FORT WORTH - Kiya Johnson has been one of the biggest names in LSU gymnastics over the past few years. She's known for her difficult skills, big scores and infectious smile. 

Johnson has been one of LSU's most reliable weapons as an All-American and former SEC Freshman of the Year, but her road has not been easy.

In her fourth year with the program, Kiya tore her achilles during the second week of the season and was sidelined for the rest of the year. 

"The recovery process was definitely long and pretty difficult at times, but again my goal was to just to get back to contributing in any way that I could for my team. I didn't really know what that would look like in the beginning of the year," Johnson said.

Now, Johnson is back to competing and averages 9.95 on floor exercise in the team's anchor spot and is competing on the biggest stage in college gymnastics in the All Around competition.

Johnson is a Dallas native, so she will get to end her collegiate career on the national stage.

"Having an ending to my career in the place that I grew up I think is going to be really fun, and I also have some old teammates that I'll get to see, so it's kind of like a homecoming or a hometown reunion that I'm really excited for, but I'm also going to keep my focus on the team and the job at hand," Johnson said.

LSU will compete in the national semi finals Thursday at 3:30 p.m.

If they are one of the top two teams by the end of the meet, they will advance to the finals on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. on WBRZ.