Arkansas
No. 2 LSU Gymnastics Faces No. 14 Arkansas Razorbacks in SEC Road Opener
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
After a cool/chilly morning that started in the 40s and 50s, Tuesday will warm to the upper 70s and low 80s with nothing but sunshine all day long.
There will be a weak front passing through Arkansas on Wednesday. There will briefly be a few clouds along the time the front actually passes through. But once the front clears, it will once again become sunny.
Starting Friday and lasting through the weekend and into next week a strong south wind will set up. That will warm Arkansas into the mid and upper 80s and introduce a higher level of humidity. It will feel a little like Summer this weekend. Rain chances will return to Central Arkansas starting on Sunday.
With a big upper-level system and cold front approaching early next week, the rain and thunderstorm chance will go up Monday, Monday night and Tuesday. Some strong to severe storms may occur Monday evening. The front will become stationary on Tuesday which will prolong the rainy period and overall help the drought situation Arkansas is facing.
NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KATV) — Purple is the color of the month in Arkansas, and Lupus Awareness Month is bringing a busy stretch of events, including a mayoral proclamation and a smooth jazz concert featuring acclaimed saxophonist Merlon Devine.
A proclamation for Lupus Awareness Month is set for 6 p.m. in North Little Rock, with Mayor Hardwick expected to present it. Organizers encouraged lupus warriors and supporters to come out.
Anita Boone, President of the Lupus Foundation of Arkansas Inc. and a former lupus warrior, described the day-to-day reality of living with the disease: “One minute you’re feeling amazing, the next minute your body is saying we can’t do this.”
Lupus is an autoimmune disease, described during the interview as a condition where the immune system attacks the body “inside out.” It can affect organs throughout the body, including the brain, lungs, heart and kidneys. Boone also shared personal impacts, saying, “I am losing, actually, ear from hearing, just because of lupus.”
The Lupus Foundation of Arkansas is also inviting the community to a Lupus Smooth Jazz Concert this Sunday, May 17, at 3:30 at The Space with Grace event venue, 2005 Main St., North Little Rock.
Gale Davis, committee chair for the Lupus Smooth Jazz Concert shared details about the concert.
Davis said guests are encouraged to “dress to impress,” though formalwear isn’t required. The event will include a photo backdrop, light hors d’oeuvres and beverages, and sponsored tables aimed at networking. It’s also a chance for people to meet other lupus warriors, learn more about the foundation’s work, and watch a video presentation highlighting events from the past year.
The featured artist, Merlon Devine, was described as an acclaimed saxophonist known for a soulful, smooth jazz sound, with a career spanning more than two decades and performances across the country and around the world. He’s also an Arkansas native who attended Little Rock Central High School. He now lives in Southern Maryland, outside Washington, D.C.
Davis said Devine’s connection to lupus is personal. She said his father had lupus and has since died, though he didn’t die from lupus. They also said Divine had a sister who died from lupus in 1981 and that he currently has two sisters living with lupus.
She also shared that, according to his doctors, Devine was born with acute asthma and underdeveloped lungs. His latest single, released last year, is called “Mercy.”
Tickets must be purchased online and will not be sold at the door. They’re available online by clicking on the flyer. Prices are $40 for individual tickets, or $400 for a table of nine, with an option to sponsor a table.
Organizers also noted another proclamation is planned for the Little Rock side with Mayor Frank Scott tomorrow, and encouraged people to follow the Lupus Foundation of Arkansas on social media for updates.
The concert will take place this Sunday at the Space With Grace Venue in North Little Rock.
ASHLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. — An Arkansas man died after crashing a dirt bike on Sunday.
The 21-year-old Arkansas man, formerly from Newaygo, crashed into a tree while riding a dirt bike on private property in Ashland Township near Grant on Sunday before 2:30 p.m., according to Michigan State Police (MSP) troopers.
Emergency responders tried to save his life but he died at the scene.
Troopers are still investigating but do not suspect drugs or alcohol as factors in the crash.
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MSP did not initially release any additional information.
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