“Thank you, gymnastics, you were so good to me.” With those words, Olivia Dunne bid her farewell to the mat. It marked the end of a remarkable 20-year journey in the sport that saw her live the joy of touching the NCAA trophy in 2024 and two SEC championships in 2024 and 2025. She competed at the 2018 U.S. National Championships alongside top-level athletes like Suni Lee and Simone Biles. Dunne was the face of the LSU team for the past 4-5 years, and her retirement did not come without a toll on the team. Right after her, a spree of drop-offs was announced. And just this week, another one is on the headlines…
LSU finished third in the NCAA national semifinals on April 17, 2025, with a score of 197.5250, narrowly falling behind Utah (197.7625) and UCLA (197.7375). That semifinal marked the finale for ten LSU seniors, including Dunne. Haleigh Bryant shared an emotional Instagram message: “It’s truly been an honor to wear the purple and gold. Forever LSU.” In response to LSU Gymnastics’ Instagram tribute, Aleah Finnegan simply and sincerely wrote: “I just love them.” The two of them, joined by Sierra Ballard, KJ Johnson, Chase Brock, Alexis Jeffrey, Alyona Shchennikova, Tori Tatum, and Kathryn Weilbacher, bid their farewell to LSU. And this time, it wasn’t just one or two standout names stepping away. It was nearly an entire core—ten seniors who had defined LSU gymnastics over the past few seasons, leaving together. But the farewells don’t end here…
On July 14, 2025, LSU assistant coach Ashleigh Gnat announced her retirement from her coaching role. The news didn’t come as a surprise to Coach Jay Clark, as Nola.com reports, “Gnat indicated to Clark when the season began in January that this would probably be her final year of coaching, but he said her decision wasn’t firm until after the Tigers won their second straight Southeastern Conference championship meet in March.” Ashleigh Gnat and Olivia Dunne share a mentor–mentee relationship rooted in LSU gymnastics.
While they may have never competed together, the timeline suggests that the two took a major life decision together: and that is joining LSU. Ashleigh Gnat, a decorated LSU gymnast (2014–2017), returned to LSU in 2020 as an assistant coach, focusing on balance beam and mentoring the team. Olivia Dunne joined LSU in the summer of 2020, blossomed under a coaching staff that included Gnat. As the former LSU assistant coach made her retirement post on Instagram, the former LSU athlete took no time to drop a comment that said, “LSU legend 4EVER.”
Former LSU assistant coach Ashleigh Gnat
Image credits: Instagram/@ash_gnat
Even after her retirement, you can’t keep her away from LSU. The Lake Mary, Florida, native is going to work for GK Elite, the leotard company that supplies outfits for LSU, in sales. Be it as a gymnast or as a coach, Gnat will be etched in the history of Louisiana State University’s women’s gymnastics as an absolute legend of the game.
The legacy Ashleigh Gnat leaves behind…
Ashleigh Gnat’s LSU story didn’t end when she bid farewell to the mat. She had a decorated career—17 All‑America honors, nine perfect 10s, four-time Southeastern Conference event champion, and the 2017 NCAA Floor Championship. Gnat was the 2016 and 2017 SEC Specialist of the Year and Central Region Gymnast of the Year. She stayed on at LSU as a graduate assistant from 2017 to 2019. Now a former gymnast, she stayed on as a graduate assistant.
Gnat learned every facet of the program, from community service and marketing to equipment and travel. But then she felt that it was time to test some new waters. In 2019, she stepped out of Baton Rouge to coach at Penn State, where her work on the floor brought instant results: five scores over 49.000 and a season-high 49.375. Ashleigh Gnat had transferred her magic from the mat to the sidelines. But you can’t stay far away from home…
She came home to LSU in 2021. By 2024, her beam squad shattered records—posting a school-best 49.7625 in the NCAA Final Four—and helped deliver LSU’s first-ever national title. Gnat earned Region One Assistant Coach of the Year honors, along with fellow assistant coaches Garrett Griffeth and Courtney McCool Griffeth, for their efforts in the year. As Gnat steps away from coaching and Dunne departs the mat, their legacies leave a lasting mark on LSU gymnastics. But how much of an impact will Dunne’s retirement have on the team going forward?
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