Tucson, Ariz. – The fourth-ranked LSU gymnastics team travels west for its longest road trip since the 2013 NCAA Championships to take on Arizona at 9 p.m. CT Friday in the squad’s final regular-season meet of the season.
The Tigers are 10-3 on the season and coming off of a season-high team score of 198.150 a week ago against Oregon State. Friday’s meet will be streamed live at Pac12.com.
Breaux Previews Non-Conference Meet
“I feel like this team has really turned the corner and is starting to gain momentum as we had into championship season,” LSU gymnastics head coach D-D Breaux said. “We’ve really seen some great performances over the last couple of meets. We want to take the same energy out to Arizona and keep working to improve before our SEC Championships next week.”
Tigers Own Only Perfect Scores in the SEC
LSU’s Kennedi Edney, Sarah Finnegan, McKenna Kelley and Lexie Priessman are the only gymnasts in the league with perfect scores this season. Priessman became the first gymnast in the nation’s best conference with a 10.0 when she did it on bars two weeks ago against Georgia. Finnegan scored her fourth career 10 and the nation’s first 10 on beam against the bulldogs. A week later, Kelley and Edney closed out the Tigers’ outstanding performance against Oregon State on floor with their first career perfect scores.
Finnegan One of Nation’s Best All-Around Performers
Finnegan, LSU’s nominee for the AAI Award, is one of the top gymnasts in the nation. The senior, who has won the all-around in 10 of 11 meets in 2019, is coming off of a career-high 39.800. Finnegan’s score is the second highest in the nation and she has been dominant in the all-around this year with head-to-head wins over No. 2 MyKayla Skinner of Utah, No. 2 Trinity Thomas of Florida and No. 10 Sydney Snead of Georgia.
The Lee’s Summit, Missouri, native is one of four gymnasts in the nation to score a 9.95 or higher on all four events and just the ninth in school history. The reigning SEC Gymnast of the Week is ranked in all four events and the all-around.
Finnegan, Kelley Earn SEC’s Top Honors
Finnegan and Kelley put together career performances against No. 15 Oregon State and were rewarded with the Southeastern Conference’s top honors. Finnegan was named the SEC Gymnast of the Week for the sixth time in 2019 after scoring a career-high 39.800 for the highest score in the SEC. The reigning SEC Gymnast of the Year became the fourth gymnast in school history to score a 39.800 or higher in the all-around.
Kelley, the SEC Specialist of the Week, anchored the Tigers’ outstanding performance on Friday night with the first perfect score of her career. The 10.0 marked the 25th in school history on floor. The Houston, Texas, native was the final performer of the Tigers’ 49.675 fourth rotation for a season high.
Series History
LSU is 17-9 overall against Arizona overall and a 1-2 record in Tucson. A year ago, LSU scored a 198.125 in the regular season finale. Finnegan anchored the Tigers’ bars and beam squad with a perfect score. The beam rotation of 49.750 against the Wildcats was a school record and the 49.725 on floor tied the record. The last time LSU traveled to Tucson for a meet was in 1996.
Fans can follow the Tigers on the team’s social media channels: @LSUgym on Instagram and Twitter, www.Facebook.com/lsugym and at YouTube.com/lsugymnastics.