After a disappointing performance during round two of regionals, LSU finished the 2022 season ranked 18th. This was the team’s first time finishing outside of the top 10 since 2011, and LSU is looking to bounce back this season. Today’s Gym 101 will be a first look at a team that has quite a bit of reinventing to do. With the graduations of super seniors Christina Desiderio, Sami Durante, Sarah Edwards, Reagan Campbell, and Bridget Dean, the Tigers have a significant number of routines to replace.
This task has been made more difficult by a myriad of injuries affecting LSU this preseason. In a press conference last week, head coach Jay Clark announced that fifth-year transfer Cammy Hall sustained a season-ending injury. Additionally, junior Olivia Dunne has two torn labrums and will only be competing bars (without a dismount) tonight. Not all is bleak for the Tigers, though. In that same press conference, Clark praised Aleah Finnegan and Alyona Shchennikova, who are both expected to be key all-arounders this season in addition to proven stars Haleigh Bryant and Kiya Johnson. And while the freshman class is small, it should be impactful; watch out for Bryce Wilson and Ashley Cowan on vault and bars, respectively.
We’ve been told there will be no announcers on the broadcast or scores, but this will still be an exciting first look at the Tigers. Let’s get to it!
Okay, stream just started. Assistant coach Ashleigh Gnat has the mic, talking about amplitude and that not everyone is doing their full difficulty on vault. Coaches are not looking for sticks, pretty standard for preseason.
Rotation 1:
Arenas (VT): FTY, nice amplitude and distance. Lands pretty center in the mat, small hop back.
Shchennikova (VT): Yurchenko one and half, a little to the left of the center lines with a hop forward.
Finnegan (VT): Omelianchik! Small hop forward, looks really nice! A nice 10.0 SV for LSU.
KJ Johnson (VT): Nice flare on her FTY. Great distance, shuffle backwards.
K Johnson (VT): DTY! Surprised to see it an this meet. Has some leg form in the air and lands with her chest forward.
Bryant (VT): FHS pike half, amazing amplitude as always. Nice chest up landing, hop backwards.
Wilson (VT): Almost stuck FTY, just one step sideways. Lands on the left distance line, but very high and clean.
Brock (VT): Solid Yurchenko full, hop backwards. Pikes down just a little bit, but has very clean form.
Clarks says this will be upgraded midseason to a one and a half.
Jeffrey (VT): FTY, solid. Not the most distance, but a clean landing.
After 1:
I’m impressed with that vault rotation from LSU! Four legit 10.0 SVs with the potential for five, and a nice array of fulls. Nice amplitude throughout the lineup, but quite a few athletes would get deducted for being off center. I’d expect the lineup to be Bryant, K Johnson, Shchennikova, Finnegan, and two of KJ Johnson, Wilson, and Brock if she has a one and a half.
Rotation 2:
K Johnson (UB): Nice first handstand, clean maloney to bail. Hit final handstand, stuck DLO. Really nice opening routine.
Tatum (UB): Not the best angle, but I think the first handstand was short. Tkatchev to pak with a sizable leg separation. FTDT with a knee buckle. A few issues, but a work in progress.
Jeffery (UB): Hit opening handstand, nice leg form on the maloney. Larger leg separation on the pak. Nice handstand to a stuck FTDT.
Arenas (UB): Great opening handstand. Tkatchev to pak. Nice amplitude but the pak got a little wonky with a small rhytm break on the kip after the pak. DLO with a leg separation and step.
Cowan (UB): Ray to overshoot, a bit messy. Nice leg form on the DLO with a step backwards.
Finnegan (UB): Lovely first handstand, clean deltchev! Nice angle on the bail. Double arabian with a large bound forward.
Bryant (UB): Good vertical position on the opening handstands. Great amplitude on the jaeger. A little bit of loose back on the final handstand. Small step on the dismount. Really impressed by the finishing position on the pirouettes during that routine.
Shchennikova UB): A tad short on the opening handstand. Catches a little bit close on the Ray, connects into pak nicely. DLO has some rough shapes with a step.
Ryan (UB): Nice opening handstand. Fall on the straddled jaeger and ends there.
Dunne (UB): Nice opening handstand. Good amplitude on Tkachev, leg separation on the pak. A little bit over on the half pirouette. Dismounts with just a layout.
Ryan is going again. Short first handstand, another fall on the jaeger.
Clark says that everyone is going to show dismount. Sticks from Bryant and Dunne. Small steps from Finnegan, Tatum, Cowan, Brock, Arenas, Ryan. Notably, Shchennikova’s looked a little bit better.
After 2:
Overall, bars was a little rough from LSU. In recent months, Clark has said that bars will be LSU’s weakest event this season, and I think that will be true. Overall some missed handstands as well as some messy transitions and dismounts. Highlights were K Johnson and Bryant.
Clark is talking, saying that Rivers will be the leadoff replacement. Apparently, we’re going to see nine routines!
Rotation 3:
Rivers (BB): BHS LOSO, solid and secure, nice leg form. Clean full turn. Switch half, the front leg is a little bit low. Switch leap, straddle quarter, works through a check. Double full dismount to a stick. Very impressive, should be a solid leadoff if that switch half can improve some.
Wilson (BB): BHS LOSO, nicely done. Switch leap to straddle quarter, back leg is low on the switch. Front aerial, full turn. BHS, BHS, double full. First back handspring was wonky and I’m very surprised she was able to continue into the dismount, looks like her foot slipped a little bit.
Shchennikova (BB): Candle mount, full turn. Front aerial, a little off and a long time into the BHS BHS. Switch leap, split jump, some flexed feet. Side aerial is solid. Dismounts with a BHS, gainer full, stuck.
Bryant (BB): Front aerial, back handspring is solid. Switch leap, straddle quarter has nice positions. Full turn. Standing punch front is awesome. Rudi dismount, stuck with chest down and an arm wave. Overall, good routine.
Finnegan (BB): Candle mount half, not my favorite mount. BHS LOSO LOSO, very pristine. Switch leap, split jump, back leg was a little low on both of those splits. Front aerial is solid. Gainer full dismount, fights to hold the stick. Beautiful work, especially on the triple series.
K Johnson (BB): Full turn, BHS LOSO. Holds on to it with a small check. Switch leap, switch leap, split jump is fine. Front toss, another small check. BHS, one and a half, a little under rotated with a step backwards.
KJ Johnson (BB): Super cool mount, handstand with an impressive arch. Switch leap, straddle quarter. Switch leap was a little short of split. BHS LOSO is solid. Side aerial to sissone, sissone is lacking in split a little. BHS, one and half dismount is stuck. Overall, a solid routine.
Ballard (BB): BHS, LOSO a little bit of bent knees. Full turn. Long pause before the sissone, switch half, not the sharpest. Front toss with a small check, but works out of it well. One and a half dismount with a step.
Arenas (BB): Switch leap, split jump. Back leg is low on the split jump. BHS LOSO, solid. Front toss. Full turn. Switch half is quite short of split. One and a half dismount with a controlled step.
After 3:
Overall, a solid beam rotation, no falls or major checks. Definitely some leg form on acro series and short splits, but overall a solid showing. Some of the dismounts were a little rough, likely a reflection of the new rules requiring more difficult dismount. We’ll see how those progress throughout the season. Overall, a good starting point, and I was very impressed with Rivers, Finnegan, and Bryant specifically.
Rotation 4:
Ballard (FX): No first tumbling pass. Some fun choreo where she’s playing with her ponytail. Back 1.5 to front lay, controlled step out. Switch ring, switch half to one knee, good split position. Double pike to close, chest up, solid landing. I think the first pass will be a DLO eventually, solid routine.
Shchennikova (FX): Runs through the fist pass. One and a half to front lay. Nice amplitude on the front layout. Switch ring to switch half, not the best angle to see these leaps. Rudi, split jump to finish, solid.
It seems as if everyone is running through first passes.
KJ Johnson (FX): Back one and a half, front layout. Double tuck, chest down and step forwards. Very powerful routine.
Finnegan (FX): She seems very into the choreography after the first pass. Two and half to front punch, good control. Switch ring to tour jete half, nice position on the ring. Back one and a half to front lay to finish.
Bryant (FX): Upbeat music. Front layout, to rudi, nice twisting positions. Standing LOSO out of choreo. Switch ring to switch half, not a lot of head release on the ring. Front double full to finish, very clean.
K Johnson (FX): Maybe it’s because there was no first pass, but this choreo feels a bit low energy. Back one and a half to front lay is dynamic. Switch half to popa, nice positions. No final pass either, probably smart given her injury history.
Arenas (FX): Using Simone’s 2016 floor music. Opens with a pretty front double full, well controlled. BHS LOSO as a part of choreo. Front layout, front full, solid routine.
Wilson (FX): Dramatic music. Round off, double tuck with a stumble back. Switch ring to switch half, both were missing a bit of split and had flexed feet. Back one a half to front tuck, was supposed to be front lay but missed the punch. A number of issues, but could develop into an option.
Brock (FX): Double tuck, nice landing position. Switch side, popa, good landing positons. Back one a half to front full, pretty twisting form. Solid.
Okay, they’re warming up their first passes now, and will show them.
Ballard: DLO and out of bounds. Clarks says she will do it again.
Shchennikova: nice front doubble full
KJ Johnson: Full in, dynamic, out of bounds.
Finnegan: Double arabian to stag, very controlled, excellent!
Bryant: Double front, great control.
Wilson: Front layout, front double full, nice controlm form is a little loose.
Brock: Big double pike, nice control.
Ballard: DLO, again, keeps it in bounds this time with a bigger step.
After 4:
Not a lot to be said about floor because no first passes were done in the routines. More or less, the same people as last year should be consistent competitors, with the addition of Ballard and Brock into the rotation. Lots of E pass options throughout the lineup. As always, floor should be a good event for LSU, but will need a little bit of time to get to 49.4+ levels.
FINAL:
Another LSU Gym 101 in the book! Vault and beam were very impressive with definite improvements from last season. Bars looked a little rough, but definitely has the potential to improve. The status of floor remains to be seen, but there is lots of difficult throughout the lineup that could make this a “WOW” event. Aleah Finnegan stood out tonight on all four events and should see some all around time this season, so that bodes well for the Tigers. LSU looks slated for another strong season, and with the difficult schedule they have they’ll need to come out of the gate strong to set the tone.
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LSU also lost Super Senior Reagan Campbell this past year. She was consistently in the beam lineup throughout her career, and though she did not compete much over the last couple years of her career, she added much-needed depth throughout her time at LSU on that event for the program.
Secondly, Gym 101 is on Monday, Dec 12. That is the way it has been on the schedule since it was announced and released.