The Recap: No. 2 LSU Gymnastics Captures Top-10 SEC Victory Over Kentucky

Jay Clark's crew captures SEC victory No. 5 on the season, take down the Wildcats in Lexington.

Courtesy of LSU Gymnastics.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 2 LSU Gymnastics team (8-2, 5-1 SEC) defeated No. 9 Kentucky (5-4, 2-3 SEC) on Friday night in the Historic Memorial Coliseum by a final score of 197.200-197.075. The win marked LSU’s first in Lexington since 2017.

“We got the win. We should’ve gotten a mid to high 197 with what we did tonight, but I’m proud of our team and how they fought,” said head coach Jay Clark. “Our goals coming into the meet were to improve our road performance, not score, and to win the meet, and they did that. They accomplished what we needed to accomplish.”

The Tigers started the meet on bars, which was leadoff with a strong 9.875 routine from freshman Lexi Zeiss. Junior Ashley Cowan and freshman Kailin Chio added two more 9.875 scores in the first rotation. Senior Alexis Jeffrey scored a 9.825 while sophomore Konnor McClain and fifth-year senior Haleigh Bryant both added 9.85’s. It was Bryant’s first appearance on bars of the year. 

The first rotation ended in favor of the Tigers, taking the early 49.325-49.175 lead over Kentucky.

The second rotation was highlighted by a team high 9.925 from Chio, followed by Bryant, who anchored with a 9.900. Senior Aleah Finnegan scored a 9.85 while the other scores were made up by a 9.725 from senior KJ Johnson, 9.800 from freshman Kaliya Lincoln and 9.725 from sophomore Amari Drayton.

No. 3 LSU held onto the lead at the halfway point by a score of 98.525-98.325. 

Freshman Kaliya Lincoln started things off on floor for the Tigers for her second appearance in the leadoff and scored a 9.875. Ballard and Chio put up strong performances in the second and third spots that went 9.825 and 9.850. It was a 9.875 for Drayton in the fourth spot followed by a 9.775 from Finnegan, who stepped out on her first pass. Bryant anchored with a team high 9.900 to close out the floor rotation.

It was a 49.325 for LSU in the third rotation to hold onto the 147.850-147.650 lead heading into the final rotation.

The final rotation saw the Tigers on beam, which was led off with a 9.850 from Ballard. Coen added a 9.775 in the second spot before Chio put up another 9.925 for the Tigers. McClain and Bryant added scores of 9.825 and 9.850 before Finnegan anchored with a 9.900. It was a 49.350 for the Tigers in the final rotation to bring back the win to Baton Rouge.

Chio claimed her fourth straight all-around title on the night with her 39.575 performance, also taking home the titles on vault and bars. The freshman has now taken home at least one event title in all but one meet this year, moving her career total to 13 tonight. 

Freshman Lexi Zeiss took home the first title of her career on bars, along with Ashley Cowan, who split the four-way bars title with Chio and Kentucky’s Delaynee Rodriguez.

Bryant earned a 39.500 in her first all-around appearance this year, finishing as the second top performer on the night.

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