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Fort Worth, Tx. (WAFB) - The No. 2 LSU gymnastics team has advanced to the NCAA Championship finals for the 10th time in school history. This will also be their 2nd straight appearance in the final.

“We’re obviously thrilled to be back in the finals again for the second year in a row. It never gets old to advance to this point. I’m proud of how this team has done all year long,” said head coach Jay Clark.

This comes after the team finished first in the NCAA Semifinal I with a score of 198.1125, Thursday afternoon in Dickies Arena. The team score marked the second highest for the LSU Gymnastics program at the NCAA Championships.

Senior Haleigh Bryant led the way in the meet for the Tigers with an all-around score of 39.7125 for the highest in a semifinal in school history.

Bryant’s all around, bars, and beam scores as well as Aleah Finnegan’s floor score sit at the top of the first semifinal and will be in contention for an individual NCAA title following semifinal II.

The Tigers opened the meet with a 49.325 on vault. They posted their second highest nationals score on bars in the second rotation and the LSU beam squad delivered with five scores of 9.900 or higher for a 49.5875. This was the program’s second-highest nationals score on the event.

LSU’s floor team set the LSU record for highest event score at NCAA Championships with a 49.725 to leave no doubt.

Clark went on to say to about the team, “They took the lessons learned and the attributes needed from last year and used them this year to be consistently successful. A lot of that has to do with just doing it for each other and staying focused on the bigger picture. There’s so many great stories and so many individuals on this team that have contributed in ways that aren’t seen.”

LSU will compete for the national championship on Saturday, April 20, at 3 p.m. CT in Fort Worth at Dickies Arena.

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