Da Boot Sports
3/30/2022 LSU Sports Communications By: Brandon Berrio RALEIGH, N.C. – The sixth-ranked LSU gymnastics team begins NCAA postseason competition in a fight for the program’s 31st NCAA Championships appearance at 12 noon CT Thursday at the Raleigh Regional at Reynolds Coliseum. The Tigers will take on No. 11 Missouri, No. 22 Iowa and No. 30 North Carolina State in the first session of the second round. If the squad finishes in the top two of the regional it will advance to the regional final and compete against the top two finishers of the second session, which includes No. 3 Michigan, No. 14 UCLA, No. 20 Maryland and No. 35 North Carolina. The top two teams in the regional final will advance to NCAA Championships in Fort Worth, Texas, April 15 and 17. “Our team is really fired up to get back out and compete again,” head coach Jay Clark said. “We have used the last two weeks to reset and fine tune things before postseason. It is important for us to just stay in the present and take one routine at a time. It will be an exciting meet with so many great teams out on the floor.” Every session of the meet will be streamed on ESPN+, which requires a subscription different than cable providers. John Roethlisberger and Alicia Sacramone Quinn will have the call of the second round and Sam Gore will join Sacramone Quinn for the final on Saturday. Live results will be available at LSUsports.net. LSU’s History at the NCAA Regional Since the first year the NCAA sanctioned gymnastics in 1982, LSU has advanced to the NCAA Regional 39 out of 40 years. This season marks the 37th-straight year LSU will compete in a regional. The following is how many times the Tigers have finished in the previous 38 NCAA Regional appearances: First Place -13 times; Second Place – 15 times; Third Place- nine times; Seventh Place – one time. Prior to NCAA regionals, LSU advanced to AIAW Regionals every year from the program’s inception in 1975 to the final year in 1981. The Tigers won six AIAW Regional championships during the seven-year span. Last Time Out The Tigers competed at SEC Championships and finished fifth overall. Haleigh Bryant was named to the All-SEC team and KJ Johnson was named to the all-freshman team after their performance in Birmingham. Bryant scored a 9.95 on beam and Johnson earned a 9.90 on vault to earn the honors. LSU’s beam team was lights out with a 49.550 for the highest on the event for LSU at an SEC championship. Durante, Bryant Named All-Americans Senior Sami Durante and Bryant were named WCGA regular season All-Americans following outstanding seasons. Durante earned the second honor of her career on bars. In 2022, she scored a 9.90 or higher in six-straight meets including a career high 9.975 against Auburn. Bryant finished the season ranked No. 3 in the nation on vault and also earned honors on bars. In just two seasons, the Cornelius, North Carolina native has already earned eight All-America honors, which is in the top-10 of LSU’s all-time list. Bryant owns the best electric vault in NCAA Gymnastics. She earned three perfect scores on the event in 2022. With a new dismount, Bryant earned All-America honors for the first time in her career on bars. She earned a 9.90 or higher in all but one meet this season, including a career high 9.95 twice.
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Da Boot Sports 3/19/2022 LSU Sports Communications By: Brandon Berrio BIRMINGHAM - The LSU Gymnastics team scored a 196.725 at the 2022 Southeastern Conference Gymnastics Championships to finish fifth overall Saturday night at Legacy Arena. LSU will now await its seeding and placement for NCAA postseason. The selections how will be at 11 a.m. CT Tuesday on NCAA.com. “There was nothing glaring today or in warmups that indicated this performance was coming,” head coach Jay Clark said. “We were pressing too much and could not settle it down. It snowballed on us, and we could not regain our composure. There is no doubt that it was disappointing. “We know this is not the end though. We have four more weeks, and we must get back in the gym and process what happened and fix it. A lot of our goals are still in front of us. I still believe in this team, but we must reassess everything and use these weeks off to reboot and get it right.” The Tigers were unable to claw their way into the meet after opening the night with a 48.575 on bars. Haleigh Bryant led the way with a 9.925 on the event followed by Alyona Shchennikova with a 9.90. Olivia Dunne scored a 9.875 and Elena Arenas earned a 9.625. LSU also counted a score of 9.25 from Sami Durante. The squad rebounded in a big way on beam with a 49.550 for the highest score at an SEC meet in school history. Christina Desiderio led off with a 9.90 and Bridget Dean scored a 9.875 in the third spot. Bryant matched her career high of 9.95 and Aleah Finnegan also matched her career high in her first SEC meet with a 9.925. Kiya Johnson anchored the event with a 9.90. LSU moved to floor and scored a 49.325. Desiderio and Kiya Johnson each scored a 9.90. Bryant and Shchennikova earned a 9.85 and LSU also counted a 9.825 from Finnegan. In the final rotation, LSU was unable to find its landings and wrapped up with a 49.275. KJ Johnson led the way with a 9.90. Kiya Johnson and Sarah Edwards both earned a 9.875. Elena Arenas scored a 9.80 and Shchennikova put up a 9.825. Da Boot Sports 3/18/2022 LSU Sports Communications By: Brandon Berrio BIMRINGHAM – The fifth-ranked LSU gymnastics team will compete for the program’s fifth Southeastern Conference championship and fourth in five years at 7 p.m. CT Saturday inside Legacy Arena. The meet will be televised live on SEC Network with Bart Conner, Kathy Johnson Clarke and Sam Peszek on the call. It will also be streamed live on WatchESPN.com and the app with event specific links to each apparatus so that fans can enjoy all of the action. As the second seed in the meet, the Tigers will begin on bars and follow with beam, floor and vault. LSU will compete alongside No. 2 Florida, No. 6 Auburn and No. 6 Alabama in the evening session. The meet will be the final score to count toward the squad’s NQS, which will serve as the seeding for NCAA Championships. “I think our team is really excited to get in to the arena in front of an electric crowd and just compete,” head coach Jay Clark said. “We will be on floor with some of the top teams in the country, and the message has been to just do our job and everything will follow. It is important to just take one routine at a time and use the energy and momentum in our favor on Saturday night.” LSU’s History at the SEC Championship The Tigers will fight amongst the best teams in the country for their fifth league title. LSU captured the SEC title when the Tigers hosted the first championship in 1981. Here is a breakdown of LSU’s finishes at the SEC Championship: 1st Place - 4 times (1981, 2017, 2018,2019); 2nd Place – 6 (1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2015, 2021); 3rd Place - 10 (1982, 1983, 1991, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2004, 2013, 2014, 2016); 4th Place - 17 (1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1993, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012); 5th Place - 3 (1992, 1996, 2011); 6th Place - 0; 7th Place - 0; 8th Place - 0 Gymnasts at the SEC Championships Twenty-five LSU gymnasts have combined to win 47 SEC titles since 1981. A total of 97 All-SEC honors have been earned over the years and 17 SEC All-Freshman team honors. Sarah Finnegan, Rheagan Courville and Sandra Smith own the record for most SEC titles with five. Finnegan captured back-to-back all-around titles in 2018 and 2019. She also won three event titles in 2019. Kiya Johnson is the reigning SEC floor champion and Haleigh Bryant and Elena Arenas are the reigning SEC vault champions. Johnson earned the program’s 14th floor title with her perfect score. Bryant and Arenas secured the vault titles with a 9.95 as freshmen in 2021. Last Time Out Last week, LSU put together the best performance of the season with a season-high 198.125 against fourth-ranked Utah. The Tigers and Utes went blow for blow on all 24 routines with the home squad ultimately winning. Bryant scored her third 10 of the season and the fifth of her career for the win. She also took the all-around title with a 39.700. LSU also had outstanding performances from Kiya Johnson who scored a 9.975 on vault, 9.90 on bars and 9.95 on beam. Alyona Shchennikova also delivered a 9.925 on bars for the win and Sarah Edwards scored a career high 9.975 on floor on senior night. The score for LSU helped jump Auburn and Alabama in the polls and secure the No. 2 seed at SEC Championships. Da Boot Sports 3/11/2022 LSU Sports Communications By: Brandon Berrio BATON ROUGE – The seventh-ranked LSU Gymnastics team scored a season high 198.125 to take down fourth-ranked Utah in the regular season finale Friday night inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The Tigers defeated the Utes, who scored a 197.875, in a thrilling meet in front of a crowd of 10,845. LSU officially finished No. 1 in the country in average attendance for the first time in school history. The Tigers overtook Utah, who held the No. 1 ranking since 2004, for the top spot in the country. Haleigh Bryant started the final home meet with a perfect score on vault. The 10 marked the fifth in her career. She is now four away from tying the record for career perfect scores. “We really needed this meet,” head coach Jay Clark said. “We needed to have this type of performance after last week and all the things that we’ve had stacked against us. The biggest challenge was believing it. This was the best meet we have had all year and sustained energy throughout.” Bryant won the vault with a perfect score as well as the all-around with a 39.700. Alyona Shchennikova scored a 9.925 for the win on bars and Sarah Edwards had a 9.975 on floor to win the event. LSU opened on fire with a 49.525 on vault for a new season high, punctuated by Byrant’s perfect score. Elena Arenas led the meet off with a 9.90 and stick on her Yurchenko Full. Shchennikova and Sarah Edwards followed with a 9.80 and KJ Johnson scored a 9.85 on her stuck Yurchenko Full. Kiya Johnson just missed out on a perfect 10 on vault with a season-high 9.975 but she set her teammate Bryant in the anchor spot. The Tigers scored a 49.425 to extend their lead at the halfway point. Kiya Johnson started the rotation with a 9.90 and Arenas followed with a 9.875. Bryant gave the Tigers a 9.90 in the fourth spot followed by Shchennikova’s 9.925 and 9.825 from Sami Durante. It was another consistent rotation for the squad with a 49.500. In her final performance on beam inside the PMAC, senior Christina Desiderio scored a 9.925. Kai Rivers returned to the lineup for the Tigers and scored a 9.90. Senior Bridget Dean scored a 9.85 in her final performance in the PMAC followed by Bryant’s 9.85. Freshman Aleah Finnegan gave the squad a 9.875 and Kiya Johnson anchored with a 9.95. LSU scored a 49.675 on floor to outlast Utah. Desiderio started the rotation with a 9.925 and Shchennikova scored a 9.90. Edwards won the event with a 9.975 in her final routine in the PMAC. In the final three routines, KJ Johnson scored a 9.90, Finnegan scored a 9.925 and Bryant wrapped up with a 9.95. LSU will now compete at SEC Championships March 19 in Birmingham, Alabama. Seeding will be determined following Saturday’s meets and released via LSU Gymnastics social media. Da Boot Sports 3/4/2022 LSU Sports Communications By: LSU Staff BATON ROUGE – The fifth-ranked LSU Gymnastics team scored a 197.450 in front of 12,838 fans in a loss to 10th-ranked Kentucky Friday night inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The Wildcats took the team win with a 197.500 in the SEC finale. LSU’s crowd marked the sixth-highest in the history of the gymnastics program. “We didn’t do our job tonight,” head coach Jay Clark said. “We had a lot of distractions in warmups, and we were not as dialed in as we have been. There were problems with a lot of landings, which was frustrating. I think the way we performed and the way it ended really stung, and I think they will come out hungry.” LSU seniors Sami Durante and Sarah Edwards along with sophomore Haleigh Bryant swept the event and all-around. Bryant scored a 9.95 on vault, bars and beam. Her score of 39.75 in the all-around marked a new career high. Durante also took home bars with a 9.95 and Edwards anchored floor with a 9.925. The Tigers opened vault with a 49.350 and fell behind the Wildcats. Sami Durante opened with a 9.875. Elena Arenas and KJ Johnson each scored a 9.85 and Kiya Johnson earned a 9.825. Bryant anchored the rotation with a. 9.95. On bars, Kiya Johnson and Arenas each scored a 9.825. Olivia Dunne earned a 9.875 and Bryant followed with her career high 9.95. Durante anchored with a 9.95 to post a 49.425 on bars. The Tigers scored another 49.425 on beam in the third rotation. Christina Desiderio opened with a 9.90 and Arenas followed with a 9.825. Dean returned to the lineup with a 9.85 and Bryant matched her career high with a 9.95. Freshman Aleah Finnegan also posted a 9.90 in the fifth spot for the Tigers. LSU was unable to find its landings on floor for a 49.250. Dunne and KJ Johnson scored a 9.80 and Finnegan put up a 9.825. Bryant scored a 9.90 in the fifth spot and Edwards ended the night with the 9.925 and win. LSU returns to the PMAC on Friday, March 11 against No. 4 Utah for the regular season finale. The meet will be the finale for LSU’s six seniors. Photos Below By: Jonathan Mailhes |