SEC Gymnastics Week 7 Recap: LSU, Florida at the top while other teams face away meet struggles

As the postseason looms, SEC gymnastics teams are facing the challenge of scoring consistently even when they are away from home. It is becoming a bigger focus for teams like Auburn, Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Alabama to find lineups that can score repeatedly well despite not being on their home turf. 

Of note: Georgia had a bye during Week 7. 

#6 Florida & #14 Missouri @ Mizzou to the Lou

Final score: Florida: 197.925, Missouri: 197.475, Illinois: 196.550, Lindenwood: 194.825

Florida

The Gators marked a new season best on the road Friday night with a 197.925, just shy of a 198. Florida was able to mark new season highs on beam (49.55) and floor (49.6). Leanne Wong also claimed the all-around for the Gators with a second straight 39.725.

Florida started on bars scoring a 49.425. Gabby Disidore led the Gators with a 9.925, marking a new career best for the freshman. Florida then headed to beam where Skylar Draser led off, scoring a new collegiate-high 9.9 on the event. Wong then stole the show in the anchor spot, scoring a near-perfect 9.975. 

On floor, the Gators did not have a counted score that went under 9.9. Wong had the highest team score with a 9.95 that claimed a share of the floor title with Missouri’s Amari Celestine. Freshman Kaylee Bluffstone made her college debut and scored a 9.875. This means that all six Florida freshmen have made an appearance in lineups at some point this season, which ties with Georgia for most freshmen competitors among SEC programs in 2024.

Vault was the lowest scoring event of the night for Florida with a 49.35. Sloane Blakely claimed the title with a 9.925.

Upcoming matchup: Friday, February 23 @ 7 p.m. ET | LSU @ Florida – Live Stats | Video (ESPN)

Missouri

Despite not pulling out the win on Friday, the Tigers still marked a new season high with a final score of 197.475. Mizzou also marked a new program best on bars (49.5) with the help of Mara Titarsolej’s perfect 10.0. 

Turning in a 49.2 on vault, Amari Celestine led the rotation for the Tigers with a 9.9. Heading to bars is where the excitement kicked off for the team. In the leadoff spot, Kyra Burns scored a collegiate-best 9.9. Then in the anchor spot, Titarsolej became the first Missouri gymnast to score a 10.0 on the event. Titarsolej now holds the program’s top three bar scores after just seven meets as a Tiger.

In the third rotation, Sienna Schreiber led Missouri on beam with a 9.9, helping them reach a 49.25. The Tigers finished the meet with a 49.525 on floor. Celestine led with a 9.95 and claimed a share of the floor title.

Upcoming matchup: Friday, February 23 @ 7 p.m. ET | Missouri @ Auburn

BYU @ #5 Kentucky

Final score: Kentucky: 197.775 – BYU: 196.600

Raena Worley is officially on a perfect score streak after scoring her third 10.0 on Friday night. The past two weeks she posted consecutive 10.0s on floor, but this week, Worley took her perfect scores to bars – the first of her career – helping her team score a 49.45 on the event. 

The Wildcats started on vault scoring a 49.325. Arianna Patterson claimed the title with a 9.925 for her stuck front handspring pike half. Worley took the cake on bars in the second rotation, with Kentucky’s next highest score being a 9.9 from Delaynee Rodriguez. 

Kentucky tied their 49.325 vault score on beam. Isabella Magnelli closed out the rotation with a 9.95 for the Wildcats and claimed the event title.

With no counted score being below a 9.9, Kentucky’s floor lineup continued to prove themselves, scoring an impressive 49.675. Worley claimed another event title scoring an almost-perfect 9.975 on the event. Creslyn Brose posted a 9.95 while Magnelli and Makenzie Wilson each scored a 9.925. 

Upcoming Matchup: Friday, February 23 @ 8:30 p.m. ET | Kentucky @ Arkansas

#12 Auburn @ #3 LSU

Final score: LSU: 198.300 – Auburn: 197.100

Auburn

“We still struggled starting out slow, but we picked it up at the end with our two best events and I’m happy with that,” Auburn head coach Jeff Graba said. “We need to really find our groove being on the road because we’re away from home all of March and this was a good start for us.”

The Tigers picked up their highest road score of the season in Baton Rouge with a 197.100. Auburn increased their score on every event as the meet progressed, starting with a 49.1 on bars and ending with a 49.45 on beam.

Cassie Stevens and Gabby McLaughlin both posted 9.85s for Auburn on bars, which were the highest scores that the team got on the event. Julianne Huff picked up the Tiger’s first 9.9+ of the night on vault in the second rotation. Huff tied her career-best 9.925 and Stevens scored a 9.9 in the anchor spot. 

Olivia Hollingsworth posted Auburn’s only 9.9 on floor, followed closely by 9.875s from Aria Brusch and Sophia Groth. The Tigers ended the meet on a high on beam, with McLaughlin and Groth both posting 9.925s. 

Upcoming Matchup: Friday, February 23 @ 7 p.m. ET | Missouri @ Auburn

LSU

The Tigers’ victory on Friday night improved their win streak to nine over the visiting Auburn Tigers when facing off in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The night was marked with many highs for the continuously rising team, with a season-best beam score (49.725) that matches the program high and Aleah Finnegan’s first perfect 10.0 of the season on floor. Haleigh Bryant also claimed her 24th all-around title after scoring a 39.7.

LSU started off with a bang on vault, scoring a 49.475. Finnegan claimed the vault title with a season-high 9.95 after debuting her Yurchenko 1.5 (she has previously competed an Omelianchik). The Tigers put up another 49.475 on bars. Bryant and Savannah Schoenherr scored a pair of 9.925s to each grab a share of the event title.

LSU clenched their highest event score of the night on beam where no counted score was below a 9.925. Konnor McClain scored a near-perfect 9.975 to claim the title, and Alexis Jeffrey posted a new career-best 9.925. 

The energy continued on floor with the Tigers posting a 49.625 to put a huge gap between themselves and Auburn (1.2 points). Finnegan was the main attraction with her 10.0, making it her third perfect score on the event and fifth perfect score since coming to LSU. She was named SEC Co-Specialist of the Week for the first time in her career this Tuesday. 

Upcoming Matchup: Friday, February 23 @ 7 p.m. ET | LSU @ Florida – Live Stats | Video (ESPN)

#16 Arkansas @ Metroplex Challenge

Final score: Oklahoma: 198.300, California: 197.400, Arkansas: 196.800, Washington: 196.450

After scoring a season-low 196.050 last weekend at Florida, the Razorbacks took a step in the right direction on Saturday, upping their score by 0.75 to reach a 196.800. 

The Gymbacks started on bars where they matched their season-high 49.4. Maddie Jones and Reese Drotar each posted 9.9s to mark Arkansas’ highest score on the event. The Razorbacks took a hit on beam, only scoring a 48.65. Leadoff Kalyxta Gamiao started the team off with a 9.875, but a fall from Cami Weaver forced Arkansas to have to keep Hailey Klein’s 9.425.

Arkansas picked up momentum on floor with their highest score of the night (49.45). Lauren Williams and Frankie Price rounded out the floor lineup with a 9.925 and 9.95, respectively. This put Price in a five-way tie for the floor title. 

The Gymbacks finished on vault with a 49.3. Williams showed out with a stuck Yurchenko 1.5 that scored a 9.925 and tied her for the vault title with Oklahoma’s Keira Wells. 

Upcoming Matchup: Friday, February 23 @ 8:30 p.m. ET | Kentucky @ Arkansas

#9 Alabama & #16 Arkansas @ Texas Woman’s University quad

Final score: Alabama: 197.675, Arkansas: 197.375, Arizona: 196.950, TWU: 195.725

Alabama

After a couple of shaky weeks, the Tide got back on track on Monday, scoring a new season-high 197.675. Alabama also posted a new season best on floor with a 49.55 and tied their season best on bars with a 49.6. Gabby Gladieux claimed the all-around title with a 39.525 in only her second competition competing all four events

The Tide started on beam where they posted their lowest event total of 49.2. Their highest score was a 9.85 from Gladieux, Luisa Blanco, and Shania Adams. Alabama got to work on floor, where four gymnasts scored a 9.9 or higher. Lilly Hudson led the team with a 9.95 that put her in a three-way tie for the floor title. 

On vault, Alabama put up a 49.325. Makarri Doggette scored a 9.9, claiming the event title. The Tide went out with a bang on bars as Cameron Machado scored a career-high 9.975 to claim the title. 

Upcoming Matchup: Friday, February 23 @ 8 p.m. ET | Georgia @ Alabama

Arkansas

The Gymbacks competed in their second meet of the weekend on Monday and got back in the 197 range for the first time since January 26. 

Arkansas started on bars where they scored a 49.3 thanks to a 9.9 from Reese Drotar and a 9.875 from Jaime Pratt. The Razorbacks then headed to beam (49.2) where freshman Hailey Klein posted a new career-high 9.925 that also gave her her first-ever event title. 

Matching their season-best score on floor, the Gymbacks showed out earning a 49.575. Lauren Williams and Frankie Price ended the lineup with consecutive 9.95s, which put them in a three-way tie for the floor title with Alabama’s Lilly Hudson. Arkansas finished on vault with a 49.3. Their top score was a 9.875, posted by Klein, Williams and Leah Smith.

Upcoming Matchup: Friday, February 23 @ 8:30 p.m. ET | Kentucky @ Arkansas