What We’re Talking About
LSU are National Champions! This was hands-down the most exciting NCAA final since at least 2018. We knew it was going to be a doozy when Oklahoma stumbled in the semifinals on vault and then sealed their fate later in the meet with more falls. With the odds on favorite eliminated it was truly anyone’s championship between LSU, Cal, Utah and Alabama. With the table set, the meet was filled with stumbles from every program, but in the final rotation it was LSU who stepped up to snatch the program’s very first national title and become only the eighth team to raise the trophy. After three rotations it was Utah who was in the lead as they headed over to vault; but like Oklahoma, they were not designed for the runway on this day. Over on bars Cal started passing around the giant bear head because they were hitting routine after routine and seemed to be making their own case for the confetti to fall on their heads.
But the Tigers have: Sierra Ballard, Savannah Schoenherr, Kiya Johnson, Konnor McClain, Haleigh Bryant, and Aleah Finnegan. Anchoring the beam in a must-hit situation to drop an early rotation fall–we’re dubbing it a sloth 260–by Sav, the pressure of the situation allowed Aleah to shine like a diamond. In fact, all of the Tigers rallied in the moment. LSU posted a program record beam score and the 49.7625 broke the record for the highest beam score in an NCAA Championship final. That’s how you end a season.
Feelings
- Stoked for this LSU team
- So happy to see Gabby Douglas back on the competition floor
- Jade Carey looks like she’s paced herself perfectly for the moment
- Fear for the safety of every vault table in the state of Oklahoma
- We love that Jay Clark teased his former employer to drive up his value at LSU
- We think Georgia is going to start stacking up the recruits now that Cecile Canqueteau-Landi and Ryan Roberts are at the helm
- Ugh, Ondine Achampong out with a torn ACL
- If Sunisa Lee is able to maintain her health, she’s on our team
- Happy Olivia Dunne can finally make a living
- We don’t have the full list of all the seniors and super seniors returning, but we’re happy we get to see Haleigh Bryant, Mya Hooten and Jaedyn Rucker for another season
Facts
- Haleigh Bryant is the 2024 AAI Award Winner
- Zoe Miller is done with elite gymnastics, but she will continue in college
- The U.S. racked up a total of 46 medals across multiple gymnastics disciplines at Pac Rims: including all-around golds for Jayla Hang and Yul Moldauer; and silvers for Madray Johnson and Cameron Bock
- Amelie Morgan announced her retirement from elite
- Gabby Douglas has qualified on three events to compete at Championships, she can qualify for all-around at Classic
- There’s a new documentary about Ukrainian rhythmic gymnast Viktoriia Onopriienko
- Emma Malabuyo has one more shot at the Asian Championships to secure a spot for the Paris Olympics
- Snoop Dogg will be at the Olympics
- The European Championships begin Thursday, May 2
Award(s)
- National Champions: LSU
- Icy veins: Aleah Finnegan
What’s On the Socials?
Purple Reign Forever
SEC Champs ✅
Regional Champs ✅
National Champs ✅ pic.twitter.com/vp6Cn60L30— LSU Gymnastics (@LSUgym) April 29, 2024
SCREAMING! Omg.
Suni connecting Jaeger full, Pak, Maloney, Bhardwaj
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/9bZDjSPlEs
— Scott Bregman (@sbregman87) April 9, 2024
GABBY SERVED pic.twitter.com/ZxMJP8Te8K
— ITANASTICS (@itanastics) April 27, 2024
The best $25 I’ve ever spent: the replay of @GymCastic’s interview with @kathyjohnsongym (since I missed the live)! I may adopt “IDGAS” as a motto now. Kathy, I loved hearing all your stories, and of course, your commentary throughout the years! ❤️🤸🏻♀️ #ncaagym pic.twitter.com/dh5VM2DVsK
— Sarah Bram (@sbram94) April 27, 2024
Quotes
“As a male in a female sport, I’ve been the benefactor of D-D, Sarah Patterson, Suzanne Yoculan, Greg Marsden, Val Kondos [Field], and others who came along ahead of me.” ~ Jay Clark, National Champion
In the post-championship meet press conference Jay Clark paid his respects to the pioneers of the sport, which has led to this moment.
♦
“I am back for year five.”
~ Haleigh Bryant, National Champion
In a social media post putting an end to the wonder, Haleigh Bryant announced that she is coming back to compete one more time. (We’d like to remind everyone that the incoming freshman class for LSU includes: Zoe Miller, Kaliya Lincoln, Kailin Chio and Lexi Zeiss)
♦
“8 years later…. well guys… it wasn’t my best showing this weekend but was so happy and grateful to be back out there on the floor doing what i love again… i’ve never been more excited to get back into the gym and work even harder.”
~ Gabby Douglas, 3x Olympic Champion
After returning to competition for the first time in eight years, Gabby Douglas showed she’s still got plenty in the tank to keep going after easily qualifying to U.S. Championships on three events despite three falls.
♦♦♦
What? You want even more? Join Club Gym Nerd and you get a bonus episode, College & Cocktails, every Friday after our meet of the week. Once the NCAA season is over you continue to get a weekly bonus episode every Friday afternoon. Plus you get access to all of our archives, exclusive content and more. Then we give the sober analysis on Monday (or Tuesday) after we’ve allowed the data to penetrate our feelings.
This column was composed and compiled by Steve Cooper, Editor, GymCastic; as performed by hosts Jessica O’Beirne and Spencer Barnes.
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