The LSU gymnastics team just won its first-ever NCAA title in school history this past weekend. Member of the LSU program and social media personality Olivia “Livvy” Dunne took to social media to celebrate her team’s landmark accomplishment.
“Natty champs baby!” she wrote in an Instagram post. “Best day ever,” another said. While Dunne did not compete in the NCAA Championship hosted in Fort Worth, Texas, she cheered on her teammates while wearing her LSU uniform.
The championship win is a notable accolade for LSU, which finished in fourth place last year. The team trailed behind Utah by 0.037 points throughout the competition and led third-place California by 0.113 after three rotations. However, senior Sierra Ballard led the fourth and final rotation with a career-high 9.950. Furthermore, Kiya Johnson, Haleigh Bryant, and Aleah Finnegan contributed to the score to carry the LSU Tigers to a school record of 49.7625 and secure the national championship.
LSU coach Jay Clark, one of the country’s best recruiters, noted how proud he is of his team. The coach explained the hard work and dedication the LSU gymnastics maintained to win the championship. “I love these kids so much, and they did everything we asked them to,” said Clark. “They never complained. They were unselfish. We weren’t without adversity. It feels fantastic, and I’m just so happy for them. I’m speechless.”
“Every team was out there fighting for their lives and all four teams, it could have gone any of four ways out there today,” Clark told ESPN “I think as much as I feel for what happened to Oklahoma in the semifinals, I think it made for a championship that became so packed with emotion because every team out there believed they could do it, and it was just tremendous.”
Despite Dunne’s recognition in the world of gymnastics, she did not make LSU’s six-member starting rotation for the meet, given the level of talent the team had. However, sources familiar with women’s gymnastics claim Dunne would likely compete in every meet at a non-top five school.
“When she’s gone in, she’s delivered,” Clark said earlier this year. “She’s dependable, and her role has been as a utilitarian a little bit in terms of going in when we need her to. How many great basketball teams have a great sixth man? She’s done an excellent job of handling it and embracing that role.”
The America Tribune reported last year on news of Livvy Dunne collaborating with Sports Illustrated, where she would appear in a swimsuit edition. Dunne said she hopes to use the platform to raise awareness of women’s collegiate sports, particularly gymnastics.
“As a female athlete, I hope I can bring attention to how amazing college sports are and how hard college athletics are. People don’t see [behind the scenes] every day of my college athletics, and it’s very time consuming. In gymnastics, a lot of people only watch the Olympics every four years, and I feel like I’ve been able to use my platform to bring an audience to college gymnastics, and people are starting to see how amazing all these gymnasts are,” Dunne said. Watch Livvy Dunne perform earlier this year below:
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.
"*" indicates required fields