BATON ROUGE – LSU Gymnastics Senior Haleigh Bryant, a 27-time All-American and 2024 NCAA All-Around Champion, was named a finalist for Honda Sport Award for gymnastics, marking her second straight year as a finalist for the prestigious award.
Bryant is one of four finalists for this year’s Honda Award. She is joined by Oklahoma’s Jordan Bowers, Florida’s Leanne Wong, and Oregon State’s Jade Carey. The nominees were chosen by a group representing the Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA).
This year marks the second straight year that Bryant has been named a finalist for the award, as her first nomination came in her junior season last year. She is the sixth LSU gymnast to be named a finalist for the Honda Sports Award, joining Ashleigh Gnat (2016-17), Rheagan Courville (2012-13), Susan Jackson (2009-10), Ashleigh Clare-Kearney (2008-09), and Rachel Fruge’ (1989-90) as the previous finalists. Jackson, a three-time NCAA champion, is the only LSU gymnast to win the award.
The Honda Award is presented annually by the College Women’s Sports Awards (CWSA) to the top women athletes in the 12 NCAA- sanctioned sports and signifies “the best of the best in collegiate athletics.” The winner of the sport award becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious Honda Cup, which will be presented during a live telecast on CBS Sports Network on Monday, June 24, 2024, at 6 p.m. CT, from its new home in New York City.
THE Collegiate Women Sports Awards has honored the nation’s top NCAA women athletes for 48 years, recognizing superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service.
A native of Cornelius, North Carolina, Bryant has had a year for the record books in her senior campaign with the Tigers. Not only did she help lead LSU to their first team national championship last Saturday, but she was also named this year’s NCAA All-Around champion for her performance in the NCAA Semifinals on April 18.
She recorded a 39.7125 in the semifinals to claim the individual all-around title for only the second time in school history. This is her second national title in her career, with her first coming on vault in 2021. Susan Jackson is the only other gymnast to win the all-around title in 2010.
She is only the fourth gymnast in NCAA history to achieve the trifecta of NCAA team title, all-around title and the AAI Award.
The senior is the fourth AAI Award winner in program history and joined an elite group of past honorees in Sarah Finnegan (2019), Ashleigh Gnat (2017) and Susan Jackson (2010). LSU has the most AAI winners since 2010 and the most in the Southeastern Conference.
She was named the SEC Gymnast of the Year for the first time in her career last month, becoming only the sixth gymnast in LSU history to earn the award. She also claimed two individual titles at the 2024 SEC Championships, making her a three-time individual SEC Champion and her fourth straight year as an All-SEC member.
Her performance at SEC’s helped LSU claim their first SEC Championship title since 2019 and fifth in program history.
Bryant owns 33 titles on the year, having won 10 on vault, seven on bars, two on beam, four on floor and 10 in the all-around to move her career total to 94 (fourth most in LSU history). Her current 34 career vault titles is the second most in program history while her 30 in the all-around is the most by any LSU gymnast in their career.
Just this year, Bryant’s titles on vault, bars and the all-around place in the top-10 for most in a single season by an LSU gymnast.
She finished the regular season as the No. 1 gymnast in the nation and first on vault, fourth on bars, eighth on beam and seventh on floor. She has earned 10 All-America honors in 2024 to move her career total to 27 (14 regular season, 13 postseason), the most by any LSU gymnast in school history. Her five postseason honors at the NCAA Championships moved her to the top spot to surpass the previous record of 23, which was held by Sarah Finnegan and Rheagan Courville.
Bryant was the first LSU gymnast to achieve both a gym slam (perfect 10 on every event) and season slam (a perfect 10 on every event in a single season) this year, as she owns eight perfect scores this season and 18 in her career, the most by any gymnast in LSU history and the 10th most in the NCAA.
She was only the 14th gymnast in the NCAA to record a gym slam in their career and the 10th gymnast in NCAA history to achieve a season slam.
Already one of the most accomplished gymnasts in school history, Bryant will look to become only the second LSU gymnast to receive the Honda Sport Award.
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