BATON ROUGE – Head coach D-D Breaux and senior Ashleigh Gnat of the LSU gymnastics team were each recognized for their outstanding seasons and named the Southeastern Conference coach and specialist of the year, the conference office announced Thursday.
This marks the second consecutive season Gnat has been honored with the specialist of the year award. Gnat was the leader of LSU’s 20-1 record and sweep of the SEC regular season and tournament titles. She captured the vault, beam and floor titles at the SEC Championship.
The No. 1 vault performer in the country based on RQS, Gnat stuck her double-twisting Yurchenko in the anchor spot of the Tigers’ opening rotation for a perfect 10.0. It marked her nation-leading third 10.0 on vault this season and the ninth perfect score of her career, which tied Jennifer Wood for the school record.
Gnat also anchored the squad’s beam and floor lineups with 9.95s for the titles. Overall, her three titles in 2017 tied Rheagan Courville (2014) for the most at a single SEC Championship in school history. This season, Gnat earned regular season All-America honors on vault as well as floor and beam after ranking fourth and eighth respectively in the events. She owns 10 floor titles for the season, which ties the school record for the most in a single season in school history.
The coach of the year honor marked the eighth time Breaux has been recognized by her peers. Breaux guided the Tigers to 20-1 record overall and perfect 7-0 mark in league meets. The dean of the SEC coaches also led the squad to a historic sweep of the league’s regular season and tournament championships.
Three gymnasts, under the direction of Breaux, captured five SEC event championships to tie the school record for a single meet. The Tigers won a title on all four events at the championships.
LSU owns the third-highest team score in the nation of 198.150, which the squad set against Florida to capture the SEC regular season championship. Over the course of 2017, Breaux’s team has set four scores that rank in the top-10 in school history.
In the rankings, the vault squad owns the top spot based on RQS. The vault lineup has posted scores that rank in the top three in the country over the last two seasons. The beam and floor teams rank second and the bars squad ranks third in the country.
For their performance in Jacksonville, Gnat, McKenna Kelley, Myia Hambrick, Lexie Priessman and freshman Ruby Harrold earned All-SEC honors for a new school record. Harrold and Kennedi Edney were also named to the All-SEC freshman team after their performances on vault and beam respectively.
Kelley clinched the program’s first SEC meet title in 36 years with her 9.95 in the fifth spot on floor. The sophomore also earned her first SEC event title with the score. Priessman anchored the bars lineup with an outstanding 9.95 to win LSU’s first bars title since 1994.
Hambrick had an outstanding meet for the squad with a pair of 9.90s on vault and bars. The junior finished with the second-highest score on bars during the championship. In just her fourth appearance on vault this season, Harrold stuck her 1.5 for a career high 9.95.
Harrold was also named to the All-SEC freshman team after finishing as the top freshman on vault. Edney was inserted into the beam lineup after the warmup and delivered a huge performance for a 9.90 to also earn honors.
In the history of the program, LSU has had 37 gymnasts earn 77 All-SEC honors. Edney and Harrold pushed LSU’s total all-freshman conference honors to seven since the award was first recognized in 2009.
2017 SEC Gymnastics Awards
Gymnast of the Year: Alex McMurtry, Florida
Event Specialist of the Year: Ashleigh Gnat, LSU
Freshman of the Year: Mollie Korth, Kentucky
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Alex McMurtry, Florida
Coach of the Year: D-D Breaux, LSU
All-SEC
Katie Bailey, Alabama
Maddie Desch, Alabama
Kiana Winston, Alabama
Hailey Garner, Arkansas
Samantha Cerio. Auburn
Gracie Day, Auburn
Emma Engler, Auburn
Kullen Hlawek, Auburn
MJ Rott, Auburn
Emma Slappey, Auburn
Kennedy Baker, Florida
Alicia Boren, Florida
Amelia Hundley, Florida
Alex McMurtry, Florida
Rachel Slocum, Florida
Lauren Johnson, Georgia
Sydney Snead, Georgia
Sidney Dukes, Kentucky
Alex Hyland, Kentucky
Mollie Korth, Kentucky
Ashleigh Gnat, LSU
Myia Hambrick, LSU
Ruby Harrold, LSU
McKenna Kelley, LSU
Lexie Priessman, LSU
Becca Schugel, Missouri
Britney Ward, Missouri
All-Freshman
Wynter Childers, Alabama
Maddie Desch, Alabama
Hailey Garner, Arkansas
Jessica Yamzon, Arkansas
Gracie Day, Auburn
Emma Slappey, Auburn
Rachel Gowey, Florida
Amelia Hundley, Florida
Mollie Korth, Kentucky
Kennedi Edney, LSU
Ruby Harrold, LSU