By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
LSU gymnastics head coach Jay Clark provided injury updates on two key gymnasts during his Monday press conference.
Junior Konnor McClain did not compete in the Tigers’ meet against No. 1 Oklahoma in Norman on Friday after suffering an arm injury during warm-ups. McClain hit her forearm on the bars and was unable to take her touch, prompting Clark to pull her from the lineup.
Following an evaluation by the medical staff, Clark said the injury is not as serious as the staff initially feared it to be.
“Konnor should be fine,” Clark said Monday. “She’s got what amounts to a bone contusion in her arm. She’s day-to-day.”
McClain is expected to be available for this weekend’s meets against No. 3 Alabama (5-2, 3-2 Southeastern Conference) on Friday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center (8 p.m., SEC Network) and the Podium Challenge on Sunday at the Raising Cane’s River Center (3 p.m.).
Out of precaution, sophomore Kaliya Lincoln was pulled from the floor lineup before last Friday’s meet at Oklahoma.
“She’s just got some inflammation in the Achilles and nobody has told me that she can’t go,” Clark said. “Nobody has told me that we shouldn’t go. I’ve just been doing it long enough to know, read the tea leaves and try to do what’s in the best interest of that athlete. Risk versus reward is the thing, so we’ll be very cautious with Kaliya.”
Although she did not compete on floor, Lincoln still performed on vault and balance beam, posting a 9.950 on vault and a 9.925 on beam.
Because floor routines require the most intense landings, Clark said the staff wants to be smart about their next move with Lincoln – who missed nearly the entire season last year with a shoulder injury.
“We’ve still got to talk with the medical team about what our next approach is,” Clark said. “I don’t know if we’ll use her on floor. I hope we’ll do the same thing with her this weekend that we did last weekend and that’s really just out of abundance with caution because we just got to preserve her for that last stretch. We get into the postseason, we need that floor routine, so we’ll do everything we can to make sure that that remains the case. I don’t think it’s something she couldn’t do right now, I just don’t know if it’s smart to do it.”
If Lincoln is unavailable on floor, sophomore Lexi Zeiss will likely be her replacement. Zeiss stepped into the anchor spot last Friday and scored an impressive 9.925 in her first collegiate floor routine.
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