BATON ROUGE – The LSU gymnastics team added one of the nation’s top recruits when Sarah Finnegan signed her National Letter of Intent with the Tigers Monday.
A native of St. Louis, Mo., Finnegan is a senior international elite gymnast who served as an alternate for the U.S. Gymnastics Olympic team, known as the “Fierce Five,” that won gold at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
“It’s an incredible addition because Sarah is such a fine young lady,” LSU head coach D-D Breaux said. “Her gymnastics is phenomenal, but when you add to that how much of a wonderful person she is, we are truly excited to have her in this class.
“I have to give a lot of credit to (LSU associate head coach) Jay (Clark) because he has worked so hard in his consistent, tenacious effort to recruit the best gymnasts to LSU. Sarah certainly fits in that category along with our other signees Lexie Priessman, Julianna Cannamela, McKenna Kelley and Kaitlyn Szafranski.”
The daughter of Don and Linabelle Finnegan, Sarah was forced to sit out of gymnastics in all of 2013 after suffering an injury, but she has returned to health in 2014 while competing for St. Louis Gymnastics Center.
Before her injury, Finnegan established herself as one of the nation’s premier gymnasts while training under coaches Al Fong and Armine Barutyan Fong at Great American Gymnastics Express (GAGE) in Blue Springs, Mo.
“Sarah’s one of the most technically sound gymnasts that you will find anywhere, and that’s not only a reflection on her but on the coaches that she has had for most of her years – Al Fong and Armine Barutyan Fong,” LSU recruiting coordinator Jay Clark said.
She had an outstanding 2012 club season, including a great performance at the U.S. Olympic Trials in San Jose, Calif., where she placed fifth on beam and sixth on bars, floor and the all-around.
At the 2012 Visa (now P&G) Championships in St. Louis, Finnegan finished second on beam, fourth on floor and sixth in the all-around. At the 2012 Secret U.S. Classic, she placed second on floor and third on beam.
Finnegan competed for the U.S. national team at the 2012 City of Jesolo Trophy meet in Jesolo, Italy where Team USA won gold. Individually, Finnegan had a strong showing as she placed third in the all-around, fourth on beam, sixth on vault and seventh on bars in the international showcase.
In the 2011 season, Finnegan captured the floor title at the CoverGirl Classic and took third place on bars. She also earned third place in the all-around at the Visa Championships that season.
“I am so excited Sarah is joining the LSU family, and the rest of the signees are thrilled to have her as part of the class too,” Breaux said. “It’s truly gratifying to wrap up this class with someone who not only possesses great skills as a gymnast, but someone who is also a wonderful person like Sarah.”
Finnegan joins a stellar 2015 signing class that includes Julianna Cannamela, McKenna Kelley, Lexie Priessman and Kaitlyn Szafranski. They will enroll at LSU in 2015 and compete as freshmen for the Tigers in the 2016 season.
Read about the previous signees: http://lsul.su/1xOg5YN.
For all the latest information on LSU gymnastics, visit www.LSUsports.net/gymnastics. Fans can follow the Tigers on social media at www.Facebook.com/lsugym, @LSUgym on Twitter, @LSU_gym on Instagram and www.YouTube.com/lsugymnastics.