FORT WORTH, Texas — The LSU gymnastics team’s motto all season was two simple words, which were printed on purple wristbands worn by its athletes and coaches:
“Get there.”
Saturday, the Tigers changed that to “Got there.”
Champions. NCAA champions, at long last.
Four times a national runner-up, LSU broke through on its 10th trip to the NCAA finals to win its first gymnastics national title in the 50th season of the program.
The Tigers overcame a couple of missed routines and a small deficit to Utah after three events with a sizzling final rotation on balance beam. LSU scored a 49.7675, a record score on that event in an NCAA final, to finish at 198.225. The previous beam record was 49.750 by UCLA in 2018.
California was second at 197.850, while Utah slipped to third at 197.800. Florida was fourth at 197.4375.
“I’m just so happy for them,” a nearly speechless LSU coach Jay Clark said in the post-meet news conference at Dickies Arena. “To see them experience that feeling of finally getting over the hump and getting to exhale, it was just clutch.
“We made it interesting in a couple of spots. Every team was out there fighting for their lives and it could have gone any of four ways. As much as I feel for what happened to Oklahoma in the semifinals, it made for a championship that became so packed with emotion, because every team believed they could do it.”
Oklahoma, unbeaten and the No. 1 national seed, shockingly was eliminated in Thursday’s semifinals, falling victim to its worst vault routine in 16 years as Utah and Florida surged past the Sooners. LSU and California came out of Thursday’s first semifinal.
The end of Oklahoma's quest for a third straight NCAA title suddenly thrust the Tigers, the No. 2 national seed, into the role of favorite. It was a spot that seemed to weigh on the LSU gymnasts at first, especially when Southeastern Conference co-floor champion KJ Johnson seated her second pass and scored only a 9.2875.
“We didn’t want to make it more than we had to,” said LSU senior Haleigh Bryant, who won the NCAA all-around title Thursday. “We knew we were competing for the national championship and wanted to bring it back to LSU, but our mindset was exactly the same. We got there today, and I’m so proud of this team.”
The rest of LSU’s lineup came through, posting nothing less than a 9.9125, led by a 9.9375 from Bryant. After one event, LSU led Cal 49.6125-49.475.
LSU, drawing a difficult rotation, then went to vault and scored a 49.400. Bryant, the 2021 NCAA vault champion, led the way with a 9.95, though LSU’s only other 9.90-plus score came from Kiya Johnson (9.9125). Halfway through the meet, the Tigers led Utah by one-tenth of a point, 99.0125-98.9125.
Utah moved ahead in the third rotation 148.500-148.4625 as the Tigers grinded out a solid if unspectacular showing on uneven bars (49.450). LSU’s best scores were 9.90s from Alexis Jeffrey and Konnor McClain. When Bryant twisted her feet on the landing to score a 9.875, only her sixth sub-9.90 score in 66 total routines this season, the Tigers had work to do as they went to beam and Utah went to vault.
Other than an uncharacteristic near fall in the second spot for sixth-year senior Savannah Schoenherr, a graduate transfer from Florida, it was a dream beam for LSU. While Schoenherr got a 9.3875, the rest of the Tigers nailed the event, hitting nothing less than 9.95s.
Sierra Ballard led off with a career-high 9.95 on beam, and McClain followed Schoenherr’s mishap with a 9.9625 that was the highest individual score of the entire meet. Kiya Johnson, Bryant and Aleah Finnegan, Thursday’s NCAA floor champion, followed with 9.95s.
By the time Finnegan landed her dismount, she was in tears realizing that she likely had clinched LSU’s long-sought national title. Meanwhile, Utah faded out of contention with a 49.300, counting a 9.675 on vault from Ella Zirbes, and Cal was too far back to challenge LSU despite finishing with a 49.500 on bars.
The Tigers, wearing rhinestone-encrusted white leotards called “Ice Queen” designed by former LSU gymnastics great Rheagan Courville Branton, become the eighth team since women's gymnastics became an NCAA-sanctioned sport in 1982 to win a national title. The Tigers were runner-up four times from 2014-19.
“For me it means everything and more,” said Kiya Johnson, a Dallas native who sat out most of the 2023 season with an Achilles tendon injury. “I came (to LSU) five years ago and I wanted this from the day I set foot on campus. For it to happen today, with all the alums and fans here, it’s perfect. It’s a win for everybody who was ever involved in LSU gymnastics.”
Over the past two seasons, the gymnastics program has been featured in an in-house LSU documentary series called “The Climb.”
In 2024, LSU’s climb is finally complete.
NCAA gymnastics national championship
Saturday
Fort Worth, Texas
Meet scores
1. #2 LSU 198.225 (Vault — 49.400, Bars — 49.450, Beam — 49.7625, Floor — 49.6125)
2. #3 California 197.850 (Vault — 49.500, Bars — 49.500, Beam — 49.475, Floor — 49.375)
3. #5 Utah 197.800 (Vault — 49.300, Bars — 49.4375, Beam — 49.475, Floor — 49.5875)
4. #4 Florida 197.4375 (Vault — 49.250, Bars — 49.475, Beam — 49.2375, Floor — 49.475)
Individual (includes first place and all LSU competitors)
All-around — T1. Haleigh Bryant, LSU, eMjae Frazier, California, 39.7125; 4. Kiya Johnson, LSU, 39.675.
Vault — T1. Haleigh Bryant, LSU, Mya Lauzon, California, 9.95; T4. Kiya Johnson, LSU, 9.9125; T11. Savannah Schoenherr, LSU, 9.875; 17. Aleah Finnegan, LSU, 9.8375; 18. Amari Drayton, LSU, 9.825; T20. KJ Johnson, LSU, 9.80.
Bars — T1. Leanne Wong, Florida, Grace McCallum, Utah, 9.95; T5. Alexis Jeffrey, Konnor McClain, LSU, 9.90; T10. Kiya Johnson, Ashley Cowan, LSU, 9.8875; T15. Haleigh Bryant, LSU, 9.875; T18. Savannah Schoenherr, LSU, 9.8625.
Beam — 1. Konnor McClain, LSU, 9.9625; T2. Sierra Ballard, Kiya Johnson, Haleigh Bryant, Aleah Finnegan, LSU, 9.95; 23. Savannah Schoenherr, LSU, 9.3875.
Floor — 1. Leanne Wong, Florida, 9.95; 2. Haleigh Bryant, LSU, 9.9375; T3. Kiya Johnson, Konnor McClain, LSU, 9.925; T8. Amari Drayton, Aleah Finnegan, LSU, 9.9125; 23. KJ Johnson, LSU, 9.2875.
Attendance: 7,684
