BATON ROUGE – The LSU Gymnastics pair of senior Haleigh Bryant and freshman Amari Drayton took home the first SEC awards of the 2024 season, announced by the league on Tuesday afternoon.
Bryant was named the SEC Gymnast of the Week while freshman Amari Drayton earned Co-Freshman of the Week honors for their performances in the Tigers season opener against No. 14 Ohio State on Friday night.
A native of Cornelius, North Carolina, Bryant finished as the top all-around gymnast in the country after week one with her score of 39.675. She helped lift the Tigers to a 196.975-196.775 victory over the Buckeyes to secure the squad’s first victory of 2024.
The senior’s night was highlighted by her front pike half vault that scored a 9.950, while also posting a 9.875 on bars and a 9.925 on beam and floor for the Tigers.
Bryant won the vault and all-around titles on the night to move her career total to 62, which ties her at eighth for most career individual titles in LSU history. Her 24 career vault titles and 20 all-around titles also place her amongst the top-five gymnasts in school history.
Drayton had an impressive night against the Buckeyes in her collegiate gymnastics debut as she scored a pair of 9.925’s on vault and floor.
The freshman out of Spring, Texas started the night off with a stuck yurchenko one and a half on vault before anchoring on floor, capturing second place on vault and a share of second place on floor in her first competition in the Purple & Gold.
The Tigers will travel to West Valley City, Utah this week to compete in the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad, featuring No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Utah, No. 5 LSU and No. 12 UCLA. The competition in the Maverik Center is set for 3 p.m. CT on ABC.
Stay up to date with all things LSU Gymnastics by following the team’s social media channels @LSUgym on Instagram and Twitter and Facebook.