Now then, to a less stressful sport…wait
Five years to the day of their last SEC championship, the LSU Tigers gymnastics team is back on top of the mountain. LSU tied the highest score they’ve ever put up at SECs with a 198.075. Alabama finished 2nd with a 197.750, Kentucky finished 3rd, their best finish in program history, with a 197.600, Florida finished 4th, their worst finish since 2005, with a 197.300, Missouri finished 5th with a 197.275, Arkansas finished 6th with a 197.050, Auburn finished 7th with a 196.775 and Georgia finished last for the third straight year with a 196.075.
Haleigh Bryant Wins SEC Gymnast of the Year, Jay Clark wins SEC Co-Coach of the Year
Sky is blue, water is clear, Haleigh Bryant SEC Gymnast of the Year. All three are as ubiquitous as each other. Haleigh is the sixth gymnast in LSU history to win this award and first since Sarah Finnegan in 2019. She joins April Burkholder ad the only other LSU gymnast to win SEC Freshman of the Year and SEC Gymnast of the Year in their career.
For the first time in his career, Jay Clark has been named conference coach of the year. He shared the honor with Tim Garrison, the 2023 winner. D-D Breaux earned the award nine times in her career, and her last honor came in 2019. Jay became the first male head coach to ever win an SEC championship of any kind on this night.
It’s preamble time: the links 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. 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. This is the start of meets with four judges. I will give the judge-by-judge breakdown, in order of the judges on the scoresheet, of each score unless all four judges agreed on the score. Anyway, after a bit longer than usual, let’s jump into the championship routines.
LSU Vault 49.475 (LSU t-1st with Alabama after 1)
LSU kicked things off with a solid vault rotation considering how stingy the vault judging was all night. KJ Johnson led things off with a Yurchenko Full and scored a 9.875 [9.90/9.95/9.85/9.85]. She stuck it, and she failed to hold the finishing position for a full second (.05). The only other deduction was for direction. I have been very loose with my application of the direction deduction, only applying it if someone is on the line, but when watching the vault only stream, it’s clear as day that she’s closer to the left line (as it appears on camera) than to the right line. I’ll be shocked if there isn’t a center line added to the vault mats next season. [9.900]
Aleah Finnegan followed with a 9.850 [9.85/9.90/9.85/9.85] on her Yurchenko 1.5 (Y1.5). She had form issues in the air (.05), took a step forward (.1) and failed to hold the finishing position for a full second (.05). It was good. [9.800]
Amari Drayton made her SEC Championship debut with her Y1.5 for a 9.825 [9.85/9.85/9.75/9.80]. She took a large step forward (.2) with a clear lack of control (.05) and failed to hold the finishing position for a full second (.05). This wasn’t great, but it got dropped. [9.700]
Savannah Schoenherr kept the hit parade going with a 9.850 [9.80/9.90/9.90/9.80] on her Y1.5. She underrotated it slightly (.05), hopped back (.1) and failed to hold the finishing position for a full second (.05). It was an okay vault. [9.800]
Kiya Johnson finally got the Tigers into the 9.9s with a 9.925 [9.90/9.95/9.95/9.90] on her Yurchenko Double. She had leg separation (.05) in her first flight and slid back her right foot a bit (.05) on the landing, but she held the finishing position for a full second. This was a very good vault that managed to avoid a common issue she’s had in the past: direction. It was only slightly closer to the left line than the right as opposed to being very close to or on a line as it has in the past. [9.900]
Haleigh won the SEC vault title with a 9.975 [9.95/10.0/10.0/9.95] on her front handspring front pike half. The only deduction was a slight slide of her left foot back (.05) on the landing. This ended up being Haleigh’s 32nd career vault title and her second career SEC title, bringing her into a tie with Rachelle Fruge’ for 8th-most all-time (a mark that would not stand for long). [9.950]
Overall, this was a solid vault rotation, one that ended up having the highest score of the meet. This showed how good LSU’s vault mechanics are. They’re clean on landings save for the hops. However, they still can’t seem to hold those finishing positions, and vault judges were taking if anyone failed to do it.
LSU Bars 49.450 (LSU t-1st with Kentucky after 2)
LSU moved to bars and had another solid rotation. Alexis Jeffrey was out, so Kiya moved back into her leadoff spot and scored a 9.825 [9.85/9.80/9.85/9.80]. She hit her first handstand, bent her arms in her Maloney (.05), came up short on her bail handstand (.05), looked fine on her final handstands, hopped forward on her double layout (DLO) after landing (.1) and held the finishing position for a full second. This was a good start. [9.800]
Ashley Cowan shocked many with an SEC championship-tying 9.950 in the second spot. The only deduction I saw was that she failed to hold the finishing position for a full second (.05), a thing that I have harped on all season for good reason. This was Ashley’s first ever individual event title at any meet, so to call this SEC title out of nowhere is an understatement. Even Elena Arenas had one event title to her name before winning a share of the 2021 SEC vault title, one she won at Auburn on 2/5/21. Ashley feels primed to move down the bars lineup next season. [9.950]
Olivia Dunne followed with a 9.800 [9.80/9.80/9.85/9.80]. She hit her first handstand, hit a very clean Tkatchev to Pak, cheated her low-bar half turn (.05) and failed to hit a handstand (.05), hit her final handstand, had form issues in her DLO (.1 for leg form and layout position), hopped back (.1) and failed to hold the finishing position for a full second (.05). It was fine, but it is tiring watching routines with built-in deductions get scores that don’t match the blatant issues present. [9.650]
Konnor McClain followed with a 9.900 [9.85/9.85/9.95/9.95]. She hit her first handstand, caught her Church cleanly, had leg separation in her Pak (.05), nailed her low-bar half turn, hit her final handstand, stepped back (.1) on her half-in half-out (HIHO) and failed to hold the finishing position for a full second (.05). This might’ve been the cleanest she’s ever looked on the bars. [9.800]
Sav was next with a 9.850 [9.85/9.85/9.90/9.85]. She was short on her first handstand (.05), bent her arms to catch her Jaeger (.05), hit her second handstand, was short on her third handstand (.05), hit her bail handstand, was short on her final handstand (.05), cowboyed (.05) her double front half, took a step back (.1) and failed to hold the finishing position for a full second (.05). This was not a clean routine from how it appeared on camera, though the angles were not perpendicular to the bars for some reason. Either way, this should’ve been better. [9.600]
Haleigh anchored with a 9.925 [9.90/9.90/9.95/9.95]. 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, stepped forward (.1) on her double front half and failed to hold the finishing position for a full second (.05). It was nearly perfect until the dismount. [9.800]
Overall, this was not the cleanest LSU’s looked all year on bars thanks to several short handstands. Also, this was another rotation where failing to hold the finishing position cost easy tenths.
LSU Beam 49.475 (LSU 2nd by .025 after 3)
The Tigers then managed to hit beam decently enough to stay in the meet. Sierra Ballard led off with a 9.800 [9.80/9.80/9.85/9.75]. She hit her acro series, hit her full turn, did a short (.05) sissonne to hit switch half, checked on her kickover front (.05), stepped forward (.1) on her roundoff (RO) back 1.5 and failed to hold the finishing position for a full second (.05). This was a good start. [9.750]
Sav finished her final SEC Championship with a 9.850 [9.85/9.85/9.85/9.90]. She had a check (.05) on her front aerial, a leg form issue (.05) in her acro series, a hit full turn, a good beat jump to short (.05) and cheated (.05) straddle 3/4, and a hop back (.1) on RO back double full. She also failed to hold the finishing position for a full second (.05). This was good considering she had to fill in for Alexis, but this also explained why it wasn’t in the lineup before. [9.650]
Konnor followed up with the only 10.0 of the night, the third of her career. She hit her switch jump, dropped her front leg (.1 to SV for failing to connect) before hitting her switch half, had a leg form issue in her acro series (.05), nailed her wolf jump, nailed her full turn, nailed her side aerial, stuck her gainer full and held the finishing position for a full second. It sure felt like a 10 in the arena despite its flaws, and it gave Konnor a tie with Rheagan Courville for 10th most 10.0s in LSU history. [9.850]
Kiya had the unenviable task of following up the 10.0, and she bobbled her way to a 9.775 [9.70/9.80/9.85/9.75]. She checked on her full turn (.05), checked on her acro series (.05), was short on the second half of her leap series (.05), checked on her front toss (.05), slid her left foot back slightly (.05) on her RO back double full, held the finishing position for a full second and brought her heels together afterward, and failed to hold the finishing position for a full second (.05). Yes, the rule is that pedantic, so it wouldn’t be too shocking if judges ignored it. Either way, this wasn’t up to her usual standards. [9.700]
Haleigh kept her incredible night going with a 9.950. The only deduction I saw was for a shoulder check on her standing front (.05), a common issue on that skill. Other than that, this was superb. [9.950]
Aleah anchored the rotation with a 9.875 [9.85/9.85/9.95/9.90]. She had a big check on her acro series (.1), but that was all I noticed. After that, it was smooth sailing. [9.900]
Overall, this was okay, and the best part was that it never appeared as if anything that could throw them off would snowball. Kiya’s routine was the only one that showed any hint of nerves, and one out of six is fine when you can drop the score.
LSU Floor 49.675 (LSU wins)
LSU locked up the meet with the best floor rotation of the championship. Konnor led off with a 9.925 [9.90/9.95/9.95/9.90]. She nailed her DLO, hit her switch leap, was short on her switch half (.05) and had some leg separation (.05) in her back 1.5 to front layout (FLO). There’s a reason she’s taken Sierra’s spot on floor: she’s cleaner. [9.900]
Amari followed with a 9.850 [9.85/9.85/9.85/9.95]. She nailed her DLO with a low chest (.05), took two small steps forward (.1) out of her front through to double tuck, hit her wolf turn, hit her switch ring and had a low lifting leg (.05, needs to be at 45 degrees) on her hit switch half. Overall, this was pretty good, though the double tuck is usually a bit better. [9.800]
KJ earned her first SEC championship with a 9.975 [10.0/9.90/9.95/10.0]. The only deductions I saw came on her leap series. She has a thing where she overdoes her switch side and then underdoes her Popa (.05). It’s well within a judge’s discretion to deduct for imprecise leaps on both of those skills, so the 9.90 is reasonable. [9.950]
Aleah followed with a 9.750 [9.80/9.75/9.90/9.80; -0.1 ND]. She overdid her double Arabian and went out of bounds on her stag jump (.1 ND, also .05 for lack of control on the jump itself) that also had an arm swing to maintain balance (.05), hit her leap series, nailed her back 2.5 to front tuck and hit her switch leap. That out of bounds was close, but it appeared like one of her toes was just barely over the line when she landed her stag jump. It was fine otherwise. [9.800 including .1 ND]
Haleigh clinched the meet and the all-around title with a 9.950 [9.95/9.95/10.0/9.95]. The only deduction I noticed was a cheated turn on her switch full (.05). She stuck her front double front for the first time in a bit, though. With this, Haleigh tied Susan Jackson and Ashleigh Clare-Kearney for 6th in LSU history in SEC titles. She also broke a tie with Rheagan Courville for most all-around titles in an LSU career with her 27th. [9.950]
Kiya clinched her second SEC championship with a 9.975 [9.95/10.0/9.95/10.0]. She slid back on her full-in (.05), stepped across her body (.05) on her back 1.5 to FLO, cheated her leap series (.05) and slid back on her double pike (.05). It may not have been that close to perfect, but it was a solid punctuation on a championship. [9.800]
Overall, this was a solid floor rotation by LSU’s now-historic standards. This rotation pushed LSU ahead of 2019 UCLA by the slimmest possible margin to earn the highest floor NQS in NCAA history with a 49.725. Oklahoma’s performance at the Big 12 Championship on beam gave them the same NQS, and that creates a tie for highest single-event NQS in NCAA history.
Overall thoughts
SEC CHAMPS BAYBEE, WOOOO! In all seriousness, this meet was huge for LSU’s confidence. It’s a great momentum boost going into regionals. This felt like a night where everything was just right to win a title, and they pulled it off. The best part of it all is that nobody is saying the wrong team won the title because of how dominant LSU was.
LSU has now won 53 individual titles from 28 different gymnasts. Ashley, Konnor, Kiya and KJ earned All-SEC honors on the events on which they won SEC titles, and Haleigh won All-SEC honors on every event and the all-around. LSU now has 110 All-SEC honors from 49 different gymnasts. Konnor also became the 19th LSU gymnast to make the SEC All-Freshman team since it was introduced in 2009.
Next stop: Fayetteville. I’ll preview the entire regional Wednesday.