After a tough double weekend the LSU gymnastics team is officially No. 6 in the National Qualifying Score (NQS) rankings, which were officially released Tuesday. The team triumphed at home on Friday against No. 8 Alabama, but didn’t have the same luck just two days later in Missouri.
The Tigers came in second with a score 197.200 in the Tri-Meet with No. 9 Missouri and Arkansas. Missouri led the meet with a 197.350, while Arkansas finished last with a 196.800. After COVID-19 protocols prevented the Purple and Gold from competing two straight weeks, the team had to scramble to squeeze in additional meets. On Sunday, a big drawback for the Tigers was definitely fatigue. In gymnastics, competing more than once a week is out of the ordinary due to the strain the sport puts on gymnasts’ bodies. This can possibly explain why their score was nearly an entire point lower from their season high score on Friday (198.050).
“Our team [felt] pretty good after Friday night,” LSU gymnastics head coach Jay Clark spoke before mentioning his plans to rest a few key people. “We are hitting our stride and really building off of each meet. The goal is to continue doing that.”
Despite not coming out on top, the Tigers went home with a lot of pros on the night. Sophomore Haleigh Bryant registered a career high in the all-around (39.700) along with a perfect score on vault for the fourth time in her collegiate career. She is the No. 2 gymnast in the nation on vault this year. Additionally, she is already the third gymnast in line for the most 10’s in school history.
LSU was in the lead during the first rotation (49.375). Freshman Aleah Finnegan made her debut on bars, scoring a 9.85. Elena Arenas marked a new career high at 9.85 following Bryant’s 9.9. Sami Durante anchored the event for the team’s highest bars score at 9.925. The team registered an explosive 49.400 on vault thanks to Bryant’s 10 and Johnson’s 9.9.
When the third rotation at the beam came around, LSU could not keep up. Although Kiya Johnson anchored with a 9.925, two scores within the 9.7 range had to be taken into account. Their performance on the floor was not much better. Besides Bryant’s 9.9, the rest of the Tigers could not put up any higher numbers than a 9.85. Even KJ Johnson’s scores were lower than her season average.
LSU will return fully rested for their next meet in Denton, Texas on Friday. The Purple and Gold will face Texas Woman’s and Pittsburgh at 6 p.m. Central Time. The meet will stream live on paid program LHN.
