LSU Win NCAA Finals: Haleigh Bryant Made 8-Year Dream Come True in Senior Year

The LSU Tigers did it! For the first time, the Louisiana women’s gymnastics squad lifted the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championship Finals and celebrations are off! In one of the tightest finals in the history of the event, the Tigers prevailed with a final score of 198.225, triumphing over some truly heavyweight opponents.

Understandably, the folks over at LSU are finding it hard to cope with the emotions right now, and no one seems to be enjoying the time more than Haleigh Bryant. The “gym slam” member has been around with the Tigers for a long time, and her dream to be at the top of the national gymnastics food chain has finally materialized.

In its latest X (previously Twitter) post, the official LSU Gymnastics account shared Bryant’s glee in an ecstatic manner. “This is something I’ve dreamt about since I committed here in eighth grade“, reads the triumphant caption of the post.

Bryant, Olivia Dunne, and all of their teammates have been putting their best feet forward throughout the season, and finally, Jay Clark’s athletes can go for a well-deserved break as they head back to Baton Rouge to share their victory with the rest of the LSU students. Let us now take a look at how this became a reality.

LSU’s road to victory is studded with heroics

The Tigers’ regular season was brilliant. With a 25-3 overall record, the LSU women showed grit from the very beginning. It almost seemed the squad was looking to bid goodbye to its seniors in the most enigmatic way possible, and Livvy Dunne or Haleigh Bryant also executed their responsibilities with gusto. Several gymnasts including KJ Johnson, Kiya Johnson, and Savannah Schoenherr recorded season-high scores throughout their SEC run, which ultimately saw them bring home the title as well.

A new leotard to kickstart their NCAA journey fueled some extra boost to the Tigers’ mentality and it looks like the bright purple and golden uniforms will forever go down in LSU legend. In the NCAA Championship, Bryant kept a steady grip on things from the very beginning with consistent all-around performance throughout the regionals to the final match against California, Utah, and Florida. Perfect 10s have been plenty for the LSU senior, who didn’t score below 9.825 in 58 events this season.

The Tigers kept a lead over their opponents in the first three rotations, but the final one saw them trailing behind Utah on the beam. However, two fumbles by the Utah women helped LSU’s cause. The Tigers set a new event record score on the beam with 49.7625 and also picked up the highest score on the floor (49.6125). Haleigh Bryant once again picked up the all-around title of the night.