Another undefeated home slate is in the books.
The #2 LSU gymnastics team is heading back to Fort Worth as regional champions. The Tigers won the 22nd regional championship in program history in strong fashion with a 197.825. The real battle of the meet came down to the fight between #7 Stanford and #15 Clemson, but Stanford got the upper hand to advance with a 197.225. LSU and Stanford will face #3 Florida and #6 Georgia in their semifinal session.
Rotation 1: LSU 49.450 (LSU in 1st)
LSU couldn’t buy a landing save for the one person
who could find it if the lights were off. Lexi Zeiss hopped forward on her Yurchenko 1.5 for a 9.850. Konnor McClain hopped back on her Yurchenko Full for a 9.850 of her own. Victoria Roberts hopped back on her front pike half for a 9.900. Kaliya Lincoln took a big hop forward on her Y1.5 for a 9.825. Amari Drayton stepped forward on her Y1.5 for a 9.850. Kailin Chio stuck her vault for yet another 10. It is unreal.
Rotation 2: LSU 98.750 (LSU in 1st)
LSU had a struggle on bars and managed a near-season low 49.300. Lexi led off with a 9.875. Ashley Cowan closed out her PMAC career with a 9.900. Madison Ulrich hit her routine for a 9.850. Kailin had some issues in her routine and got a mere 9.800. Haley Mustari got the nod after looking solid in warm-ups and got a 9.875.
That 9.875 was crucial because of what happened next. Konnor fell after trying to catch her Church and was in immense pain. She didn’t finish her routine and received a 4.600. In the post-meet presser, head coach Jay Clark said that she’d been dealing with some sort of issue in her upper right torso and had pain shooting through down to her hand. That might be a big loss.
Rotation 3: LSU 148.175 (LSU in 1st)
LSU put up a nice 49.425 on beam. Kylie Coen led things off with a strong 9.900. Lexi followed with a 9.850. Amari then scored a 9.825. Kaliya hit her routine for a 9.875. Madison subbed in for Konnor and got a 9.825. Kailin finishing things off with a fantastic 9.975.
Rotation 4: LSU 197.825 (LSU wins)
LSU wrapped things up with a stunning 49.650, their third-best floor score in a regional meet. Emily Innes and Nina Ballou somehow got 9.850s for their routines despite Emily doing her worst routine of the season by far. I salute the judge who gave Emily a 9.75 because that was far more realistic. Kylie then scored a 9.875. Amari started a run of incredible routines with a 9.950 on what may have been her best routine of the year. Kailin followed with a 9.975. Kaliya Lincoln got the first 10 of her career on a routine on which she finished her second pass with a hop. Honestly, it makes up for robberies earlier this year.
Final wrap-up/stats:
Losing Konnor is a big issue overall, but it wasn’t a major psychological death blow in this meet. LSU looked off during the first half of the meet before finally turning it on in the second half. Hopefully the time they get to rest gives them a chance to get into the right mindset as they try to get a suitable replacement for Konnor if needed. At least they got the job done, and that’s great.
Onto individual titles, a place where LSU got a win on each event. There was a six-way tie for the bars title at 9.900, and one of those 9.900s came from Ashley Cowan. She wins back-to-back bars titles in her final PMAC meets, which brings her to five in her career. Shockingly, those were her first event title wins in the PMAC as her previous three came in other buildings. Kaliya Lincoln picked up her first career 10 and won the floor title. She now has five career floor titles and eight career event titles.
The Ch10 Files:
Oh look, it’s the Kailin Chio section again. With her wins on vault, beam and the all-around, Kailin is now up to 63 career event titles. That passes Jennifer Wood and Ashleigh Gnat for ninth in LSU history. Her 14 career beam titles is tied with Jeanie Beadle for fourth in LSU history. Her 18 career vault titles passes Kennedi Edney to sit alone at 11th in LSU history. Her 16 career all-around titles ties her with Susan Jackson for seventh in LSU history.
In the single-season record book, Kailin is up to 40 in 2026, passing 2024 Haleigh Bryant and 2008 Ashleigh Clare-Kearney for fourth in a single LSU season. Her 12 vault titles in 2026 ties 2010 Susan Jackson and 2008 Ashleigh Clare-Kearney for the most in an LSU season. Her 11 beam titles ties 2019 Sarah Finnegan for the most in an LSU season. Her 10 all-around titles ties 1980 Sandra Smith for fifth in an LSU season.
On the 10s front, Kailin didn’t move up on the ladder. Nobody in NCAA history has finished their career with exactly 13 10s. She now sits alone at 17th in NCAA history. She needs two more 10s this season to tie the NCAA single-season record.
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LSU gets 12 days in between this meet and their next meet. That’s time to rest up and recover and time to get ready for what’s next. It’s going to be a tough fight to get to the national championship this year, but the fac that LSU is there is something worth celebrating.
