part of the push.
“I’m super excited to be in the SEC and to compete at the highest standard that I could with that competitive drive,” Innes said. “I’m also just so grateful to be living the life I do as an athlete while being able to get a degree and be around people that are so supportive and understanding.”
