LSU Gymnast Aleah Finnegan named 2025 AAI Award Finalist
Tina Howell • March 19, 2025
LSU Gymnast Aleah Finnegan has been named a finalist for the prestigious 2025 AAI Award, which is awarded to the top senior gymnast in the nation by the American Athletic Inc.
Finnegan was chosen a finalist from a field of 59 nominees. She is joined by Oklahoma’s Jordan Bowers and Audrey Davis, Oregon State’s Jade Carey, Florida’s Leanne Wong and Utah’s Grace McCallum.
Voting will be conducted by NCAA women's gymnastics head coaches with the winner to be announced at the NCAA Championships Banquet in Fort Worth, TX next month.
LSU has seen four AAI Award Winners in school history, the most by any school since 2010 and the most in the SEC. The prestigious group includes Haleigh Bryant (2024), Aleah's sister, Sarah Finnegan (2019), Ashleigh Gnat (2017) and Susan Jackson (2010).
This year, Finnegan has competed in the all-around in all but two meets this year, putting up season highs of 9.950 on vault and bars, 10.0 on beam, 9.975 on floor and 39.725 in the all-around. Nationally, she has ranked amongst the top 20 all-around gymnasts in the nation for nine out of 12 weeks of regular season competition. Finnegan is an eight time All-American and All-SEC member who owns eight perfect scores in her career, with the most recent coming this season on beam. She was the first Tiger this year to earn a perfect 10 and it was only the third perfect score on beam in the country. Her eight-career perfect 10’s is the sixth most in LSU history, including the second most on floor.
She owns 36 titles in her career so far at LSU, with 13 of those coming in 2025. She owns 14 titles on floor, 10 on beam, six on vault, five in the all-around and one on bars. Her 14 floor titles ties for the seventh most in LSU history, which she currently shares with her sister, Sarah Finnegan.
On top of her collegiate success, Finnegan has continued be a great representative of LSU across NCAA Gymnastics and the world stage, becoming the first LSU Gymnast to represent the Tigers in the Olympics when she competed in the qualifying rounds of the 2024 Paris Olympics with Team Philippines.
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After a weather-delayed kickoff, loyal NOLA Gold fans were treated to a rollercoaster of a match that ended with a well-earned 44-36 victory over the Seattle Seawolves at the Shrine. This win moved NOLA Gold into 3rd place in the Major League Rugby Eastern Conference standings. Coach Danny Lee said of the team's response to the delay, “We just had to control the controllables. Once we told the boys the definitive time for kickoff, we had a plan ready to go. In terms of game plan, we had to be a little bit more direct, and we had to kick and adapt quickly.” NOLA Gold set the tone early, taking an initial 3-0 lead thanks to a steady penalty kick from Dorian Jones. Though Seattle answered quickly with a try to make it 7-3, the Gold launched into a dominant scoring stretch. Isaac Te Tamaki powered across the try line to ignite the offense, followed by back-to-back tries from the relentless Jonah Mau’u. Jones continued to add points from the tee, stretching the Gold’s lead to 27-7. Just before halftime, the Seawolves found a breakthrough and scored at the buzzer, narrowing the margin to 27-14. However, NOLA emerged from the locker room with purpose. Xavier Mignot wasted no time reestablishing momentum with a try that pushed the lead to 34-14. Seattle fought back with intensity, capitalizing on back-to-back tries to bring the score to 34-24. But NOLA responded with composure, as Jones added another penalty to keep the visitors at bay, 37-24. The closing stages of the match saw both teams exchanging blows. Seattle’s try was met by a decisive moment from Joe Taufete’e, who muscled through defenders for a critical score. Luke Campbell’s conversion extended the lead to 44-29. Though Seattle scored one final try at the buzzer, it wasn’t enough. With a final score of 44-36, NOLA Gold walked away with a crucial five-point win in front of a roaring home crowd and strengthens their postseason hopes with a firm grip on 3rd place in the East. Their next match will be on the road against the San Diego Legion on May 4th at 4:00 PM CT. For tickets and more details, please visit www.nolagoldrugby.com
The 10th annual Covington Antiques & Uniques Festival will be held this Saturday, April 26, and Sunday, April 27, at the Covington Trailhead Museum. This two-day, juried festival features over 60 vendors offering an eclectic mix of antique furnishings, period collectibles, architectural salvage, and vintage-inspired fine crafts, as well as a live auction, car show, good food, music, and more. The Covington Heritage Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to preserve the city’s culture, character and community. Founded in 2015, the festival is coordinated with the support of the City’s Department of Cultural Arts and Events. As the festival grows and evolves each year, their goal remains the same- to offer a first-class juried event that reflects the unique charm and history of the city of Covington. The festival is open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 5 p.m. and admission is free. For more details, please visit https://www.covingtonheritagefoundation.com/