UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State Women's Gymnastics head coach Sarah Brown has added Ashleigh Gnat to her coaching staff as an assistant coach. Gnat joins the Nittany Lion program after serving the last two seasons as a graduate assistant coach at LSU. The Florida native transitioned into a coaching role at LSU after an All-American career as an athlete.
"I am so thrilled to add Ashleigh to the staff and welcome to her to Happy Valley," said Brown. "Her experience as an All-American athlete and as a member of such an accomplished LSU program will be a huge asset to Penn State Women's Gymnastics. Ashleigh has already shown herself to be a great role model and leader for our athletes and I look forward to working with her and learning from her experiences."
As a graduate assistant the last two seasons, Gnat assisted with the planning and implementation of practice. She also helped to implement drills and develop routines for beam and floor to improve the composition and difficulty of those routines. Gnat aided in choreographing routines on beam and floor. She helped the Tigers to a 2019 SEC Championship. LSU finished the 2019 season as the NCAA National Runner-Up.
She also helped with administrative work, including assisting the director of operations, including planning and coordinating recruiting visits and created team building activities. Gnat helped to plan and coach at LSU's gymnastics camps.
"I am so humbled and honored to join Penn State and what Sarah is building," said Gnat. "I also can't thank D-D [Breaux], Jay [Clark], Bob [Moore], Ashleigh Clare-Kearney, Katie [Copeland] and the entire village at LSU for their support since coming to Baton Rouge six years ago. I am so proud of what I've been able to do at LSU, but I am really looking forward to my next chapter in State College."
Gnat enjoyed a stellar career as an athlete at LSU. As a senior in 2017, she was the NCAA Floor Exercise Champion and won the AAI Award as the nation's top senior after leading LSU to an SEC title. A 17-time All-American, including 11 first-team selections, Gnat was twice named the SEC Specialist of the Year. She earned seven All-American selections on floor and five on vault, including four first-team selections in each event. Gnat also collected three first-team All-American honors, two All-American selections in all-around and two Regional Gymnast of the Year awards. She helped the Tigers to two National Runner-Up finishes and four straight years reaching at least the NCAA Semifinals.
She was an SEC Champion on floor in 2016 and 2017. She also won the SEC vault and beam titles in 2017. Gnat earned nine perfect 10.0 scores in her Tiger career, tied for a program record. She ranks among the Top 10 all-time at LSU for most vault, beam floor and all-around titles and set a season record with 12 floor titles in 2017. She was also a member of the SEC Community Service team.
The Sport Administration major was a four-year member of the SEC Honor Roll. Gnat earned her Master's Degree in Kinesiology.
"Every coach should have the opportunity to coach an athlete with all of the qualities that Ashleigh demonstrates every day," said LSU Co-Head Coach D-D Breaux. "She is a shining example of what a student-athlete should aspire to become and has been a champion at every level. Her record-setting career will forever make her one of LSU's best. I know she is excited for the next chapter in her life and I am really so proud of her. She is destined to be a great collegiate gymnastics coach."
The Nittany Lions finished the 2019 season with a 10-9 dual record and a No. 24 ranking in the RoadToNationals, their highest final ranking since 2015. Penn State placed third in Session 1 of the Ann Arbor Regional. The blue and white are set to return 12 athletes from the 2019 squad, including NCAA Championship qualifier Jessie Bastardi and first-team All-Big Ten selection Lauren Bridgens.
