On Friday, the No. 6 LSU gymnastics team tied for the top score in the first session of the second-round competition.
Matched with No. 11 Oregon State, the Tigers finished with a score of 197.375 in the Magness Arena in Denver, Colorado.
LSU will advance to the Denver Regional Championship on Sunday, where they’ll face No. 3 Michigan, No. 14 Denver and Oregon State.
The University of Georgia and the University of Nebraska followed with scores of 197.000 and 195.525 respectively. Despite the win, the purple and gold posted one of their lowest scores this year in Denver.
“It wasn’t pretty in all places,” head coach Jay Clark said. “But we did just enough, and that’s what really matters.”
The team, unfortunately, had to start its night on beam, which is arguably the hardest rotation to begin on. Junior Elena Arenas stayed cool and collected as she led the team with a 9.825. Alexis Jeffrey posted a career-high 9.900 while Haleigh Bryant tied for the third-highest beam score at a regional this year at 9.950. The Tigers finished with a strong 49.325 to wrap up the first rotation.
With the stakes rising, the floor lineup didn’t disappoint. Sierra Ballard and Alyona Shcennikova both kicked off the event with 9.875s. Chase Brock, who seems to be improving with each meet, matched her career-high 9.925.
Arenas followed with a solid 9.900. The junior only began competing on the floor in the last five meets and has consistently scored above a 9.825. Bryant anchored the event with a 9.950.
With LSU in the lead, it’s uncertain what happened after the first half of the quad-meet came to a close. The team’s flame evidently ended when they returned on the vault.
Arenas and Schennikova led the squad with 9.850s. Aleah Finnegan recorded her lowest vault score since January at a 9.850 as well. Bryant closed out with a 9.875. The junior hasn’t scored lower since the first meet of the 2022 season.
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The team didn’t find any luck on the last rotation of the night, bars, either. Jeffrey gave a solid 9.900 routine in the leadoff position. Bryant anchored the event with a 9.925 to earn the title. However, both Tori Tatum and Olivia Dunne had somewhat shaky routines and the Tigers are only allowed to drop one score from the lineup in each event.
In usual fashion, Bryant took over the night, finishing as the top performer of the second-session meet with an all-around score of 39.700. She ties for the third-highest score at a regional in LSU gymnastics’ history.
Bryant now sits with 29 titles under her belt this year. The junior has 10 in the all-around and nine on vault alone. Schennikova came into the fourth spot of the all-around with a score of 39.375.
“With Haleigh, I’ve grown accustomed to what she does,” Clark said after the meet. “She knew she just needed to do what she normally does.”
Only 16 teams are left in the competition. If the Tigers can finish in one of the top two spots tomorrow night, they will advance to the Semifinals in Fort Worth, Texas for their 32nd appearance in the NCAA Championships.
Despite some rough patches throughout the season, LSU gymnastics is sticking by their slogan “The Climb.”
“They’ve been fighters all year long and I’m proud of that,” Clark said. “So many [of them] have stepped up.”
Fans can watch the purple and gold fight for the programs’ 14th regional title tomorrow at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.
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