LSU gymnastics advanced to the NCAA Finals on Thursday.
The Tigers defeated California, Stanford, and Arkansas with a 198.11 score at the semifinals in Fort Worth, Texas. They’ll vie for the program’s first national championship this Saturday.
Haleigh Bryant, recently recognized as the AAI Award Winner bestowed to the nation’s top senior, led the way with top scores in the all-around (39.7125) and on the balance beam (9.95). She also matched Boise State’s Courtney Blackson with a 9.925 on the uneven parallel bars.
Bryant was among five LSU gymnasts to finish in the top six of the floor exercise. Aleah Finnegan notched the highest score at 9.9625.
KJ Johnson also dazzled on the floor exercise, scoring second behind her teammate with a 9.95.
While this marks LSU’s 33rd NCAA Championships appearance and fifth trip to the finals, the Tigers are still searching for their first title. Before advancing on Thursday, Bryant expressed confidence in her team getting the job done.
“Every team’s goal is probably to win a national championship, but I feel like there’s just something different about this team,” Bryant told ESPN’s D’Arcy Maine. “When you’re having a hard day, it’s the goal of bringing a national championship back to a program that’s never won a national championship before that makes you excited and it gets you fired up. We’re going to do everything we possibly can to try to accomplish that goal that we have.”