2018 Women's NCAA Gymnastics Championships

NCAA Q&A: Priessman On Blending Power And Fun, Bouncing Back From A Fall

NCAA Q&A: Priessman On Blending Power And Fun, Bouncing Back From A Fall

LSU junior Lexie Priessman chats about her floor routine for this season, her biggest challenges, and how LSU still hasn't had its best meet.

Apr 10, 2018 by Lauren Green
NCAA Q&A: Priessman On Blending Power And Fun, Bouncing Back From A Fall

Lexie Priessman has been a standout for LSU this season, especially on the uneven bars where she is currently ranked seventh in the country. The junior has competed in the fifth spot on bars in all 14 meets this season, scoring a 9.875 or better 12 times. She’s narrowly missed earning her first career 10.0 after earning three 9.975s. 

The Tigers are the top-ranked squad on bars with 49.580 RQS. LSU has posted a 49.400 or better on nine occasions in 2018 and hit a season-best 49.750 on March 17 against Arizona.



LSU had the top performance of both semifinal sessions in 2017 and finished as the runner-up for the third straight season. The Tigers will compete in the first semifinal on April 20 against SEC foes Alabama, Georgia, and Arkansas, plus Nebraska and UCLA. The Tigers faced all five of those teams throughout the season and have defeated all except UCLA.

FloGymnastics: What is your favorite event to perform and why?

Lexie Priessman: My favorite event is probably floor. I like it because I get to show my personality but at the same time show that I like to tumble and the powerful aspect of it. This floor routine that I have this year is really fun and I can just smile the whole time I’m out there. As an elite, my last routine was more serious. I like both routines. I like showing my serious side and at the same time showing my fun personality. This year we chose to go the fun route. I think floor and vault have always been my two favorite events.

What is your favorite skill to perform in any event?

I think my favorite skill right now is probably my full-in on floor. I just like tumbling and it’s honestly a no-brainer for me. I just kind of go and do it. I’ve literally done so many in my life that I don’t have to think about it—I just kind of go.



What is the most challenging skill that you’ve learned and what made it challenging for you?

Every skill that I’ve ever done, to be honest, came pretty easily to me on vault and floor and even bars. The hardest skill I’ve ever done is a back handspring-layout on beam. I did a full-in off the beam, double-doubles and a back handspring layout is a skill that I will never forget when gymnastics is over. I just won’t miss it.

How does the adversity that your team faced during the regular season help prepare you for the postseason?

We still haven’t hit our full potential as a team, and I feel like that’s just right around the corner for us. I feel like leading up to this pointing having a few mistakes in a meet, whether that’s landings or short handstands or maybe a fall and the next person having to pick them up is just a step in the right direction for us. 

So when postseason now is here and for some reason something would happen, it’s already happened during the season and we know how to carry ourselves and move on from it instead of getting all tight and worried about it. Even at SECs, we came out with the win and we didn’t have the best meet. We knew as a team that we needed to stick together, help each other out, and we knew going into floor that every detail counted. That’s something that we work on every day in the gym so we can go perform it to the best of our abilities when competition comes around.



After last year when your team hit lights-out just a day early, how much has that motivated you this year?

It’s very motivational. We tell the freshmen "this is an experience that is one of the best experiences you’re going to have." Last year even though we didn’t come out on top the second day, we know that we were one of the best teams out there. It sucks that we had the best performance the day that didn’t count as much as the finals did. 

But going into nationals this year we know if the meet doesn’t go the best the first day then we need to pick it up and do our job the second day because that’s the day that really matters. I think going into nationals we have a lot of confidence. Since SECs, we’ve worked details, we’ve worked on landings, handstands, all that kind of stuff to prepare us for nationals. I think our team has a lot of confidence going into regionals and nationals and that’s what we need.

How do you bounce back from a fall?

D-D always tells us that we need to dig out of the hole. That means we need to pick up that person and say, "It’s okay, you made a mistake but I’m next because I deserve to be in this spot and I’m going to pick you up and the rest of team." That’s what we’re really good at. We don’t let one fall spiral down. 

During intrasquads, just because it’s a practice day doesn’t mean we can just let everything spiral down during practice. What we do in the gym is going to show in competitions.

How would you describe yourself in three words?

Energetic, bubbly, and determined.



What has been the biggest challenge for you personally this season?

The biggest challenge is to accept the fact that my body can’t handle training every single day. Accepting the fact that I just need to sit back and listen to what the coaches have, what the trainers have and know that when they say I can’t swing bars today that that’s what’s best for myself but also for the team. The gymnastics that I do is my body and I feel very confident in it. Training every day isn’t really what I need. 

I am at a point in my life after eight surgeries that rest is what I need. I had to find a balance between how much training I need and how much rest time I need. This season has definitely been a testament to my patience. I wouldn’t have made it this far if it wasn’t for the coaches, the team, and the athletic trainer who has really helped me get to this point. My body is aching here and there and having some pain, but after eight surgeries I can’t expect anything less.

What are you most looking forward to about competing in the postseason?

I’m really excited to go out there with the girls and show everyone who we are. We were runner-up the past two years and this year we’re going to come out with a bang and show them that we’ve worked our butts off this season to not only be in the best shape of our lives but mentally to be where we need to me. To go into the meet and not overthink anything. To just do our gymnastics because we all know that our gymnastics right now is autopilot. So there’s no need to go in and overthink anything. It’s in our bodies, we’ve done it and this team is so lovable. It’s like a family so I’m just excited to go out there and have fun with them.