LSU gymnast Kiya Johnson is hyped for her and her teammates to get to the Final Four. Now, the Tigers have a chance to win a national championship.
Making the Final Four was just the first step. Johnson and LSU advanced to the finals for the 10th time in school history after finishing first in NCAA Semifinal I Thursday.
It’s now back to back Final Four appearances under head coach Jay Clark and the 33rd overall appearance in school history.
“I feel really good,” Johnson said. “This year has been everything and more to me coming out of last year and what can happen so, this year has been super fun. Every single meet has been amazing and to go to the Final Four with my team is awesome.”
No. 2 LSU will take on No. 3 Cal, No. 4 Florida and No. 5 Utah in the championship. LSU will begin the meet on floor while Florida will start on vault, Utah on bars and Cal on beam. All teams will rotate in Olympic order.
The Tigers secured their spot in the championship on Thursday afternoon after finishing first in semifinal I with a score of 198.1125. The team score marked the second highest for the LSU Gymnastics program at NCAA Championships.
LSU and Cal advanced out of the first semifinal of the day while Utah and Florida were the top two teams from semifinal II to make up the Final Four.
The Tigers opened the meet with a 49.325 on vault. A pair of 9.900’s from Savannah Schoenherr and Haleigh Bryant, who earned All-America honors for their performance on the day, highlighted the event.
LSU posted their second highest nationals score on bars in the second rotation. Bryant led the team with a score of 9.925 to close out the Tigers’ 49.475 rotation.
The LSU beam squad delivered with five scores of 9.900 or higher for a 49.5875 and the program’s second-highest nationals score on the event. Schoenherr had a career high 9.925 performance on the event while Bryant posted a 9.95.
The floor team set the LSU record for highest event score at NCAA Championships with a 49.725 to leave no doubt in the final rotation. The rotation was highlighted by Aleah Finnegan’s 9.9626, which earned her national champion status in the event for the first time in her career.
The Tigers performance on the day secured their first place finish over Cal, Arkansas and Stanford and had the highest score across both sessions.
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