LSU star gymnast, Haleigh Bryant, missed the Tigers first meet of the season due to an UCL injury she suffered at the end of last season and tweaked again in the Tigers Gym 101 meet in December. She returned in limited fashion in last week's Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad, performing only on beam and scoring a 9.750, but she's eyeing a return to another event this week.

LSU Head Coach Jay Clark told the media that Bryant suffered no setbacks after Friday's meet and will practice on floor this week, and he expects that it will go well. She has been quick in her recovery thus far and should be a full go within the next few weeks, but the first step is getting her back on floor, where she averaged a 9.923 last season.

They'll need her back as soon as possible as the Tigers begin their SEC schedule this week. They host No. 7 Florida in the PMAC on Friday night before going to No. 17 Arkansas and hosting No. 10 Missouri in the following weeks. In a little less than a month, LSU will host No. 1 Oklahoma on Valentine's Day, and by then, she should be full back in action.

The Gators have opened their season with wins over No. 11 Michigan State, No. 23 Nebraska and Northern Illinois University and are averaging a team score of 196.675 through two meets. The Tigers are averaging nearly a point more per meet with a 197.475, which is .275 behind No. 1 Oklahoma.

Once the Tigers get Bryant back, they should be able to contend with Oklahoma for the No. 1 spot. They were just over a tenth behind them heading into the final rotation last week while missing KJ Johnson and Haleigh Bryant (on three events). They were right in it until the very end, but they obviously missed their two stars.

Bryant, the 2024 individual all-around national champion, is the best gymnast in the country and one of the best collegiate gymnasts ever, so getting her back is huge. But like Jay Clark said before the season, they're going to be cautious with her.

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