The 2022 season for LSU gymnastics was a whirlwind, to say the least. The year started with a trail of postponements due to COVID-19 protocols followed by an explosive mid-season run that broke several records within the program’s history.
Throughout the season, the Tigers climbed to No. 5 in the nation and set a new all-time high on floor since 2017.
Haleigh Bryant returned even stronger than she was in her debut season. The sophomore was named SEC Specialist of the Week twice and registered a new career-high in the all-around. She also scored two perfect 10s on vault to bring her collegiate career total to four.
Along with Bryant, senior Sami Durante was named a regular-season All-American while Bryant and KJ Johnson were named to the All-SEC team. Kiya Johnson also scored two perfect 10s this season—one on beam and the other on floor—to bring her total to seven in just a three-year span. Johnson also competed at the individual vault competition at the NCAA Championships this year.
The team nearly broke the program’s all-time attendance record when they defeated Olympic gold medalist Sunisa Lee and the rest of the Auburn gymnastics team at home. They ranked No. 1 in the nation for average attendance this season. They later matched their eighth-highest overall score in history during the last showdown of the season against Utah—a team who nearly took them down during last year’s Regionals.
However, a sudden crash of momentum occurred at the SEC Championships. The Purple and Gold scored even lower than their first meet of the season. Their season rankings gave them a chance to perform at Regionals, but LSU performed even worse from there, causing an abrupt and unexpected end to the Tigers’ year.
The LSU gymnastics team met a heartbreaking end to a fantastic season of some of the highest scores in the nation. The Tigers lost in the second regional round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, March 31. The Tigers finished third in a quad meet against Missouri, Iowa and NC State. The team posted its lowest score of the year (196.575). Missouri and Iowa advanced to the regional final with scores of 197.150 and 196.900.
“We’re all hurt, devastated and disappointed,” LSU coach Jay Clark said. “I just hurt for the kids. It’s painful for all of us. To have it end this way is as disappointing a moment in my 32-year career as I can remember.”
Only a few stifled sobs could be heard on the bus ride from the Reynolds Coliseum to the hotel in Raleigh, North Carolina. When their rotation on the balance beam–their last event–concluded, it finally struck the Tigers that their season was really over and that they’d be saying goodbye to six of the team’s seniors. That afternoon was surreal for those gymnasts—especially for Christina Desiderio, whose very last beam routine didn’t match up to her usual standards.
The Raleigh Regionals started off great for the Tigers. They earned a sizeable lead after the first two rotations (98.975). Opening on floor, the Purple and Gold scored a 49.500—their highest away on the event this season and third-highest score at a regional in school history. On vault, all-stars Kiya Johnson and Haleigh Bryant gave a strong finish with 9.95s before heading into the third rotation.
That’s when things began falling apart for LSU.
“They’re mental mistakes, not physical ones,” Clark said.
On bars, sophomore Bryant heavily faceplanted into the mat after missing the high bar coming off the release of a straddled Jaeger. Being the lowest score of the lineup (9.05), it was omitted so the team was forced to count anchor Sami Durante’s 9.65 after her toe scraped the floor during her routine. Bryant was having a rough time before regionals: she was dealing with a case of the norovirus and still attempting to compete on two events.
After showing consistency and high performance all season long, Bryant’s fall affected the team. Going on beam, the pressure was evidently too large to handle.
Cool and collected Desiderio led the lineup as usual but didn’t appear like her usual self. She fell and the pain was written all over her face following the performance.
Knowing that another fall would be detrimental, freshman Aleah Finnegan might have been in over her head during her first regional competition. The squad was forced to count another fall on beam after Finnegan failed to stick the landing on her second loso.
Inconsistency seemed to be the main factor in LSU’s fall this season. Clark saw himself as entirely responsible for the team’s sporadic performances.
“Look, there’s not a bad thing I’ll say about any of these kids, and I’ve got to be able to prepare them, and when they feel weak, I’ve got to help them feel strong,” he said. “It’s on me.”
This meet was the third consecutive meet during the postseason competition in which LSU’s performance was uncharacteristic and disappointing. The Purple and Gold watched as they saw Missouri, a team who defeated them three times this season despite having a much lower NQS (average) score than the Tigers, advance to the final round.
“The mistakes that we saw today, just like in SECs, are not things that we see in the gym,” Clark said. “I told them in the end, ‘I feel like I failed you.’”
The twists and turns of the 2022 season for LSU have left disheartened fans confused and asking, ‘What went wrong?’ Many fans believe that the usual contribution that Bryant makes would have made all the difference—but the sophomore looked like she was at her wits’ end. Sickness was likely a major component, but many people believe the sophomore all-star has been driven into the ground.
As a freshman, she competed in the all-around division all but three times. During those three meets, she still competed in three out of four events. This season, she’s struggled with injuries but still competed in three or more events besides the Georgia meet (two events) and the Utah meet where she didn’t compete at all.
A similar trend was seen with Johnson’s progression after she joined the Tigers for the 2020 season. The junior competed in the all-around every meet (9x) with the exception of the last two meets where she competed in two and three events respectively. In 2021, Johnson competed twice in the all-around division before injury forced her to wait until March to try again. She competed in the all-around five times straight to end the season. In the latest season, Johnson has only competed in the all-around three times. Lately, many critics believe the program tends to overuse their top gymnasts, driving them to major injury before their collegiate career is even halfway completed.
Another controversial debate centers around the constant usage of the super seniors. Desiderio has been pretty consistent up until regionals when she likely flaked due to nerves. Bridget Dean consistently performed within the 9.85 range minus her fall at the Auburn meet. Durante competed across the board in vault, bars and beam, averaging 9.808, 9.769, and 9.613 respectively.
With the graduation of the super seniors, it’s important that the program begins to utilize its roster. The freshmen and sophomores on the team weren’t utilized nearly as much as they could have been. Finnegan scored a 9.85 in her debut performance on bars, then was never used again. Chase Brock flaunts career highs of 9.90 and 9.85 on vault and bars from her freshman season. Yet, she didn’t perform once this year.
Sierra Ballard averaged 9.844 on floor last year but was taken out of the lineup after scoring a 9.75 in the first meet and once more when she scored a 9.775 at the Missouri Tri-meet. Junior Alyona Schennikova wasn’t put in action much either, but it’s unclear how extensive her injury was this year.
“We will figure it out,” Clark spoke before the team left the regionals center that night. “We will be back, and we’re not going anywhere.”
With all that said, it’s unclear what the 2023 recruiting class will look like for LSU. So far, they have seven verbal commitments: three level 10’s, a junior international elite, and three senior international elites.
