An okay senior night with a dominant win
LSU finished the 2024 regular season with a decent meet, but one that wasn’t as good as the previous few. The Tigers moved to 12-3 on the year with a 198.250-196.075 win over North Carolina Friday. This was the first meet in which LSU did not score a 10.0 since the season opener. LSU failed to improve its NQS, but that wasn’t going to matter too much.
Attendance history
This meet may not have been very historic for what happened on the floor, but it was historic. This was the third consecutive meet to sell out, something that’s only happened 10 times in LSU history. It was also the fourth-highest attended meet in LSU history with a final total of 13,283. LSU set a now program record for cumulative attendance with 75,495 fans this season. Utah and Alabama are the only other NCAA programs to ever have 75,000+ fans in a season. LSU finished the 2024 regular season as cumulative and average attendance leaders in the NCAA. LSU has now won the average attendance crown two out of the last three seasons.
It’s preamble time: the links (when added) will take you to a thread of every routine from a given rotation, scores in parenthesis reflect my personal judgment of deductions and scores in brackets reflect my overall score of the routine. I will NOT be going skill by skill on each routine, especially beam, except the ones that haven’t been seen on a broadcast meet this season. If I say acro series, that means stuff like a back handspring (BHS) layout step-out (LOSO), and if I say leap series, that means something like a switch side to Popa on floor or switch leap to switch leap on beam. I couldn’t find the scores for either of LSU’s floor exhibitions, so I won’t be scoring them.
LSU Vault 49.400 (LSU leads 49.400-48.425)
LSU started the meet with an okay vault rotation, but the scores failed to reflect the quality of the routines. KJ Johnson led off with a 9.875 on her Yurchenko Full. This wasn’t technically a perfect vault because she twisted a bit too early (.05) and had minimal leg separation a judge could take if they wanted to (and they did). Still, she stuck it perfectly and held the finishing position for a full second. This was a classic case of the “lead-off deduction,” a phenomenon in which routines that lead off rotations get judged harsher than any other routine. Worst of all, the judge who gave KJ a 9.85 gave a 9.90 for the next four vaults despite that not making any sense. [9.900]
Aleah Finnegan followed with a 9.875 on her Yurchenko 1.5 (Y1.5). She hopped forward (.1) and failed to hold the finishing position for a full second (.05). She came decently close to sticking it, but she made the correct decision to hop instead of fighting for a stick she might not have gotten. [9.850]
Amari Drayton followed up with a 9.850 on a 9.90/9.80 split on her Y1.5. She underrotated it slightly (.05), took two steps back (.2 total), finished with staggered feet (.05, her front heel touches her back big toe) and failed to hold the finishing position for a full second (.05). When she underrotates this vault, she tends to have a bunch of other deductions that should stack up to hit her hard. Judges may not be taking for it, but four- and six-judge panels may not be as lenient. [9.650]
Savannah Schoenherr got a 9.875 on her Y1.5. She hopped forward (.1), carried some of her momentum through her landing (.05) and failed to hold the finishing position for a full second (.05). This was a solid vault, and my comments remain the same as with Aleah’s. [9.800]
Chase Brock made her return to the lineup with a Y1.5 and scored a 9.850 on a 9.90/9.80 split. She had a shoulder angle issue (.05, will explain), hopped forward (.1) and failed to hold the finishing position for a full second (.05). In short, the shoulder angle issue refers to the fact that her arms are way in front of her head on the block off the table, something that could be the difference between a stick and a hop. Otherwise, this was pretty good. [9.800]
Haleigh Bryant finished the rotation with a 9.925 on her front handspring front pike half. She hopped back (.1), carried her momentum through her landing (.05) and failed to hold a controlled finishing position at any point (.05). It was okay. Haleigh’s score was enough to earn her the 31st vault title of her career. [9.800]
Cammy exhibited a Y1.5 and got a 9.775. She had a shoulder angle issue (.05), bent knees on the block (.05), leg separation in the air (.05), clear underrotation (.1) and a step back (.1). She failed to hold the finishing position for a full second (.05). I’ll be blunt, this is not something that can go in LSU’s vault lineup and expect to score well, but it was a nice moment. [9.600]
Overall, this wasn’t a good rotation. The landings weren’t great except for KJ’s, and that finishing position issue is creeping its way back in.
LSU Bars 49.625 (LSU leads 99.025-97.550)
LSU followed up with a bars rotation that looked more settled in. Alexis Jeffrey led off with a 9.850. She hit her first handstand, hit a beautiful Maloney, hit her bail handstand, came up short on her final handstand (.05), hopped back (.1) on her half-in half-out (HIHO) and held the finishing position for a full second. She kept her chest up on the landing, and it’d be huge if she could combine that with a stick. [9.850]
Ashley Cowan set a new career high with a 9.950. The only deductions I saw were a short final handstand (.05) and a failure to hold the finishing position for a full second (.05). Other than that, this routine was the best she’s done and is another part of an incredible run she’s been on recently. [9.900]
Aleah made her official season debut on bars with a 9.875. She hit her first handstand, nailed her piked deltchev, hit her second handstand, hit her third handstand, hit her bail handstand, came up short on her final handstand (.05), stepped back (.1) on her Fontaine and failed to hold the finishing position for a full second (.05). This was very good until the ending, a place where she’s had issues in the past. [9.800]
Konnor McClain followed with a 9.875. She hit her first handstand, bent her arms to catch her Church (.05), nailed her Pak, nailed her low bar half turn, hit her final handstand, hopped forward on her HIHO (.1) and failed to hold the finishing position for a full second (.05). This was pretty solid. [9.850]
Sav crushed her routine and scored a 9.950. She hit her first handstand, hit her Jaeger, hit her second handstand, came up short on her third handstand (.05), hit her bail handstand, hit her final handstand, stuck her double front half and held the finishing position for a full second. That one built-in deduction kept it from being a 10. [9.950]
Haleigh finished the rotation with a 9.975. The only deductions I saw were a close catch of her Jaeger (.05) and a slight stutter step on her double front half (.025, no way the other judge could see it). Other than that, it’s hard to ask for much more. [9.925]
Olivia Dunne exhibited a routine that scored a 9.850. She hit her first handstand, caught her tkatchev close (.05), hit her Pak, cheated the low bar half turn (.05) and failed to finish in a handstand (.05), came up short on her final handstand (.05), had form issues (.1 for the two I noticed) in her stuck DLO and held the finishing position for a full second. It was decent, but it still had the built-in deductions it’s always had. [9.700]
Overall, this was a good turnaround. Head coach Jay Clark noted that they were a little off to start, but they managed to find their footing here. It showed, especially on the landings.
LSU Beam 49.625 (LSU leads 148.650-146.850)
LSU had a remarkable beam rotation. Sierra Ballard started things off with a 9.850 on a 9.90/9.80 split. She hit a nice full turn, did a short (.05) sissonne to hit switch half, hit her kickover front, stepped back on her roundoff (RO) back 1.5 (.1) and held the finishing position for a full second. This was a solid start. [9.850]
Alexis followed with a 9.725 on a 9.80/9.65 split. She hit her wolf turn, hit her leap series, had a massive save on her acro series (.25 for her leg coming high off the beam, arms waving and torso movement), landed low (.05) on her standing front, hopped forward (.1) on her RO back 1.5 and failed to hold the finishing position for a full second (.05). This was probably the worst routine she’s done, and it looked like it was a mental thing. She can flush it with ease. [9.550]
Konnor was next and hit a gorgeous routine that scored a 9.975. I can’t find a single deduction, not even for the finishing position since taking for it would make me feel like I was being too pedantic. I have no clue where a judge took, but they did. [10.0]
Kiya Johnson competed her first senior night routine after resting the first two events and scored a 9.925. She hit her full turn, slid back on her acro series (.05), was short on both of her leaps (.1), had a slight check on her front tuck (.05), stuck her RO back 1.5 and held the finishing position for a full second. This was solid, but she’s obviously done better. [9.800]
Haleigh finished her senior night with a 9.950. The only deduction I noticed was a slight check on her standing front (.05), but everything else was as good as usual. It’s very tough to think that’s her last routine in the PMAC, but maybe it isn’t. [9.950]
Aleah anchored the rotation with a 9.925. It was fine until she had a balance check on her stuck gainer full (.05). This is the second week in a row that’s happened. [9.950]
Sav finished her third and final senior night by exhibiting a 9.900. She hit her front aerial, hit her BHS LOSO acro series, hit her full turn, hit her beat jump to short (.05) straddle 3/4 and finished with a hop back (.1) on her RO back double full. She held the finishing position for a full second. This was quite a solid routine, and one that looks ready if needed. That said, Jay mentioned to her in the post-meet press conference that he wished she’d hit like that in the gym, so perhaps it’s inconsistent. [9.850]
Olivia finally got a chance to exhibit a beam routine, and she stunned with a 9.975. She hit her full turn, nailed her BHS LOSO acro series, hit her front aerial, hit her split jump to switch leap to switch ring, stuck her gainer pike and failed to hold the finishing position for a full second (.05). Her switch ring was almost too low, but was probably within the 10 degree window. Notice how there’s that one little thing keeping this from being a 10.0. Also, this is a prime example of a routine with high potential that isn’t in lineups because it’s inconsistent in the gym. [9.950]
Overall, this was the stuff LSU needs in order to win in the postseason.
LSU Floor 49.600 (LSU wins 198.250-196.075)
First off, I need to issue a correction. After further review, LSU hasn’t set the record for highest floor NQS ever yet. Road To Nationals is a great resource, but it’s missing final NQS data for 2019. UCLA finished that season with a floor NQS of 49.720, the highest on any event in NCAA history.
Anyway, this was a bit of an off floor rotation by the standards they’ve given themselves. Konnor led things off with a 9.925. She nailed her double layout (DLO), hit her switch leap to short (.05) switch full and hit her back 1.5 to front full. This was a really good start. [9.950]
Amari followed with a 9.900. She hit her DLO, slid back (.05) on her front through to double tuck (FTDT), hit her wolf turn, hit her switch ring and was short on her switch half (.05). This was good. [9.900]
KJ made an uncharacteristic mistake on her routine and scored a 9.775. She went out of bounds (.1 ND) on her full-in, cheated the turn on her switch side to Popa (.05) and stepped forward out of her double tuck (.1). This was weird because she didn’t slide out of bounds, she instead did something else wrong I can’t diagnose. Flukes happen. [9.750]
Aleah finished her first all-around performance since last season with a 9.950. I didn’t see a deduction, but maybe that’s due to the camera angles. Either way, this was superb. [10.0]
Olivia finished her senior night with a 9.850 on a 9.90/9.80 split. She took an uncontrolled (.05) step forward (.1) out of her FTDT, was short on her switch leap (.05) to hit switch ring, cheated her Y-turn (.05) and nailed her double pike. Her first pass hurt her score, but she made up for it well. [9.750]
Kiya finished her senior night with a 9.975. She slid back on her full-in (.05), nailed her back 1.5 to front layout (FLO), nailed her leap series, and slid back on her double pike (.05). This was a little off, but maybe that’s from the emotions of the moment. [9.900]
Sierra exhibited a floor routine to conclude her senior night. It wasn’t shown on the broadcast, but she nailed her DLO. She then had some form issues in her back 1.5 to FLO (.05), had too low a front leg on her switch ring (.05), did a switch half with a split position I couldn’t analyze due to camera angles/distance in person and finished with a double pike that flew back and almost went out of bounds (.1). It was a nice way to end her night, and maybe it’s not the last time she competes in the PMAC.
Cammy finished her final senior night with an exhibition floor routine. She had form issues (.05) and slid forward out of her FLO to front full (.05), fell (.5) on her double pike and nailed her switch side to Popa. It’s unfortunate that she fell, but it was an energetic routine to close the regular season.
Overall, this wasn’t as clean as it usually is. 49.600 would be incredible for most teams, but it’s pedestrian for this team.
Overall thoughts
It’s weird to be a bit disappointed by such a high score, but Jay wasn’t exactly happy either. He mentioned that it was a reflection of how things had been in the gym. If everything gets fixed for SECs, none of this will matter. Time for SECs, y’all. Let’s GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!