BATON ROUGE – The trophy case for LSU Gymnast Haleigh Bryant got a little more crowded on Tuesday. The junior was named the 2023 Central Region Gymnast of the Year, announced by the Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA).

The honor marks the second in Bryant’s career, as she was also named Gymnast of the Year in 2021.

A native of Cornelius, N.C., Bryant is one of the top gymnasts in the country and has led the Tigers all season. Following the injury of teammate Kiya Johnson, Bryant has stepped up for the squad on and off the floor. 

The junior has appeared in the all-around in all of the Tigers competitions this year and has earned scores of 9.900+ on all four events in five meets this season. 

She has recorded five perfect scores on the year with three on vault, one on bars and one on floor. Three of those perfect scores came in the squad’s regular season finale against West Virginia, where she made history and became the only LSU gymnast to record three 10’s in a single meet and only the fifth gymnast in the NCAA to record such an accomplishment. 

Bryant now owns 10 career perfect scores to place her at the top for most career 10’s in program history. In that same meet, Bryant recorded a career high score of 39.875 in the all-around to tie for the highest all-around score in LSU history. 

This year, Bryant has recorded season highs of 9.950 on beam and 10.00 on vault, bars and floor. She finished the regular season as the No. 4 gymnast in the nation with her NQS of 39.725 and placed amongst the top performers on vault, bars and floor. Her front handspring-front pike half is considered to be one of the best vaults in all NCAA gymnastics as she finished ranked at the top in the event with her NQS of 9.980. 

Bryant was named a 2023 WCGA Regular Season All-American on vault, bars, floor and the all-around. The honors marked her third career All-America honors on vault and second on bars, floor and in the all-around.

Within the SEC, she was named SEC Gymnast of the Week four times in 2023, including three consecutive weeks. The junior was awarded the honor after her performances against Missouri, Alabama, West Virginia and at the Podium Challenge with California, Washington and George Washington. She now owns five weekly conference honors in her career and leads the conference in Gymnast of the Week honors this year.