The No. 8 LSU gymnastics team is peaking at the right moment.
The Tigers tied their season high in Friday’s home finale with a 196.85, and they will attempt to use that momentum entering Saturday’s Southeastern Conference Championship in Duluth, Ga.
Although LSU won’t get the home benefit of the PMAC, the Tigers shouldn’t regress much, if at all. The only other meet in which the Tigers reached a 196.85 was on the road at current-No. 1 Florida.
“Everything throughout the season has prepared us for these postseason meets,” said LSU senior Ashley Lee. “Ending like we did really just shows how close we are and how much we really are pulling for each other.”
Lee’s home finale against West Virginia was especially memorable, as she was the only senior on the squad for Senior Night. She said she didn’t want to draw a lot of attention, but she couldn’t ignore how special that moment was.
Even with the pressure of being the only senior, Lee delivered a 9.85 on vault and a 9.80 on floor.
“Everything from how we did as a team, how we did together – I feel like I did well on vault and floor. It was an emotional night,” Lee said. “It was everything I’d hoped for.”
LSU finished with at least a 49.00 in each event for the first time since the Feb. 10 meet against Florida. The Tigers posted at least a 49.20 in each event Friday except for beam, where they scored a 49.10.
LSU coach D-D Breaux said she hoped the Tigers could pull out their first team score of 197.00 in the regular season finale, but Lee said the team is capable of achieving the feat in the SEC Championship.
“A 49.25 on each event, that’s so attainable,” Lee said. “We’re right there, we’re so close. Just being consistent on every event like we did will help us improve and will let us see the team score we want to see. We’re getting more consistent, and I think we’re going to do big things this postseason.”
Sophomore Sarie Morrison continued her scorching pace on bars, posting her third consecutive 9.90 in leading the Tigers to a 49.225 on March 16 – their highest score in any event in the meet. She said she feels like the team can count on her every time she steps up to anchor.
“This is probably the most confident I’ve been in a while on bars,” Morrison said. “I’ve kind of gotten to take a step back and look at things from a different perspective.”
Morrison has only participated on bars since undergoing surgery on her ankle early in the season. She said she’ll continue to work solely on that event this postseason and prepare for a larger array of work next year.
“I’m really motivated to getting everything back this summer and be in the all-around next year,” she said.
Until then, she will continue to focus and perfect her one event.
 
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Contact Rowan Kavner at [email protected]