Breathe a sigh of relief!
For the 11th time in 18 years, the #2 LSU gymnastics team will head to the NCAA finals. The Tigers finished behind Florida’s 197.7875, but their 197.4375 beat Georgia’s 197.2625 and Stanford’s 196.9375 and was enough to make the finals. LSU put up their second-worst score of 2026, but they did what they had to do and avenged the demons from last year.
Rotation 1: 49.4750 (LSU in 1st)
The Tigers had a strong start on vault. Lexi Zeiss led off with a 9.8500 after hopping on her Yurchenko 1.5. Konnor McClain
hopped back on her Yurchenko Full and got a 9.8250. Victoria Roberts hopped and stepped back on her front pike half for a 9.7250. Kaliya Lincoln stuck her Y1.5 and got a 9.9625. Amari Drayton almost stuck her Y1.5, but a step forward left her with a 9.8750. Kailin Chio drilled her Y1.5 once again and got a 9.9625.
Rotation 2: 98.6625 (LSU in 2nd)
LSU struggled to find landings on bars and put up a season-low 49.1875. Lexi Zeiss and Ashley Cowan led off with consecutive 9.8375s after failing to stick their landings. Madison Ulrich got a 9.7750 after a good routine finished with a poor landing. Kailin had a tough time on her routine and didn’t stick, and that left her with a 9.8000. Haley Mustari also struggled to hit her landing and got a 9.8000. Thankfully, Konnor hit her routine and stuck her dismount to finish with a 9.9125.
Rotation 3: 147.9125 (LSU in 3rd)
LSU put up their second-worst beam rotation with a 49.2500, but it came close to being a disaster. Kylie Coen led things off with a 9.7875. Lexi followed with a wobbly 9.7625. Amari hit her routine for a 9.8625. Kaliya had trouble on her acro series and finished with a 9.4250 on a 9.80 SV. Konnor came in clutch with a huge 9.9500. Kailin had a couple noticeable errors in her routine and went 9.8875, enough to keep LSU within a half-tenth of second place.
Rotation 4: 197.4375 (LSU 2nd)
LSU put up a 49.5250 to send themselves to the natty. Emily Innes led off with a 9.8625. Nina Ballou had an oddly low 9.7750. Kylie hit her routine for a 9.8500. Amari drilled her routine for a 9.9375. LSU couldn’t lock themselves into the natty just yet, they would’ve needed a 10.1125 from Kailin to do that. Kailin put up a 9.9625, though, and that forced Georgia to get something to increase their total. A 9.7625 from CaMarah Williams locked the Tigers into the final, but Kaliya’s 9.9125 was the cherry on top. Tigers survive.
Final thoughts:
That wasn’t a good meet. LSU looked pretty bad on bars and beam. They couldn’t buy a bars landing, and they kept wobbling on beam. Thankfully, they got out alive. Now, they’ll get some time off to reset, stop thinking about gymnastics, and recover from this meet.
As of now, Kailin leads the all-around with a 39.6125, a score that’s highly unlikely to hold. Kailin and Kaliya hold the joint lead on vault with a 9.9625, a score that’s got a chance to be the winner. Konnor holds a joint lead on beam with Stanford’s Ana Barbosu with a 9.9500. That’s not likely to hold, either, but it’s got a good chance. I’ll provide any updates on that in a short post tomorrow.
