Almost not to be outdone, sophomore Aleah Finnegan just missed her fifth 10.0 score of the season, getting a 10 from one judge on beam and a 9.95 from the other for a 9.975 to win that event. Finnegan missed LSU’s victory in the four-team Podium Challenge meet March 3 at the Raising Cane’s River Center with an illness, breaking her streak of four straight meets with a perfect 10.
The Tigers wrapped up the regular season on a serious roll to finish 8-5 (4-3 Southeastern Conference). LSU won its fourth straight meet and posted its ninth straight score of 197 or better, including a season-high 198.100 on Feb. 17 in a win over then-No. 2 Florida.
LSU will go into next Saturday’s SEC championships in Duluth, Georgia, as the No. 2 seed behind the regular-season champion Gators. Though the Tigers finished third in the SEC regular-season standings behind Kentucky, seedings for the championship meet are based on teams’ season-long National Qualifying Score (NQS).
The Tigers will be in the evening session in Duluth (seeds 1-4) at 7 p.m. Seeds 5-8 will compete in the afternoon session at 2:30 p.m.
The meet will be televised on the SEC Network. LSU will then head to one of four NCAA regionals March 30-April 1 with an eye to returning to the NCAA championships in April in Forth Worth, Texas.
Most career 10s in LSU history
10-Haleigh Bryant (8 VT, 1 UB, 1 FX)
9-Ashleigh Gnat (5 VT, 4 FX)
9-Jennifer Wood (9 VT)
8-April Burkholder (4 FX, 2 VT, 2 BB)
7-Kiya Johnson (4 FX, 2 BB, 1 VT)
7-Lloimincia Hall (7 FX)
Meet scores
1. #6 LSU 198.025 (Vault — 49.300, Bars — 49.500, Beam — 49.475, Floor — 49.750)
2. #35 West Virginia 196.450 (Vault — 49.075, Bars — 49.025, Beam — 49.000, Floor — 49.350)
Individual (includes first place and all LSU competitors)
All-around – 1. Haleigh Bryant, LSU, 39.875; 2. Aleah Finnegan, LSU, 39.625; Kianna Yancey, West Virginia, 39.275; 4. Elena Arenas, LSU, 38.625.
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