LSU gymnastics team ready to put last year’s disappointing regionals showing in past

A year ago, the LSU gymnastics season ended far too early for the team’s liking.

The Tigers were eliminated in the second round of the NCAA championships on March 31 after scoring a season-low 196.575. No. 6 LSU will try to better that performance, fittingly, exactly one year later.

That mission will begin in Session I of the Denver regional, which begins at 3 p.m. Friday and stream on ESPN+. To advance to Sunday’s final, LSU will need to outscore two of the three teams in its group: Georgia, Nebraska and No. 11 seed Oregon State.

Bryant to trim floor routine

Haleigh Bryant is a full-go for the all-around Friday, LSU coach Jay Clark said, but the team decided to scale back her floor routine.

Instead of the standard three passes, Bryant will perform only two. She’ll chop the last pass — a front handspring, front double-full — and keep the first two — a front handspring double front and a front layout-rudi. Clark said the move was a preventative measure, with a goal of minimizing her workload.

So far this year, Bryant has competed in all 60 events for LSU.

“She’s been ridden hard this year and was showing signs of fatigue at SEC’s,” Clark said, “so just sort of a precaution. We had a plan in our back pocket, and we can do that, so that’s what we’re planning to do with her.”

Clark said that if LSU advances and Bryant responds well to the first meet, she may reincorporate the third pass into her routine.

Battle on uneven bars

As of Monday, Clark was unsure of who will occupy the final spot of the uneven bars lineup. His gut tells him junior Olivia Dunne will fill the role, but not without a push from freshman Ashley Cowan.

The spot on the bars team is the lone question mark among LSU’s four event lineups. Dunne, since she returned from injury, has filled the spot in three of the last four meets, including the SEC championships, where she scored a 9.85. But Cowan also has competed on bars three times this season.