LSU Gym Trounces Kentucky, Surpasses 198

What a way to bounce back

Summarized by AI ⓘ

What is the story about?

Damn, it feels good to be back home.

The back-to-back SEC champion #4 LSU gymnastics team made their home debut in record-breaking fashion Friday in a massive 198.050-195.775 walloping of #39 Kentucky. A home-opening record 13,516 people piled into the PMAC to see the Tigers set a new record for highest home-opening score. That crowd was also the third largest in program history. LSU moved to 1-1 in the SEC regular season standings while Kentucky dropped to 0-1.

Rotation 1: LSU 49.250-Kentucky 48.975

Kentucky led things off with an okay

bars rotation, but they made mistakes left and right. Missed handstands and poor landings doomed them to a sub-49 start.

Lexi Zeiss led things off with a 9.900 on a stuck Yurchenko 1.5 that looked better than any vault she’s done at LSU. Konnor McClain made her vault debut with a scaled-back Yurchenko Full, not the Yurchenko Double she’s training, and scored a 9.825. Nina Ballou debuted her Y1.5 and somehow managed to fight through form issues to stick it for a 9.750 [9.70/9.80]. Amari Drayton then overpowered her Y1.5 for a 9.700. Kaliya Lincoln, also training a Double, returned to the vault lineup with a Y1.5 and scored a 9.825 after a big hop. Kailin Chio capped things off with a stuck Y1.5 that got a 9.950. She tends to have an issue on her block that keeps her from getting 10s, but this vault was as perfect as anybody’s done this season.

Rotation 2: LSU 98.800-Kentucky 98.150

Kentucky’s vault rotation scored a 49.175 for two major reasons. First, they couldn’t find their landings. Second, their vaults aren’t dynamic enough to keep judges from taking extra deductions that LSU avoids. Meanwhile, LSU scored a 49.550 on bars.

Lexi led things off with a 9.925 on one of her best bars routines as a Tiger. Ashley Cowan followed with a solid-as-usual 9.875. Madison Ulrich was next with a good 9.850. Kailin continued her incredible night with a 9.900. Courtney Blackson nailed her routine for her second 9.950 of the season. Konnor finished things off with a 9.900 that could’ve been disastrous with how close she came to hitting her face on the high bar on her Church catch. Other than that, her routine was perfect.

Rotation 3: LSU 148.450-Kentucky 147.225

Kentucky scored a 49.075 on floor thanks to some wonkiness both on passes and in scoring. All three of Kentucky’s sub-9.8 scores on floor came on judge splits that were 0.15 apart. That’s legal, but it’s also infuriating. LSU scored a 49.650 on beam, which is the second-highest score in the nation so far and tied for the eighth-best beam score in LSU history.

Kylie Coen led things off with a 9.850 that would’ve gone higher had she won her fight with gravity on her dismount. Lexi finished off her great night with a 9.825 that scored so low because it wasn’t as polished as it could’ve been. Amari killed her routine for a 9.925, then Kaliya followed with another great routine that got the same score. Konnor did a routine that looked perfect, but she bent her leg in one of her acro skills and earned a 9.950. Konnor and Kailin switched spots in this meet because Konnor was feeling too much pressure being in the sixth spot. Kailin smashed her routine for the first beam 10 of 2026 and the second of her career. She’s one of the most underrated beam performers in the country, but maybe this 10 will rectify that.

Rotation 4: LSU 198.050-Kentucky 195.775

Kentucky scored a 48.550 on beam, a score which got moved up from a 48.500 following an inquiry. Sharon Lee had a scary fall to open the rotation, and Cecily Rizo fell on the second routine. However, Kentucky kept their footing and finished the rotation on their feet. LSU kicked down the door with a 49.600 on floor.

Emily Innes led off with a 9.925 on the best routine she’s done at LSU. Nina Ballou did a better routine than she did in the season opener and scored a 9.900 [9.85/9.95]. Kylie Coen made her season debut on floor with a decent routine that scored a 9.825 with a 9.90/9.75 split. The judges did the mandatory conference after the routine, but the score never changed. Amari finally got over the hump on her front through to double tuck and earned a 9.900 [9.85/9.95]. Kailin finished off an unreal performance with a 9.925. Kaliya clinched the 198 with a 9.950 on a superb floor routine.

Final thoughts and analysis

Getting back home was just what this team needed. There is nothing like competing at home especially after two weeks on the road. Combine that with a few fresh routines and some other lineup changes, and you have just the right mix of things that lead to such a good performance. Vault had problems, but two of the three new vaulters were people who got the spots because they needed to get a feel for competing again. After that, they dialed in and knocked things out of the park. This isn’t their peak, but that’s good.

The best part of this meet was that everyone looked better. I can’t think of a single person who had a bad meet tonight. Yes, a couple people had routines that weren’t their best, but they had other routines which were fantastic. The main question will be if they can retain this momentum when they hit the road to face Missouri.

LSU swept all five event titles in this meet. Courtney Blackson picked up her second bars title in her LSU career and her 20^th career individual title. Kaliya Lincoln picked up her second career event title and first career floor title. Kailin Chio stole the show with three event title wins to move to 30 in her young career. She won her eighth career vault title, sixth career beam title and eighth career all-around title with a nation-leading 39.775.