BATON ROUGE — The LSU Gymnastics team sits at fifth in the week one Road to Nationals standings after defeating No. 14 Ohio State in opening weekend.
The Tigers put up a solid 196.975-196.775 on Friday night against the Buckeyes to start the 2024 season in the win column.
LSU sits in the top-20 in all four events, highlighted by top finishes on vault and floor after the first week of competition. The squad ranks No. 1 on vault, No. 7 on bars, No. 20 on beam and No. 1 on floor.
Haleigh Bryant, Kiya Johnson, Sierra Ballard, Aleah Finnegan, Alexis Jeffrey and Amari Drayton all earned spots in the top-25 individually for their performances in opening weekend.
With her score of 39.675 in the all-around against the Buckeyes, Bryant picked up right where she left off from last season and is the top gymnast in the country after the weekend, while also placing second on vault, sixth on beam and sixth on floor. The senior posted a 9.950 on vault, 9.875 on bars, and a pair of 9.925’s on beam and floor for the Tigers on Friday night.
Two Tigers earned spots in the bars rankings, as Johnson ranks 13th after scoring a 9.925 in her first competition back from injury and Jeffrey ranks 21st with her 9.900 performance.
Ballard and Finnegan both posted scores of 9.900 on floor in the Tiger’s competition against the Buckeyes to tie at the No. 13 position in the individual event rankings.
In her collegiate gymnastics debut, Drayton had an impressive showcase in her first competition with the Tigers. The freshman scored a pair of 9.925’s on vault and floor and is tied for sixth on both events nationally.
The Tigers will travel to West Valley City, Utah this week for their road opener at the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad meet on Saturday, January 13.
No. 5 LSU will face three of the nations top-ranked teams at the podium meet featuring No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Utah and No. 12 UCLA. The competition in the Maverik Center begins at 3 p.m. CT on ABC.