With their second position on the table, the NCAA gymnastics defending team may or may not bring home the NCAA trophy; what’s not a maybe is that Olivia Dunne and her batch mates would be donning the purple and gold leotard for the last few times. As the NCAA final inches closer, the more the fans are emotional over how hard the farewell is going to be, feeling the same, LSU’s head coach has a message.

WBRZ took to their YouTube on the 4th March 2025 to share a press conference by Jay Clark and the coach just wants to celebrate his seniors athletes, “we shouldn’t eulogize our seniors we should celebrate our seniors” said the Georgia native when asked of his seniors coming to the end of their collegiate careers.

“I want them to walk in there Friday night and enjoy the whole scene, and let’s let’s make it a party, let’s make it a celebration of all that they have already accomplished and are continuing to push forward to accomplish even more.” He wants his athletes to bid their farewell in the grandest way possible, with memories of their accolades in front of their eyes, after all, they taught him a lot of things, or in his own words “I’m grateful for all of our seniors every year because they leave an indelible mark on our program um and on me personally.”

Olivia Dunne graduated from Louisiana State University in December 2024 in Interdisciplinary Studies from the College of Humanities & Social Sciences and, interestingly, has expressed wishes in teaching NIL to young athletes. Alyona Shchennikova also took the same trajectory, taking a degree in Leadership & Human Resource Development from the College of Human Sciences & Education.

Sierra Ballard, Chase Brock, and Haleigh Bryant would also be delivering their final performances in front of their home ground on 7th March after putting on a great show against George Washington.

The LSU Tigers caught Fire

“We, you know, we caught fire, and particularly on the bars and beam,” said the LSU head coach after the team dominated George Washington in the Podium Challenge. The Tigers put on an incredible performance in the Maravich Center, winning with a score of 198.125-195.475 on the last day of February.

Haleigh Bryant started on the Vault for the Tigers, and the senior straight up went for a 9.95. True to the coach’s words, the tigers were on fire at the bars on Friday, not scoring a below a 9.925. Kailin Chio and Konnor McClain went for back-to-back 9.95s. Leading the way for LSU in the third rotation, Chio hit another 9.95 on the beam.

Sierra Ballard, the graduate enjoying her last season, decided that when she goes, she goes with a record, scoring a 9.95 in the final rotation on floor exercise. This was her career best, and what followed was her first floor event title of her LSU career.

Now, as the LSU Tigers head into a top 10 matchup, they await the Georgia Bulldogs at the Maravich Center on the 7th of March. The Fans are eager to hear the last roar of their senior tigers. With Jay’s call ahead of the match, what do you think is happening on the 7th?