By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
For the first time this season, the No. 2 LSU gymnastics team will compete at home for the second straight week as the Tigers prepare to host No. 17 Auburn on Friday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center (7:45 p.m. CT, SEC Network).
LSU (5-1-1, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) turned in a strong performance in last Friday’s win over No. 16 Penn State (4-2, 3-1 Big 10 Conference), posting a score of 197.525. Despite putting up a solid score, head coach Jay Clark expected more from his team.
“I thought we were inconsistent. We just never really gained any momentum,” Clark said after the Penn State meet. “I thought vault looked pretty good. We wanted to try to do that again and just never really did it again the rest of the way through.”
It was an up-and-down meet for the Tigers. LSU started the night off hot on vault, scoring a season-high 49.475 but struggled in the middle two rotations, posting season-lows in both uneven bars (49.275) and balance beam (49.225). The Tigers finished the night on a high note, scoring a 49.550 on floor.
This week, Clark wants his team to put together a complete and consistent performance against Auburn (1-4, 0-4 SEC).
“We have yet to really put one together,” Clark said on Monday. “We had that 198 at home (against Kentucky), but we had an event that night that was not very good, so trying to get all four on the same page is really where our focus is right now. It’s not about trying to keep a winning streak going. It’s about growth. It’s about preparing. It’s about getting where we need to be for late in the season and continuing to try and find ourselves.”
LSU’s 2026 squad may be one of the deepest team’s Clark has ever had, which is why his expectations remain high.
“This team has what it needs to be successful and to be successful at the highest level and we’ve just got to mature a little bit,” Clark said. “Every year, you kind of go through a process and sometimes it’s about physical preparation and other times it’s about being able to mentally stay and demand the standard that you set for yourself every time and we’re still growing in that area. We got more than plenty in terms of gymnastics. The question remains is, ‘Are we going to be as consistent as we need to be?’”
With just six meets to go before the SEC Championship, Clark wants to be able to start locking down the lineups.
“I do think we reach a point where we have to start looking at solidifying what our lineups are going to look like and really creating an environment where people can kind of get into that rhythm,” Clark said. “I think we’re seeing we’re getting to a point where we can’t or should not be tinkering too much with things going forward. It doesn’t mean we can’t make changes or that we won’t, it just means that we need to be starting to decide what that’s going to look like as we get close to March and April.”
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