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LSU Tigers women's gymnastics

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LSU Tigers women's gymnastics
Founded1975 (48 years ago)
UniversityLouisiana State University
Head coachJay Clark[1] (5th season)
ConferenceSEC
Division I Division
LocationBaton Rouge, Louisiana
Home arenaPete Maravich Assembly Center (Capacity: 13,472)
NicknameTigers
ColorsPurple and gold[2]
   
National championships
2024
Four on the Floor appearances
2019, 2023, 2024
Super Six appearances
2008, 2009, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018
NCAA Tournament appearances
1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
Conference championships
1981, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2024

The LSU Tigers women's gymnastics team [n 1] represents Louisiana State University in NCAA Division I women's gymnastics.[4] The team competes in the Southeastern Conference and is currently coached by Jay Clark, who is coaching in his fifth season. The Pete Maravich Assembly Center serves as the home arena for the team.

History

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The gymnastics program was founded in 1970. In 2008, LSU made their first Super Six appearance. The team also made Super Six appearances in 2009, 2013 and 2014. In both the 2016 and 2017 seasons, the program made the Super Six and finished second at the 2016 and 2017 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championships.[5][6] Also in 2017, LSU won back-to-back SEC Regular Season and SEC Championship Meet championships.[7] In 2018, LSU again won back-to-back SEC Regular Season and SEC Championship Meet championships and reached the Super Six.[7]

In 2019, LSU won the SEC Championship Meet in New Orleans and made an appearance in the first-ever Four on the Floor in NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championship. The team finished second overall for the third time in school history.

In 2022, LSU placed fifth at the SEC Championships with a score of 196.725 despite entering the competition with the No. 2 seed.[8][9][10] No. 6 LSU placed third behind No. 11 Missouri and No. 22 Iowa in the first session of the semi-final of the Raleigh regional;[11] this eliminated them from the postseason, leading to an 18th-place finish nationally.[12]

At the 2024 NCAA women's gymnastics tournament LSU earned their first National Championship team title.[13]

Championships

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Individual NCAA champions

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LSU Tigers Individual NCAA Championship Titles
Gymnast Vault Balance Beam Uneven Bars Floor Exercise All-Around
Jeanie Beadle 1977[n 2]
Nicki Arnstad 2002 (tie)
April Burkholder 2006
Susan Jackson 2008 2010 2010
Ashleigh Clare-Kearney 2009 2009 (tie)
Rheagan Courville 2013 (tie) & 2014 (tie)
Ashleigh Gnat 2017 (tie)
Sarah Finnegan 2017 (tie) & 2019
Kennedi Edney 2017 & 2019 (tie)
Haleigh Bryant 2021 (tie) 2024
Aleah Finnegan 2024

Conference championships

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  • SEC Regular Season champions (5): 1981, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
  • SEC Championship Meet champions (5): 1981, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2024

NCAA Championship appearances

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Super Six appearances

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LSU Tigers Super Six Appearances
Year Finish
2008 5th
2009 6th
2013 5th
2014 2nd
2016 2nd
2017 2nd
2018 4th

Four on the Floor appearances

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LSU Tigers Four on the Floor Appearances
Year Finish
2019 2nd
2023 4th
2024 1st

Arena and facilities

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Pete Maravich Assembly Center

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Pete Maravich Assembly Center

The Pete Maravich Assembly Center is a 13,215-seat multi-purpose arena in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The arena opened in 1972 and is home of the LSU Tigers gymnastics team. It was originally known as the LSU Assembly Center, but was renamed in honor of Pete Maravich, a Tiger basketball legend, shortly after his death in 1988. The Maravich Center is known to locals as "The PMAC" or "The Palace that Pete Built," or by its more nationally known nickname, "The Deaf Dome," coined by Dick Vitale.[14]

The slightly oval building is located directly to the north of Tiger Stadium, and its bright-white roof can be seen in many telecasts of that stadium. The arena concourse is divided into four quadrants: Pete Maravich Pass, The Walk of Champions, Heroes Hall and Midway of Memories. The quadrants highlight former LSU Tiger athletes, individual and team awards and memorabilia pertaining to the history of the LSU Tigers gymnastics team.[15]

LSU Gymnastics Training Facility

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LSU Gymnastics Training Facility

The LSU Gymnastics Training Facility is the practice venue for the LSU Tigers gymnastics team. The new facility opened in 2016 and provides 38,000 square feet of training and team space.

LSU Strength and Conditioning facility

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The LSU Tigers basketball strength training and conditioning facility is located in the LSU Strength and Conditioning facility. Built in 1997, it is located adjacent to Tiger Stadium.[16] Measuring 10,000-square feet with a flat surface, it has 28 multi-purpose power stations, 36 assorted selectorized machines and 10 dumbbell stations along with a plyometric specific area, medicine balls, hurdles, plyometric boxes and assorted speed and agility equipment.[17] It also features 2 treadmills, 4 stationary bikes, 2 elliptical cross trainers, a stepper and stepmill.[18]

Head coaches

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Name Seasons All W/L/T Win %
Jackie Walker 1974–1977 33–36–0 .481
D-D Breaux 1978–2020 800–410–8 .660
Jay Clark 2021–present

Roster

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2024–2025 Roster
Name Height Year Hometown Club
Sierra Ballard 5-2 GS Mandeville, LA North Shore Gymnastics
Annie Beard 5-5 JR Alexandria, LA Texas Dreams
Chase Brock 5-4 5th Atlanta, GA Gymnastix Training Center
Haleigh Bryant 5-5 GS Cornelius, NC Everest Gymnastics
Kailin Chio 5-4 FR Henderson, NV Gym Cats
Kylie Coen 5-6 SO Bedford, TX Empire Gymnastics Academy
Ashley Cowan 5-3 JR Hillsborough, NC Bull City Gymnastics
Amari Drayton 5-1 SO Spring, TX World Champions Centre
Olivia Dunne 5-6 5th Hillsdale, NJ ENA Paramus
Aleah Finnegan 5-4 SR Lee's Summit, MO GAGE
Alexis Jeffrey 5-3 SR Warrensburg, MO GAGE
KJ Johnson 5-0 SR Dallas, TX Texas Dreams
Kaliya Lincoln 5-1 FR Frisco, TX WOGA
Konnor McClain 5-2 SO Las Vegas, NV Gymcats Gymnastics
Leah Miller 5-1 SO Raleigh, NC Arizona Dynamics
Zoe Miller 5-2 FR Spring, TX World Champions Centre
Victoria Roberts 5-3 FR Belle Chasse, LA Edge Gymnastics
Alyona Shchennikova 5-5 GS Evergreen, CO 5280 Gymnastics
Tori Tatum 5-6 SR Chanhassen, MN Twin City Twisters
Kathryn Weilbacher 5-6 SR Houston, TX World Champions Centre
Bryce Wilson 5-3 JR Pearland, TX Pearland Elite
Lexi Zeiss 5-2 FR Omaha, NE Twin City Twisters

Coaching staff

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Past Olympians

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See also

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ LSU uses the nickname of "Lady Tigers" only in sports that have both men's and women's teams. Since LSU only sponsors gymnastics for women, that team uses "Tigers" instead.[3]
  2. ^ AIAW Championship

References

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  1. ^ "Jay Clark". June 2021.
  2. ^ "Brand Guidelines: Colors". LSUAthletics.LingoApp.com. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  3. ^ Megargee, Steve (June 26, 2015). "Tennessee set to make move to a lone 'Lady Vols' team". Yahoo! Sports. Associated Press. Retrieved June 26, 2015. An Associated Press survey of all 65 schools from the five major conferences found that at least 28 had separate nicknames for men's and women's teams at some point in their histories. Only seven continue that practice, and in most cases they only have separate nicknames for certain women's teams. Texas Tech uses the Lady Raiders for women's teams in sports that also have men's teams: basketball, tennis, golf, track and cross country. LSU uses a similar strategy.
  4. ^ "Gymnastics - News - LSUsports.net - The Official Web Site of LSU Tigers Athletics". lsusports.net.
  5. ^ "LSU gymnastics places 2nd in NCAA championships, the highest finish in school history | NOLA.com". Archived from the original on 2016-04-20.
  6. ^ "Second to none: LSU gymnastics team finishes second at NCAA's Super Six, the best finish in program history".
  7. ^ a b "No. 2 LSU claims first SEC regular-season title".
  8. ^ "Gymnastics Finishes Fifth at SEC Championships". LSU. 2022-03-19. Retrieved 2022-04-01.
  9. ^ "Florida wins 2022 SEC Gymnastics Championship". www.secsports.com. Retrieved 2022-04-01.
  10. ^ "Seeding Set for 2022 SEC Gymnastics Championship". www.secsports.com. Retrieved 2022-04-01.
  11. ^ Chrisman, Spencer (March 31, 2022). "No. 6 seed LSU gymnastics eliminated from Raleigh Regional". www.wafb.com. Retrieved 2022-04-01.
  12. ^ "Gymnastics Season Ends in Raleigh". LSU. 2022-03-31. Retrieved 2022-04-01.
  13. ^ "LSU women take home NCAA gymnastics title for first time". ESPN. April 20, 2024.
  14. ^ "Pete Maravich Assembly Center, United States : map, ticket booth, seat, parking, events, hotels near, photo, guided tours, entry fee, reviews". tvtrip.com.
  15. ^ "LSU Men's Basketball Facilities". LSUsports.net.
  16. ^ "LSU Strength and Conditioning". lsusports.net. September 29, 2009. Retrieved 2013-08-28.
  17. ^ "A Strength Training Legacy" (PDF). biggerfasterstronger.com. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
  18. ^ "LSU Tigers' Weight Room". ESPN The Magazine. November 14, 2012. Archived from the original on October 23, 2013. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
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