(photo credit: @LSUgym on X)
BATON ROUGE – Senior Aleah Finnegan and freshman Kailin Chio took home two out of three of the week one SEC Gymnastics Awards, announced by the conference on Tuesday.
Finnegan was named the SEC Gymnast of the Week while Chio was named the SEC Freshman of the Week for their performances in the all-around in the Tigers season opener last Friday.
A native of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, Finnegan scored a 39.725 in her first all-around appearance since March 15th, 2024, marking the highest all-around score by an LSU Gymnast on opening night. She posted scores of 9.950 on vault, 9.900 on bars, 9.925 on beam and 9.950 on floor to win the titles on all four events and the all-around on the night.
It was the first time an LSU Gymnast swept every event title since Haleigh Bryant in the Podium Challenge on March 8th last season. Finnegan shared the bars and beam titles with Chio, who claimed the first event victories of her young career.
Finnegan now owns 28 titles in her career – 3 on vault, 1 on bars, 8 on beam, 12 on floor and 4 in the all-around.
Chio was the first LSU freshman to compete in the all-around since Kiya Johnson in 2020 and recorded the school’s highest all-around debut score by a freshman with her 39.575. A native of Henderson, Nevada, the freshman posted scores of 9.825 on vault, 9.900 on bars, 9.925 on beam and 9.925 on floor in her collegiate debut.
They both enter week two ranked amongst the top gymnasts in the nation following their performances on Friday night. Finnegan is ranked first on vault, seventh on bars, fourth on beam, first on floor and first in the all-around while Chio ranks seventh on bars, fourth on beam, second on floor and fourth in the all-around.
The second-ranked LSU Tigers will return to action on Saturday, January 11, when they compete in session two of the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad against No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 4 Utah and No. 6 California. The competition is set for 3 p.m. CT on ABC at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
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**LSU Athletics Release**
