One wouldn’t think Guns N’ Roses and Red Hot Chili Peppers would be necessary to prepare gymnasts for meets, but West Virginia head coach Jason Butts isn’t one to do things the conventional way.
Butts knew the crowd in Baton Rouge would be like nothing his team had seen this season, so he did his best to make sure they were prepared. That preparation paid off as No. 35 West Virginia tallied a strong 196.450 against No. 6 LSU, a score that improved its NQS heading into a double meet weekend. The score was also the highest team score against an SEC opponent in program history and the second highest road score of the season.
The Mountaineers started out the meet with a season high 49.025 on bars, led by Kianna Yancey and Emily Holmes-Hackerd with 9.850s. Yancey’s momentum continued heading into vault as she led the Mountaineers to a 49.075. During their first two rotations, Haleigh Bryant scored back to back 10s, leaving the Mountaineers having to drown out the crowd noise. Luckily, Butts had prepared them in the best way he knew.
“I have this obnoxious crowd noise music. It’s got Guns N’ Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and then I mixed in some smooth jazz just to really get on [the team’s] nerves. We blared it as loud as it could go in the gym to get them…
