A momentous weekend for LSU gymnastics saw a Sunday afternoon takedown at the Baton Rouge River Center.
After earning a win just 48 hours before, LSU gymnastics found another win at the Podium Challenge, where it took down Alabama, North Carolina and Arizona behind a final score of 198.200.
“Two meets in three days is a pretty daunting test,” head coach Jay Clark said. “You’re getting a little too close to the post season to be taking a hit to our confidence, we need to build it, so we did that.”
Given the traditional Olympic order rotation, one of the most exciting events of the evening for LSU was the balance beam, when it earned an overall score of 49.625, just a .025 behind the season-high for the team.
Performing as the leadoff was Kylie Coen, who earned a solid 9.875; however, all eyes were on Amari Drayton, who suffered a fall on the event just two days prior against Alabama. Her story tonight was much different as she earned her fourth 9.925 this season.
Drayton’s score would soon be one-upped by both Konnor McClain and Kailin Chio.
McClain, who had found a breakthrough the meet before, kept the momentum as the junior went 9.925 on beam for the second time this season.
Chio followed up with her third consecutive perfect 10 on beam. With the flawless routine, she now sits at six career 10s, which is the most of any NCAA gymnast this season, to maintain her No. 1 national ranking on beam.
“That’s pretty much the way you want a double weekend to go,” Clark said. “To move some things in the lineup and have the level of performance we did today — we’re really pleased with how that went.”
The reliable Lexi Zeiss started a big night on vault for LSU in the leadoff spot. She tied her season high 9.900 with a stick.
McClain followed Zeiss, carrying the momentum from Friday’s meet right through the weekend. A stuck vault saw a new season high on the event for McClain with a near-perfect score of 9.925 on the vault that only allowed a 9.950 start value.
Further down the lineup was runway staple Drayton, looking to make up for lost scores against Alabama. A perfect landing tied her season high of 9.950.
By the end of an energetic vault rotation, the Tigers found themselves leading all three of their competitors by a score of 49.475.
Despite being the usual leadoff, Zeiss took a break on the uneven bars and handed over the position to freshman Haley Mustari.
Mustari wasn’t the only lineup tweak in the bar rotation as Ashley Cowan and Alexis Jeffrey returned.
Cowan put up a routine against Alabama on Friday where she found a season-high 9.925, and she tied it again tonight. From there, the remainder of the lineup saw sticks for almost every routine after.
As they dismounted the second event, Chio’s season-high 9.950 helped push the Tigers further into the lead.
By the end of the meet, LSU had set itself up for an exciting floor rotation.
Coen returned in the third spot of the lineup to quickly become the highlight of the event, where she danced her way to a 9.975, marking a career-high for the Tiger.
“It was just something I do every single day and I’m grateful that was the score that came out tonight,” Coen said. “I wouldn’t be able to do any of it without my team cheering me on and the fans here tonight. It was just a blast.”
Supporting performances from Drayton and Madison Ulrich would soon add to that, as the two gymnasts posted a pair of 9.900s.
By the last beat of music, the Tigers had settled in first, ahead of Alabama in second by 0.550 points to close out the weekend.
As the team heads into the final two weeks of the regular season, it prepares to take on the No. 4 Florida Gators on the road in hopes of yet another top-five takedown.
