The defending National Champion LSU gymnastics team traveled to Penn State for the Pennsylvania Regional with Arkansas, Michigan, and Maryland. Kailin Chio continued her dominant freshman season along with Aleah Finnegan and Haleigh Bryant as the Bayou Bengals finished with the best score of the night and will advance to the regional final.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
In the first rotation, LSU started with floor exercise and got off to a strong start as both Aleah Finnegan and SEC Freshman of the Year Kailin Chio led the way with a 9.925 score for their routines. Amari Drayton, Haliegh Bryant, and Sierra Ballard followed close behind with 9.9s to take the early lead on the floor. Maryland finished on beam with a 49.025 as they were forced to carry a pair of 9.725 due to a fall from Layla Hammer. Arkansas, led by former Olympian Jordyn Wieber, scored a 49.425 as a team on vault, led heavily by a trio of 9.900. Michigan finished third in the first rotation, scoring 49.275 on bars to round out the first of four rotations at Penn State.
The second rotation had the Tigers on vault, and it was more of the same as the SEC champs had all 9.900 from their lineup, including great routines from Chio and Bryant. The Terps went to the floor, where they scored 49.325, led by a 9.950 from Maddie Komoroski to finish the halfway point strong. Meanwhile, Arkansas went to bars and had a great round with a 49.525 as a squad to very much keep them in the mix. Michigan struggled a bit on the beam with just a 49.075 as a team to finish rotation two.
LSU went to bars on their third rotation, which has become the Tigers’ specialty spot over the last few meets. Lexi Zeiss, Chio, and Finnegan all had 9.900, and Ashley Cowan had a 9.925 as, once again, Jay Clark’s squad didn’t have a score below 9.9. Haleigh Bryant finished with a 9.875, but her score will not carry over as it is the lowest score of the group. Arkansas had a nice start on bea with a 9.900 and a 9.800, but a 9.025 and 9.675 scores drug down the Razorbacks in the third rotation as they were a full point out of the race. On vault, Maryland had a very strong round with a pair of 9.800, a 9.875 from Maggie Murphy, and a 9.900 from Taylor Rech to keep them close to LSU. Finally, Michigan was on the floor during the third rotation and put up really good scores, including a 9.900 from Sophia Diaz.
After three rotations, LSU and Arkansas were in position to advance to the regional final on Saturday, but Michigan and Maryland were both hanging around.
The Tigers were on beam for the final rotation, and Ballard and Coen started with a 9.850 and 9.875, respectively, but it was Chio who stole the show early in the rotation as the freshman continued to perform well above her years with a 9.900. Bryant and Konnor McClain followed with 9.900 of their own to all but cement themselves as one of the final two schools advancing to the regional final on Saturday. Finnegan finished with a 9.950 to finish the job for LSU and score another meet total of 198+ for the seventh time this season. Arkansas had an incredible floor routine with a pair of 9.925 to put themselves in a similar position to the Tigers. Michigan and Maryland kept it very close, but they would go on to be on the outside looking in.
BIG NUMBER: 198.100
LSU finished with a 198.100, the highest score by .550 to finish first in the second round session of the Pennsylvania Regional, their seventh 198+ this season.
ALL-AROUND CHAMPs: Aleah Finnegan and Kailin Chio
A pair of Tigers will share the All-Around crown as Finnegan and Chio finished the night with a 39.625.
UP NEXT: LSU will advance to the regional final on Saturday afternoon as they will join Arkansas, Kentucky, and Michigan State.