An exhibition of okay proportions
It’s been a little over a week at this point since LSU’s Gym 101 showcase. It was nice to see what could be in store for the 2025 season, but it wasn’t as exciting as the last two I’ve covered. This season’s event showcased 37 routines compared to last year’s 50 and two starters didn’t go, KJ Johnson and Alexis Jeffrey. While it wasn’t a bad showing, it was one that left head coach Jay Clark a bit more concerned than he would’ve liked to be (link to my thread recapping his post-meet press conference). (Follow me on the twittering app, I do a lot of posting)
Overall analysis
I don’t usually start with my thoughts until I’ve talked about the routines, but it’s Monday and none of the results counted, so here’s the juice. One of Jay’s main concerns after the meet was that the freshmen looked more poised than the upperclassmen, something he hadn’t seen in the practice facility. I felt similarly after the meet, but after rewatching the routines on my own, I don’t understand why I did. When I went to watch it all again, things were fine. Oddly enough, based on someone I talked to who went to the meet compared to those who watched from home, that’s a common disconnect.
I think this team looks good and has the potential to be a national championship contender again. What I saw at Gym 101 told me that. However, I don’t see the want and desire to be that team in the way I did last season. I don’t think it’s complacency. I think it’s a level of comfort that can be either good or bad. Oklahoma gymnasts are good comfortable in the sense that they look ready to tackle anything that comes in their way even if something goes wrong (until they aren’t like in the semis). Bad comfortable is that same look without the ability to get around issues, aka every beam collapse I’ve ever seen.
On the injury side, I was totally wrong about Kaliya Lincoln in my preview. I referenced an interview in which Jay said it’s unlikely she sees time during the season, but she vaulted at Gym 101. The issue she has is that her Achilles flares up, and that was something they were very worried about a month ago. It’s apparently less worrisome now. Also, Bryce Wilson was in a neck brace, something I’ve been told wasn’t new. Do not worry about KJ, she’s not injured and she’s going to be there for the opener (I knocked on wood immediately after typing this line for those who need assurance). It turns out Haleigh Bryant tweaked her UCL on her vault, so she’s expected to miss the opener at the very least.
Onto the routine summary and analysis. This will be where you’ll see my more in-depth thoughts including a breakdown of each routine skill by skill and the deductions I think should be taken in each. I’ll note each individual deduction in parentheses and the overall score I got in brackets.
LSU split the team into two squads, Purple and Gold, and ran four rotations in the style of a dual meet. I’m not going to tell you who was on what squad because it doesn’t matter, but I will be breaking this up by rotation so this doesn’t run on like a waterfall.
Rotation 1
Tori Tatum kicked things off with her bars routine. She hit her first two handstands, lacked good lines in her Maloney (.05), had some leg separating in her bail handstand (.05), came up short on her final handstand (.05), took two steps or one hop (it’s close) back (.1-.2) with momentum carrying through (.05) on her half-in half-out (HIHO) and never held the finishing position (.05). Her old routine had a Ray to pak in it, but now it’s the standard Maloney to pak/bail with an extra handstand before the Maloney to satisfy new requirements (what a useful rule change). [9.650-9.550]
Lexi Zeiss made her unofficial LSU debut with a Yurchenko 1.5 (Y1.5). Her arms were too far forward on her block (.05), she had leg separation in the first flight (.05), she had enough of a form error where it looked like she was doing a tucked 1.5 (also a 10.0 SV, but the form was bad enough where it should be a .05 deduction if that was her intent), and lacked amplitude (.05) and distance (.05). Despite all that, she stuck it and held her finish for a second, a very impressive feat considering how close it was to disaster. [9.750]
Olivia Dunne was next with her bars routine. She hit her first handstand, nailed her Tkatchev and her Pak, slightly cheated her low bar half turn (.05), hit her final handstand, had poor form (.1, .05 for piking and .05 for soft knees) in her double layout (DLO), hopped back (.1) and held the finish. Her Tkatchev to Pak looked like one of her best, but the DLO looked like one of her worst. Hopefully, that was a fluke. [9.750]
Chase Brock did her Y1.5. It had soft knees (.05), was underrotated (.05) and had a hop back (.1), plus she failed to hold her finish (.05). It was fine. [9.750]
Alyona Shchennikova almost didn’t do anything because of a setback a couple weeks back on beam, but she got to do a bars routine. She was short on her first handstand (.05), bent her arms (.05) in her close Ray catch (.05), nailed her Pak, failed to hit a handstand in her low bar half turn (.05), swung under the bar to get back to the high bar (no deduction, shows lack of stamina), hit her last handstand, released early on her DLO (.2 for the form errors throughout, it’s just bad) which sent her flying, stepped forward (.1) and failed to hold the finish (.05). That could’ve gone a lot better, and that’s all I have to say. [9.450]
Aleah Finnegan then did her Y1.5. She overdid it and took a big step left diagonally (.15), then she held her finish. She sat it during warm-ups, so I assume this was a deliberate decision. [9.850]
Kailin Chio made her unofficial LSU debut with a solid bars routine. She hit her first handstand, lacked straight legs in her Maloney (.05), hit her bail handstand, bent her arms to catch her Markelov (.05), hit her final handstand, hopped forward on her HIHO (.1) and held her finish. Note that her doing a Markelov isn’t uncommon in a vacuum, 2024 Arkansas Regional bars champ Courtney Blackson used one in her routine, but it’s very rare that you see it that late into a routine. The whole thing was very promising. [9.800]
Amari Drayton followed with her Y1.5. She way overdid it. She took a large lunge forward (.2), took and extra left-foot step after the lunge (.1), picked up her right foot to step forward (.1), lacked control throughout (.05) and held her finish. The held finish was a clear indication of good mental preparation, and that’s worth noting. [9.550]
Haleigh finished things off with her bars routine. She hit her first handstand, bent her arms to catch her Jaeger (.05), hit her second handstand, hit her bail handstand, hit her final handstand, hopped back on her double front half (.1) and held her finish. Since judges are infamous for missing bent arms in release move catches, this was up to her typical standard of “if she sticks, it’s probably a 10.” [9.850]
Overall, it was a solid start with some good stuff. It’s hard to figure out what to say after each rotation because they aren’t building anything like a rotation in a meet.
Rotation 2
Lexi showed off her bars routine, the routine that’s most likely to make a debut at the opener. She hit her first handstand, hit her second handstand, lacked straight legs in her Maloney (.05), nailed her Pak, had a slight rhythm issue in her low bar half turn (.05) she somehow managed to get around, hit her final handstand, stuck her HIHO with her feet misaligned (.05) and held her finish. It was a good routine that showcased her ability well. [9.850]
Victoria Roberts made her unofficial LSU debut with what was supposed to be a front pike half but ended up being a tuck half. At the end of the rotation, she tried it again, got the front pike half, overdid it with a step forward (.1) and didn’t hold the finish (.05). Front pike halves are becoming a lot more common, so watch out for them in 2026 to compensate for difficulty. [9.850]
2024 SEC bars co-champ Ashley Cowan showed another incredible bars routine. She hit her first handstand, bent her arms in her Ray catch (.05), hit a good overshoot, hit her final handstand, nailed her DLO and held her finish. If she copied that routine every week, she’d get an average around 9.9875, and I think she has a good chance of moving into the back half of the bars lineup soon with her consistency. [9.950]
In a shocker, Kaliya Lincoln made her unofficial LSU debut with a Y1.5. She had some leg separation in her first flight (.05), took a big hop forward (.2) and never held her finish (.05). This was a good sign of her potential availability in 2025. [9.700]
Amari was next with a new bars routine when compared with hers from last season. She hit her first handstand, bent her arms to catch her Jaeger (.05), hit her second handstand, hit a nice Pak, did a good low bar half turn, hit her final handstand, hopped back on her DLO (.1) and held her finish. She had to abandon the full turn to double tuck following a rule change that prevented that from getting her a final handstand requirement, and this new routine seems to be on the right track. [9.850]
Kailin then did her Y1.5, one she stuck on the right directional line (.05 directional deduction). She held the finish after, and this was one that has been a source of her hype since this night. [9.950]
Konnor McClain managed to make a return from an Achilles injury roughly six months earlier and hit a great bars routine. She hit her first handstand, hit her Church, had some leg separation in her Pak (.05), nailed her low bar half turn, hit her final handstand, stuck her HIHO and held her finish. Yeah, that’s pretty good for someone who couldn’t walk on her own several months ago. [9.950]
Haleigh then did her front pike half vault. She hit the table a bit early, but she managed to stick it with her right foot over the directional line (.1) and then held the finish. As mentioned above, the awkward block caused her to tweak her UCL, though she powered past it enough to do her floor and beam routines. [9.900]
Aleah finished things off with her bars routine. She didn’t do a fluid motion when mounting the high bar (.05 for rhythm), hit her first handstand, hit her piked Deltchev, hit her second and third handstands, hit her bail handstand, lost balance on the low bar (.05) and had to underswing to the high bar, hit her final handstand, lacked control in her full-out dismount (.05), took two steps back (.2) and never went to the finishing position (.05). This was not normal in any way, but it’s the kind of fluke that needs to get out before things count. [9.600]
Overall, vault and bars look solid.
Rotation 3
Annie Beard led things off on beam, but she fell off the side of the beam on her acro series and never returned to complete it.
Sierra Ballard led things off on floor with her routine. She ran through her first pass, hit a nice back 1.5 to front layout (FLO), hit a nice switch ring to switch half and flew (.05) out of bounds (.1) on her double pike. At the end of the rotation, she did her first pass, a DLO, with a low chest (.05) on her stuck landing. Jay announced that this is the only three-pass routine on the team for the 2025 season. “I’m stubborn, but I’m not stupid.” It was a good routine with the great performance quality we’ve come to expect from her. [9.800]
Lexi did the first full beam routine of the night. She had a very wobbly double wolf turn (.1), a little bit of leg (.05) in her front aerial to back handspring (BHS), a hit switch leap to split jump, a good side aerial, and soft knees (.05) in her roundoff (RO) back 1.5 on which she stepped back (.1) and failed to hold the finish for a full second (.05). The dismount was the difference here. [9.650]
Kylie Coen brought out the same floor routine she had last season. She nailed her front double full, did a great FLO to front full and did a good triple leap series with slight underrotations on the last two turns (.1). That front double full gave her fits last season, but if that’s the new standard, it’s bound to make a lineup. [9.900]
Amari made her beam debut with a nice routine. She had a good front aerial, a nice BHS LOSO, a nice full turn, a short switch leap (.05) to short split jump (.05) with a lean (.05) and a stuck RO back double full with a held finish. I was surprised when I realized this was her beam debut because she looked like she’d done it under the lights before. [9.850]
Olivia then did her floor routine. She had a good front through to double tuck (FTDT) with less control than would be perfect (.05), did a Ferrari (this skill has never been performed well by any gymnast in history, so don’t expect it to ever get deducted), hit a nice double pike that had the same issue as the FTDT (.05) and hit a nice leap series. Boo me for taking the deductions, they’re extremely suspect. The routine was a great example of one that shouldn’t be a 10 for the sole reason that it didn’t go “above and beyond” the level it needed to. [9.900]
Konnor then hit a good beam set. She did a hit switch leap to short switch half (.05), a nice front aerial to BHS, a full turn with a slight wobble (.05), a great switch side, a nice wolf jump and a gainer full on which she hopped back (.1) before holding the finish. She looks like she had a normal offseason, somehow. [9.800]
Kailin then made her floor debut, and it was incredible. She had a low chest (.05) on her stuck full-in, a great switch ring to tour jete half, a sensational back 2.5 to front tuck and a hit split jump. First of all, every skill after the full-in is copied from Aleah’s routine. Second, she managed to have similarly high execution on that routine. Wow. [9.950]
Aleah went from a bad bars set to a casual beam hit. She had a perfect BHS BHS LOSO series, great leaps, a beautiful full turn, a bent leg (.05) in her front aerial and a stuck gainer full. Unfortunately, she kept moving her hands during her finish position and thus failed to hold it for a full second (.05). Other than that, she was nearly flawless. [9.900]
Haleigh finished things off with her floor routine. She nailed her front double front, hit her leaps with a cheated turn (.05) in her switch full and nailed her FLO to Rudi. It’s the same as last year’s. [9.950]
Overall, this was pretty good besides Annie’s mishap.
Rotation 4
As she did most of 2024, Sierra led things off on beam. She hit her BHS LOSO, did a short sissonne (.05) to short switch half (.05), hit her kickover front, stuck her RO back 1.5 and held her finish. That’ll do every week. [9.900]
Lexi finished her night on floor. She lacked amplitude (.05) and had bad form (.05) in her front double full, did a short switch half (.05) to hit wolf full, and hopped forward (.1) out of her back 1.5 to front full that had bad form in each part (.1). Her twisting form was off the entire night, but this was the worst of it. Hopefully it was the result of nerves and needing to adjust to different surfaces. [9.650]
Olivia followed with a solid beam set. She hit a nice full turn, had a good BHS LOSO, had a little leg (.05) in her front aerial, hit her split jump with slight check (.05, kept fluid motion and maintained connection) to split jump to low ring leap (.05 for low front leg) to beat jump, stuck her gainer pike and held her finish. She’s better at beam than she is at bars, and the last two routines she’s shown on beam are obvious examples of why. [9.850]
Amari finished her night with a surprising floor routine. She slid back on her DLO (.05), hit her leaps, and stepped forward (.1) and fell (hands hit mat, .5) on her FTDT. It seems she just didn’t get enough punch on her front tuck, a rare mistake that hopefully never happens again. [9.350]
Kylie did her beam routine, one which Jay said was likely to make lineups in an interview back in November. She hit her beat jump to front aerial with slight leg (.05), hit a good BHS LOSO, hit her switch leap to split jump, hit a solid full turn that lacked releve (.05, judges probably won’t take for the fact that the leg on which she didn’t turn wasn’t lifted high enough), stepped back on her RO back double full (.1) and failed to hold her finish (.05). It was solid, but it needs a bit more polish. [9.750]
Chase did her floor routine, one that has seen a change. Garrett spotted her new full-out on which she stepped forward (.1). She did a good wolf jump, had soft knees (.05) in her back 1.5 to FLO she hopped out of slightly (.05) and finished with a switch side to Popa with cheated turn (.05). It was fine. [9.750]
Kailin finished her incredible night on beam. She had a lean on her BHS LOSO mount (.05), hit a nice BHS LOSO, hit a good switch leap to split jump, hit a fantastic front aerial to split jump, nailed a beautiful full turn with high releve, had a little lean (.05) on her stuck RO back 1.5 and failed to hold her finish (.05). Overall, this was an incredible night for someone who looks to be in contention for SEC Freshman of the Year. [9.850]
Aleah finished things off with her floor routine. She nailed her double Arabian to stag, hit her switch ring to cheated (.05) tour jete half, hit a nice back 2.5 to front tuck and hit her split jump. This was a great performance, and I’m talking about the actual dance. In fact, it’s the only well-performed two-pass routine LSU has. I have never vibed less with LSU’s choreography than this year from what I saw at Gym 101. [9.950]
Haleigh finished the night off on beam…literally. She fell after her front aerial to BHS series because her back foot never got a grip on the beam. After remounting, she hit a witch leap to straddle quarter, hit her full turn, hit her standing front with ease, hit her final split jump, nailed her standing punch Rudi and held her finish. After that, she redid the acro series flawlessly. Yes, aside from the fall, this was perfect. [10.0]
Overall, this was a good final rotation save for the weird mishaps.