Sunday, December 22, 2024
Sports

NCAA gymnastics Week 6: Haleigh Bryant leads the all-around, while OU stays No. 1

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It was yet another action-packed, history-making weekend in college gymnastics.

And perhaps no one epitomized that more than LSU’s Haleigh Bryant. The senior led the Tigers to a 197.625-196.300 road victory over Georgia — and etched her name in the record books (again) with the 13th perfect score of her career. While earning 10.0s is clearly nothing new for Bryant, this marked the first time she had achieved the milestone on beam.

And with that, Bryant became just the 14th gymnast in NCAA history to record the elusive “Gym Slam,” earning a perfect 10.0 on every event.

In addition to winning the title on beam, Bryant took home all-around honors (39.75), and the top scores on vault and floor (9.95 on each). She is currently the No. 1 ranked all-around gymnast in the country, a position she has held for most of the season.

There are so many things that could be said about Bryant here and her ever-growing list of achievements in the sport, but we think the barista (or team staffer) who prepared her iced coffee on Friday might have made a pretty valid point.

Here’s everything else you need to know from the sixth week of college gymnastics:

Perfect 10 Club

While Bryant was the only gymnast to gain membership to the “Gym Slam” club, she wasn’t the only to record a perfect 10.0 over the weekend. Four others did as well:

Selena Harris, UCLA: Competing at Oregon State while her team was down two of its stars in Chae Campbell and Nya Reed, the sophomore led the Bruins to a conference win. Harris took the all-around title, earned 9.95s on both bars and beam and scored UCLA’s first perfect score of the season with a Yurchenko 1.5 on vault.

Leanne Wong, Florida: The Gators won their meet against Arkansas and earned a season-high score on bars — both in large part because of Wong. The junior received her first perfect score of 2024 (and seventh overall) on the second event of the night in the anchor position, sealed with an ice-cold stick of her double layout dismount.

Mya Hooten, Minnesota: The Gophers lost their meet on Saturday at home to Michigan, but the team still recorded a season-best score on floor (49.650) and fifth-best total ever, led by Hooten. The last gymnast to compete in the final event of the day, and with the loss already cemented, the vocal fans in attendance still seemed to know they were watching something special from the moment Hooten began her opening tumbling pass. She earned her second perfect 10.0 of the season on floor, and eighth of her career.

Jessica Hutchinson, Denver: On a day in which Denver earned its fifth-highest score in program history during a win over Iowa State and Southeast Missouri State, the senior matched the record for the best all-around score in school history (39.825), and capped her incredible day with a 10.0 on floor. It marked the second perfect mark on the event of her career, and her third overall.

The Iron Bowl

It was looking to be a special season for Alabama last month, when it snapped Florida’s 20-meet home win streak with a dominant performance in Gainesville. But the Crimson Tide have struggled since the victory and have now lost their last two meets. On Friday, on the road against in-state rival Auburn, Alabama notched its worst bars score of the year to open the meet, and were never able to close the deficit. On beam, Alabama’s final event of the night, the team had two falls.

“I think overall, we just gave away too many things,” head coach Ashley Johnston said after the meet. “We say that we want to be so prepared that we can walk into any arena knowing that it’s ours to defend as long as we just do our job, and tonight, we just gave away too many things.”

Auburn won the meet, 197.725-197.050, in front of a sold-out crowd. It was just the Tigers’ fourth-ever win over the Crimson Tide and it marked their best score of 2024 so far. The team was led by Cassie Stevens, who won her third straight all-around title and earned a career-high 9.975 on beam for her routine, which includes her own eponymous skill. Stevens does a front aerial to her knee that is named after her in the Junior Olympic code of points. No big deal or anything, right? (See it for yourself around the 0:45 mark in the video below.)

“It was crazy. I wasn’t really expecting it,” Stevens said about the beam score. “I have been working a lot on the little details. To be able to put together a solid performance for my team is really rewarding.”

The comeback kids

The Kansas City Chiefs weren’t the only team to stage an impressive comeback on Sunday. Heading into the final rotation of its meet at home against Arizona, No. 2-ranked California trailed, 147.725-147.525, and it looked like an upset was brewing in Berkeley.

But the Golden Bears refused to back down. All six gymnasts scored a 9.875 or better on floor to rally for the 197.125-196.850 win. eMjae Frazier and Kyen Mayhew each scored clutch 9.95s on the event.

“I was most proud of how we handled some adversity and then really had a lights out performance from everyone on floor,” co-head coach Justin Howell said after the meet. “That was a great test for our team and I’m really proud of how they handled closing out the competition today.”

Best of the rest

Katherine Levasseur, Oklahoma: The Sooners senior earned perfect scores on vault during the last two seasons, and came oh-so-close to doing it again with a 9.975 on Friday, coming immediately after teammate Jordan Bowers earned that same mark. Levasseur then went on to match that score again for her floor routine, helping the team earn yet another victory with a massive 198.45 team score — and keep the Sooners ranked first as well.

Amelie Morgan, Utah: Just weeks before taking a break from the NCAA season to compete at the English Championships in hopes of qualifying for the upcoming Olympic Games, the Utah junior got her latest confidence boost as she matched her career-best score on beam (9.95) during the Red Rocks’ win over Washington.

Kinsey Davis, Nebraska: The senior matched her career high — for the second time this season — with a 9.975 on bars and won the event title during the team’s victory over Maryland. The reaction of Davis and her teammates after her double layout dismount shows just how big this routine was for the squad on Saturday.

Amari Celestine, Missouri: We’ve been excited about this routine since before the season even started — The music! The choreography! The dive roll! — and have been eagerly awaiting another opportunity to share the Mizzou junior’s routine. Thankfully for everyone who enjoys show-stopping performances, that time is now. On Friday, Celestine even got the Kentucky fans at Rupp Arena involved, and earned her best score of the season with a 9.95.

Key meets this weekend

Friday: Auburn at LSU; 7 p.m. ET on SEC Network

Friday: Florida, Illinois and Missouri at Lindenwood; 7 p.m. ET on SEC Network

Friday: BYU at Kentucky; 7 p.m. ET

Friday: Michigan vs. Rutgers; 7 p.m. ET

Friday: Ohio State at Iowa; 7:30 p.m. ET

Saturday: Stanford at Oregon State; 2 p.m. ET on Pac-12 Insider

Saturday: Arkansas, California, Oklahoma and Washington; 8:15 p.m. ET

Sunday: Maryland at Michigan State; 2 p.m. ET on B1G+

Sunday: Denver and Iowa State at West Virginia; 2 p.m. ET

Sunday: Minnesota at Illinois; 3 p.m. ET on B1G+

Monday: Alabama, Arkansas and Arizona at Texas Woman’s; 3 p.m. ET

Monday: Utah at UCLA; 5:30 p.m. ET on ESPN2


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