 Photo By: LSUsports.net Da Boot Sports 2/25/2023 LSU Sports Communications By: Alyssa Leal TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 8 LSU Gymnastics team defeated No. 9 Alabama with a season high road score of 197.975-197.925 on Friday night. It was a career night for LSU as the team posted a season high road score of 197.975 to take down Alabama. The Tigers have won their fourth competition against the Crimson Tide in the team's last five meetings inside Coleman Coliseum. “It was a great meet and road score for us tonight. This team is full of fighters,” said head coach Jay Clark. “We started out rough, but we didn’t let it phase us. They caught fire on vault and it sent us to floor with a lot of confidence. They never let up. It was a total team effort. No matter how much this team gets set back, they continue to fight and show what they’re made of. We weren't perfect, but it was a gutsy performance.” Junior Haleigh Bryant and sophomore Aleah Finnegan both recorded perfect scores to lead the Tigers to victory. The last time two gymnasts earned a perfect score in the same meet was in 2022, when Kiya Johnson and Haleigh Bryant both earned 10’s in the Tigers win over Auburn. It was the first time since 2019 two 10’s were recorded on the road. Finnegan’s 10 on floor marked her fourth straight in as many meets, making her the only LSU gymnast to record such an accomplishment. The sophomore now owns two career perfect scores on floor and four in her career. Bryant moved her career total to seven on vault. LSU started the meet off on bars, scoring a 49.175 for the event. Sophomore Alexis Jeffrey led off with a 9.800 followed by junior Olivia Dunne who made her first appearance of the year for the Tigers, scoring a 9.825. Sophomore Tori Tatum earned a 9.875 in the third spot and senior Alyona Shchennikova added a 9.750. Bryant anchored with a team-high 9.925 to send the team to the second rotation. Elena Arenas hit a huge 9.925 routine to lead off on vault and earn a season high. Chase Brock scored a career high 9.975 in the third spot and freshman Bryce Wilson followed with a 9.875 in her first career appearance in the event. Finnegan added a 9.900 before Bryant anchored with her perfect ten, which was the seventh of her career. The Tigers put up a 49.675 on vault to tie for the second highest score in program history overall and on the road. LSU led at the halfway point with a score of 98.850-98.650. On floor, junior Sierra Ballard led off with a 9.850 followed by Jeffrey, who made her first appearance in the lineup for the Tigers and scored a 9.750. Brock continued her career night and earned a career high with her 9.925 performance. In the fifth spot, Finnegan had another perfect routine to mark her second on floor for the year and take the win. Bryant anchored with a 9.975 as the Tigers earned a 49.575 in the third rotation. In the final rotation, Arenas continued to show poise for the Tigers and led off with a 9.850. In her first career appearance on beam, Jeffrey scored a 9.900. Junior Sierra Ballard recorded a career high score of a 9.925 and Bryant added a 9.900. Finnegan closed the night out with a 9.975 to help the Tigers match their season high beam score of 49.550. Despite injury setbacks, the squad continued to climb as LSU battled for the win in Tuscaloosa. Bryant's performance earned her the all-around title on the night with her career high score of 39.800. After earning two titles against the Crimson Tide, she now owns 20 titles on the year; two on bars, three on beam, one on floor and seven on vault and the all-around. The Tigers next competition will be on Friday, March 3, as they take on California, Washington and George Washington for a podium meet in the Raising Cane’s River Center at 6 p.m. CT.
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 Photo By: Jonathan Mailhes Da Boot Sports 2/18/2023 By: Terrill J. Weil BATON ROUGE, LA - It was an electric night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Friday as a crowd of 12,000 plus witnessed LSU's strongest performance of the season. Florida faulted early in the bars and the Lady Tigers took advantage of the mistakes as they defeated the #2 ranked Gators, 198.100 - 197.975 LSU finally put an entire meet together with strong showings in all four events. The performance showed the nation how talented this group of young ladies are, as they competed at the highest level, a level that everyone has been waiting to see since the season began. In the opening vault event LSU was lead by Haleigh Bryant's 9.975 and Aleah Finnegan's 9.950, while the Gators were having struggles on the bars. Next, the Lady Tigers took to the bars in dominating fashion with six outstanding scores to keep them ahead of the #2 ranked team in the country at the halfway point. Bryant again led LSU with a 9.950 while Elena Arenas, Alexis Jeffrey and Tori Tatum scored a solid 9.900 each. Alyona Shchennikova and Finnegan each finished with 9.850 The beam is where LSU has had most of their struggles so far this season, but ended up performing with grace and focus, scoring their best overall score of the season in the event. Aleah Finnegan was perfect in her routine, scoring a 10.00, followed by Bryant's 9.925 and Kai River's 9.900,.. KJ Johnson landed a nice 9.875 while Shchennikova scored a 9.850 and Arenas recorded a 9.825 LSU put an exclamation point on their victory with their typical strong showing on the floor. KJ Johnson led the way with a 9.950 that should have been a 10.00, followed by Bryant's outstanding 9.925,.. Shchennikova finished with a 9.925 while Finnegan landed a 9.900, Sierra Ballard's 9.875 and Arenas with a 9.825 With the win the 8th ranked Tigers are now 3-5 overall and 3-3 in SEC action. Next up LSU will travel to Tuscaloosa to take on Alabama, Friday, Feb. 24 at 7:00pm CT. Photos Below By: Jonathan Mailhes  Photo By: Michael Bacigalupi Da Boot Sports 2/11/2023 By: Terrill J. Weil AUBURN, AL - The LSU gymnastics team dropped another contest, this time on the road at Auburn on Friday night, 197.750 -197.500 ... The Tigers now sit at 2-5 overall, 2-3 in the SEC and remain winless on the road, 0-4. “Overall, I thought it was a very good meet. We stayed aggressive and stayed true to our message,” said head coach Jay Clark. “We’ll continue to keep climbing and keep getting better. This score will help us tremendously once NQS begins and will set us up to move up as we get closer to postseason.” The talented Lady Tigers once again showed fight as they displayed a strong performance except for a hick-up here and there in each event that cost them the win. There were several positives on the night. On vault Aleah Finnegan scored a 10.000 while Alyona Shchennikova posted a 9.925 and Haleigh Bryant registered a 9.900 ... Bryant scored a 9.950 to lead the Bayou Ben-Gals on bars. On beam, Finnegan scored an impressive 9.950 while Kai Rivers and Haleigh Bryant each posted a 9.900 ... Finnegan also lead the Tigers on the floor, as her routine landed a 9.975 while Shchennikova posted a strong 9.925 ... Aleah Finnegan had an incredible night finishing with a new career all-time high of 39.800 (10.000 vault,.. 9.875 bars,.. 9.950 beam,.. 9.975 floor) It's not going to get any easier for LSU as next they will host No. 2 Florida on Friday, Feb. 17 at 8:00pm before traveling to Tuscaloosa to take on the 11th ranked Crimson Tide. *John 14:6 - "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior) A huge Thank You to Cardio Health Solutions owned by Ron Sancho for sponsoring our publication!  Da Boot Sports supports Autism Awareness   Photo By: Michael Bacigalupi Da Boot Sports 2/4/2023 LSU Sports Communications By: Alyssa Leal BATON ROUGE - The No. 9 LSU Gymnastics team defeated No. 17 Georgia with a season high score of 197.700-196.925 in front of an electric crowd on Friday night in the PMAC. “I’m really proud of this team. We continue to see their theme of their fight and it has become the team’s identity,” said head coach Jay Clark. “We put together one of our best floor rotations, minus one mistake that we’ve seen all year. I thought vault was outstanding from start to finish. Bars was a little less than where we have been in previous meets, but nonetheless still effective, and beam we continue to fight. We’ll feel good about this tonight and then get back to work on Sunday as we head into a big Auburn environment next week.” “It was a great night. It was our highest score of the year and I’m impressed with the fans coming out again after the week that it’s been in the PMAC. We are so appreciative of them and the students for being so consistent this year. It’s been tremendous and that lifts us in ways that you can’t measure.” A crowd of 12,099 fans showed out to watch the Tigers defeat the Bulldogs for the sixth-straight time in the PMAC. Sophomore Aleah Finnegan recorded her first career perfect 10 on floor to boost the Tigers to a season high floor score of 49.675 and help LSU secure the win.. LSU started off strong on vault, scoring a 49.475. Finnegan earned a 9.900 and junior Chase Broke put up a career high 9.95 to help the Tigers get off to a strong start after the first rotation. Sophomore KJ Johnson recorded a 9.875 and junior Haleigh Bryant anchored with a 9.975 of her own to take the title. On bars, sophomore Alexis Jeffrey led off with a 9.900. Finnegan scored a 9.850 in the fourth spot while senior Alyona Shchennikova followed with a 9.875. Bryant anchored with a 9.900 to close the second rotation with a score of 49.300 and propel the squad into the third rotation. Jeffrey and Bryant, along with Georgia’s Haley De Jong, won the event with performances. The Tigers lead the Bulldogs at the halfway point 98.775-98.300. In the third rotation, Schennikova continued to bring the competition as she scored a 9.850. Bryant and Finnegan both recorded 9.900’s on beam to take the co-title as LSU scored a 49.250 for the third rotation. LSU finished strong to secure the win in the final rotation. Both Shchennikova and Bryant scored a 9.925, while KJ Johnson matched her career high with her 9.950 routine. Finnegan earned her first career perfect score in the fifth spot to take the win. It was a season high performance from the floor squad. Bryant finished the night with her sixth all-around title in six meets as she finished the night with a 39.700. Finnegan’s 10 marks the first in her career and third title on floor this season. The sophomore finished the night with a career high all-around score of 39.650. Shchennikova’s all-around score of 39.400 also recorded a season high for her. The Tigers will be back in action on Friday, February 10, as they travel to take on Auburn for a 7:30 p.m. CT tilt on the SEC Network. Photos Below By: Michael Bacigalupi Photos Below By: Jonathan Mailhes |
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