FAYETTEVILLE, ARK. – The eighth ranked LSU Gymnastics team fell on the road to No. 23 Arkansas with a score of 197.475-197.250 on Friday night in Barnhill Arena.
The team score earned their highest road score of the season against the Razorbacks. Haleigh Bryant finished the night with an all-around score of 39.575 to earn her fifth-straight title.
“We’re continuing to get better. We hit 24 routines, but we allowed the environment to get to us at the end,” said head coach Jay Clark. “It’s a decent road score that improves our average, but it was short of what we wanted to accomplish today. Now we have to get back in the gym and get better.”
Alexis Jeffrey led the Tigers off on bars with a 9.850 while Tori Tatum, Aleah Finnegan, and Haleigh Bryant all added scores of 9.850. Elena Arenas and Alyona Shchennikova both earned a team-high 9.875.
The Tigers and the Razorbacks were all-even at 49.300 heading into the second rotation.
LSU earned a season high 49.500 on vault after a strong performance in Barnhill Arena. Arenas led off with a 9.825 followed by Shchennikova who matched her season high with a 9.875. Chase Brock scored a 9.900 in the fourth spot to record a new career high. KJ Johnson and Bryant put up back-to-back 9.950’s to close out the second rotation and take the co-title.
The Tigers moved on to the third rotation with the 98.800-98.650 lead.
Sierra Ballard led off the floor squad with a 9.825 and Shchennikova followed with a 9.800. Brock had a night and recorded another career high with her 9.825. KJ Johnson had a strong 9.875 performance and Finnegan followed with a 9.900. Bryant anchored with another 9.875 to close out the third rotation with a score of 49.300.
In the final rotation, Kai Rivers led off with a 9.700 on beam followed by a 9.800 from Shchennikova. Ballard scored a 9.750 and Arenas scored a 9.775 in the fourth spot. Bryant posted a 9.900 before Finnegan anchored with a strong 9.925 routine to earn the title.
No. 8 LSU couldn’t find the lead again and fell to No. 23 Arkansas in Fayetteville 197.250-197.475. Bryant’s vault and all-around titles moved her total to 13 this season while Finnegan earned her fifth and second on beam. KJ Johnson recorded her first title this season on vault and her second on the event in her career.
The Tigers will be back at home next week as they host Georgia in the PMAC on Friday, February 3, at 8 p.m. CT on the SEC Network.