BATON ROUGE– The No. 2 LSU Gymnastics team (4-1, 1-0 SEC) will face No. 14 Arkansas (2-4, 0-1 SEC) in their SEC road opener on Friday, January 24th at 6:45 p.m. CT in Bud Walton Arena.
“We’re ready to turn the page and focus on the next task at hand. This will be another big road test for us in Arkansas this week and we know that there’s not an easy meet in this conference,” said Head Coach Jay Clark. “We certainly have a great deal of respect for them and that program and we know that we will be tested, so we’re not going to take anything for granted. Our goal is always to take another step forward and focus on us.”
Friday’s meet will be the Tigers first conference road test of the year, taking on the Razorbacks in Fayetteville. The action will be available to watch on SEC Network+ with Brett Dolan and Sydney Lemmerhirt serving as the commentators.
The regular season competition between the Tigers and the Razorbacks marks the 55th meeting between the two programs with LSU holding the 47-6-1 all-time series record over Arkansas. LSU is also 8-2-1 when facing Arkansas on the road. The last time the two met was in the 2024 NCAA Semifinals, where the Tigers came out on top to advance to the Final Four.
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Last Time On The Floor
No. 2 LSU took down No. 7 Florida by a score of 197.550-197.450 last Friday night in the PMAC. 13,515 fans showed out as the Tigers took down the Gators, marking the program’s first sell out of the year and third largest crowd in history against the Gators.
The Tigers were powered to victory by a season-high 49.525 on beam and a strong finish on the floor rotation that saw senior Aleah Finnegan score a 9.95 in the fifth floor spot, followed by a 9.90 from graduate student Haleigh Bryant to lock up the team win for the Tigers.
The all-around title was split by LSU’s Finnegan and Florida’s Selena Harris-Miranda, both finishing with a 39.500.
Senior Aleah Finnegan matched her season-high on vault with her team high 9.950 to help give the Tigers a strong start. After the first rotation, the score was 49.350-49.025 in favor of the Tigers.
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LSU headed to bars for the second rotation and was led off by freshman Lexi Zeiss before sophomore Konnor McClain anchored with a career-high 9.925 to bring LSU’s bar score to 49.300.
At the halfway point, LSU led by a margin of 98.650 to Florida’s 98.475.
Haleigh Bryant scored a season high 9.95 on beam before Finnegan followed with a 9.775 in the anchor spot to help the LSU beam rotation tally a season high 49.525, which gave the Tigers a 148.175-147.975 lead heading into the final event of the night.
The Tigers trailed 197.350-187.450 heading into the final two passes of the night. The 2024 NCAA Floor Champion Finnegan posted a 9.95 in the fifth spot before Bryant closed with the final pass of the night, who needed a 9.85 to secure the team win for the Tigers. In her first floor routine in the 2025 season, Bryant posted a 9.90 in the anchor spot to snatch the win for the home team.
Following the team performance in the meet, the Tigers took home at least a share of every event title. Finnegan took home the floor title as well as a share of the vault and all-around titles, McClain finished on top on bars and Bryant brought home a share of the beam title.
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Finnegan’s title on floor marked her third consecutive win in the event in the Tigers first three meets this year. She moved her wins totals to four on vault, 14 on floor, five in the all-around and 32 in her career.
McClain and Bryant both took home their first event wins of the year, moving their career totals to 10 and 95.
The Opponent
Arkansas sits at No. 14 entering the fourth week of competition with an average of 196.375 and a season high team score of 197.000.
The Razorbacks are coming off a two-win victory at the Arkansas Tri-Meet, defeating No. 16 Denver and Texas Woman’s with their score of 197.000.
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In their last meet, the Razorbacks got over the 197 hump after setting a program record for 197+ marks last season with 11. Arkansas also had seven 9.9+ individual tallies, the most in a meet so far in 2025.
Four of those 9.9+ scores came on floor, where Arkansas earned a season-high 49.525, which also ties for the third-highest team floor score in the country.
Week Three Road To Nationals Rankings
The Tigers remain the No. 2 team in the country for the third consecutive week in this week’s Road to Nationals rankings. The squad owns an average of 197.500 after three competitions, only second to No. 1 Oklahoma’s top average of 197.758.
In their third meet of the year, the second-ranked LSU Tigers defeated No. 7 Florida by a score of 197.550-197.450 last Friday night in the PMAC. 13,515 fans showed out to watch the Tigers take down the Gators, marking the program’s first sell out of the year and third largest crowd in school history.
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LSU is back in the top five on every event entering the fourth week of competition – first on vault, fourth on bars and beam and first on floor. The Tigers have ranked the No. 1 floor squad in the nation for all three weeks of competition in 2025 thus far.
The squad owns averages of 49.383 on vault, 49.333 on bars, 49.317 on beam and 49.467 on floor.
Senior Aleah Finegan held onto her spot as one of the top five all-arounders in the nation for the third consecutive week, placing second with an average of 39.617. Freshman Kailin Chio continues to show out in the all-around for the Tigers and sits at No. 19 with her average of 39.367.
Key Returners in 2025
This year’s squad consists of 21 gymnasts and 15 returners: 10 seniors, two juniors, four sophomores and five freshmen.
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Haleigh Bryant, Olivia Dunne, Sierra Ballard, Chase Brock and Alyona Shchennikova all returned for their final seasons with the Tigers in 2025. Bryant, Dunne, Ballard and Brock are in their fifth-year season while Shchennikova is in her sixth-year.
Shchennikova is back this year after missing the 2024 season due to injury. She is an All-American on the uneven bars and will return veteran routines to the all-around. The Evergreen, Colorado native owns career high’s of 9.950 on vault and bars, 9.925 on beam, 9.975 on floor and 39.525 in the all-around.
Bryant, the 2024 NCAA All-Around Champion, AAI Award Winner and SEC Gymnast of the Year, is in her final season with the Tigers in 2025 after a historic senior season last year. She owns the program record all-around score (39.925) and career high’s of 10.00 across all four events, including the most perfect 10’s by any LSU gymnast (18).
A Louisiana native, Ballard is a veteran to the beam and floor lineup, where she owns career high’s of 9.950 and 9.925.
Dunne, a native of Hillsdale, New Jersey, played a vital role to the bars and floor lineups for LSU last season as she returned ready to go on three events. She owns career highs of 9.925 on bars and 9.900 on floor. Brock is a mainstay in the vault and floor lineups for the Tigers in her final season, where she owns career high’s of 9.975 and 9.925.
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Other key returners for the 2025 season include Aleah Finnegan, KJ Johnson, Tori Tatum, Alexis Jeffrey, Ashley Cowan, Konnor McClain and Amari Drayton.
Finnegan, the 2024 NCAA Floor Champion, has been pivotal in the all-around for the Tigers this year so far. The senior owns career highs of 10’s on vault, beam and floor, 9.925 on bars and a 39.800 in the all-around.
Johnson competed in every meet on vault for the Tigers during their national championship run in 2024 and in all but one meet on floor. In her senior season, she is a veteran on vault and floor for LSU, owning career highs of 9.950 on vault and 9.975 on floor.
Cowan, Tatum and Jeffrey are all mainstays in the bars lineup for the Tigers and all own a career high of 9.950 on the event.
The duo of McClain and Drayton began their sophomore season after a prominent freshman year, where the two competed in every meet for the Tigers. McClain is currently impacting the bars and beam lineups, owning career highs of a perfect 10 on both events, while Drayton mainly competes on vault and floor for LSU. She owns career highs of 9.975 on vault and 9.925 on floor.
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Kailin Chio, Kaliya Lincoln, Lexi Zeiss, Zoe Miller and Victoria Roberts make up this year’s freshman class.
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Follow Zack Nagy on Twitter: @znagy20 and LSU Tigers On SI: @LSUTigersSI for all coverage surrounding the LSU program.
Three people were killed and another injured in crashes on Arkansas roads from Wednesday to Friday, according to preliminary police reports.
On Wednesday, Lonnie Scott, 81, of Clinton was killed when the car he was driving struck another vehicle in Clinton, a report from Clinton police says.
Scott was driving a 2003 Chevrolet Impala west on Volunteer Parkway at 10:22 a.m. when he failed to stop at a stop sign and struck a 2023 Dodge 5500 headed south on Quality Drive, the report says.
On Friday, Marvin Brown, 48, of McNeil was killed in a single-vehicle crash in Camden, a report from Camden police says.
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Brown was driving a 2012 Chevrolet Silverado north on Cash Road near Washington Street at 5:09 p.m. when the vehicle left the roadway and struck a utility pole, the report says. Shamika Milton, 39, of Camden, a passenger in the truck, was injured, the report says.
Around 6:50 p.m. Friday, Ricki Rich, 77, of Parkdale was killed in a single-vehicle crash on Arkansas 8 in rural Ashley County, a report from the Arkansas State Police says.
Rich was driving a 2019 Chevrolet Equinox east near Ashley Road 34 when the vehicle left the roadway and hit a tree, the report says.
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Rafael Escalera Montoto
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Rafael is a crime and breaking news reporter at the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Before joining the Democrat-Gazette, he wrote breaking news and feature stories at Reuters in Mexico City, where he covered a range of topics across Central and South America. He has also covered housing, education, business and other topics at The Baltimore Banner. He is a graduate of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York (CUNY) and is from San Juan, Puerto Rico.
A 23‑year‑old woman from Calico Rock, Arkansas, was seriously injured Friday afternoon in a single‑vehicle crash on U.S. 160, two miles west of West Plains.
According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the crash occurred at 3:55 p.m. when the westbound 2021 Nissan Sentra ran off the right side of the roadway near Highway JJ. The car struck an embankment and came to rest on the north side of the road.
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The driver, who was wearing a seat belt, suffered moderate injuries. She was airlifted by Air Evac to Cox South Hospital in Springfield.
The No. 9 Gymbacks started their regionals weekend on a strong note on Friday as they placed first in the afternoon semifinal and saw two athletes earn a total of four individual regional titles.
Arkansas’ score of 197.175 was good to punch a ticket to Sunday’s regional final, the Gymbacks’ third straight appearance in the round of 16. Arkansas ultimately placed second among the eight teams across both semifinals and were one of just two 197+ marks on the day. The Gymbacks had the top scores of their session on bars (49.375) and beam (49.150) along with taking the top spot of the afternoon.
The day was highlighted by a big all-around performances from Morgan Price and Joscelyn Roberson. Price scored 9.900+ on three of four events and totaled 39.575 on the day, which held on to win her the regional all-around title, Arkansas’ first since 2018. Her 9.950 on vault was good for a four-way tie for first, also Arkansas’ first individual champion on the event since 2018. Price’s top finishes of the day were rounded out with third overall on bars and floor.
Roberson delivered her trademark consistency on beam and earned her ninth 9.950 score on the event this season, which earned her the regional crown outright. She is one of just two Gymbacks to score a 9.950 on beam at regionals, the first regional beam crown for Arkansas since 2009, and only the second ever. Her 9.925 on floor came in a three-way tie for first on the event for her second title of the day. Roberson compiled an all-around total of 39.425, which placed her in fourth overall.
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Price and Roberson’s combined four titles are the most in a regional ever for Arkansas, and most since 2013.
Floor
Arkansas opened the day on floor. Hailey Klein and Leah Smith earned 9.850 scores in the first and third positions, and Allison Cucci went second with a 9.825. Scores went up from there, as Morgan Price earned a season high 9.900 up fourth for the Gymbacks. She was followed by her sister, Frankie, who scored 9.875. Roberson closed the rotation with a 9.925, which brought the team’s event score to 49.400.
Vault
Smith continued the strong start to her day with a stuck Yurchenko full that went 9.900 in the lead-off spot on vault for Arkansas. Following a 9.700 from Roberson, Klein scored 9.800 midway through the vault rotation. Lauren Williams earned a 9.775 next, and brought up Morgan Price in fifth. She put down a spectacular vault that scored 9.950, giving the Gymbacks some momentum. Cucci went 9.825 in the anchor spot and Arkansas concluded vault with a 49.250 score.
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Bars
Bars began big for the Gymbacks with Roberson leading off with a 9.850 and Klein and Smith following with a pair of 9.875s. Freshmen Cucci and Avalon Campbell earned marks of 9.850 and 9.800, respectively, to keep Arkansas in a good spot. Morgan Price delivered a great routine in the sixth position that went 9.925, and the Gymbacks tallied a total of 49.375 on bars.
Beam
Arkansas closed out the meet on beam and got a nice start from lead-off Priscilla Park. She stuck her dismount and scored a 9.850 for the Gymbacks. Klein went next and delivered a 9.800 to cap her all-around day. After a 9.650 from Weaver, Cucci began to build the scores again with a 9.750. Morgan Price kept it going with a 9.800 that only featured movement on the dismount, and Roberson was next at anchor. Once again, she was nearly flawless and put a bow on the rotation with a 9.950. Arkansas’ final beam score was 49.150.
Up Next
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The Gymbacks will face off with No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 8 Missouri and Ohio State in Sunday’s regional final. The top two teams will advance to the NCAA Gymnastics Championships in Fort Worth, Texas April 16-18. The meet is slated for 4 p.m. CT at Historic Memorial Coliseum in Lexington and will be streamed live on ESPN+ with live scoring via Virtius.
More Information
Visit ArkansasRazorbacks.com for the latest information on all things Arkansas Gymnastics. You can also find the Razorbacks on social media by liking us on Facebook (Arkansas Razorback Gymnastics) and following us on Twitter and Instagram (@RazorbackGym).
