LSU gymnastics crowned 2025 SEC champions

LSU gymnastics were crowned SEC champions once again on Saturday night in Birmingham in a meet packed with perfect scores.

The Tigers chased down victory in a do-or-die final vault rotation that brought the championship home. Despite not receiving any of the five perfect 10s awarded in the meet, LSU’s all-around execution couldn’t be beat.

Before the meet, the Tigers were named the No. 2 seed in the conference as the postseason climb began, and the pressure was on to protect the crown.

The championships consisted of two sessions, each with four teams. LSU was amongst the other top four-seeded teams: No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 3 Florida and No. 4 Missouri.

Session one saw lower scores, even with Alabama’s dominating score over the other teams. It wasn’t until Session two that the 10s would start flying.

“We try our best not to even talk about scores,” Tigers head coach Jay Clark said. “It’s really just about focusing on the performance quality that we have and we were able to do that.”

LSU got the jump with a championship-worthy bars lineup with five straight scores of 9.900 and above. 

All-arounders Kailin Chio and Aleah Finnegan pulled through for the Tigers with consecutive 9.950 scores, which helped LSU pull ahead into first.

Oklahoma’s senior star Jordan Bowers took a large step forward as the anchor on vault, and the team was forced to drop the low score. 

The Tigers momentum traveled on to the balance beam as previous champions Haleigh Bryant and Finnegan claimed the lineup’s best scores of 9.925.

However, Legacy Arena erupted with noise from Gator fans when Selena Harris-Miranda’s vault caught a perfect score as the last gymnast in the lineup, which was her third 10.000 of the season and her second on vault.

The score wasn’t enough to overtake LSU and their 49.450 on the balance beam, which combined with their score on bars, totalled a first-half score of 99.050.

The Tigers made their way to the floor, where Chio laid some groundwork in the third spot with a 9.950. 

Florida’s senior all-arounder Leanne Wong gave the Gators their second 10 of the night, her third of the season and first on bars.

As LSU’s Amari Drayton and Bryant earned matching 9.950s, Florida’s anchor Riley McCusker earned the Gators their third perfect 10 of the night and second on the event. 

With three perfect scores in three rotations, Florida stole the lead and the Tigers fell to second with only vault standing in their way. The score differential was 148.725-148.625

“The 10s were flying, we just kept our heads down and just went one person at a time, and we came out on top. It was absolutely amazing,” Bryant said.

The No. 1 vault team in the nation laid their championship hopes on the final event, including the nation’s best Kailin Chio.

Senior KJ Johnson led LSU off with a 9.875 and Zeiss followed as she matched her personal best with a 9.900.

Finnegan matched Zeiss’ score and Chio took the vault, earning a 9.900.

With one gymnast to go in each event, every team had a final chance to lift the trophy. 

For Missouri, Mara Titarsolej completed the bars lineup and landed her first 10 of the season. The team finished their season on a high, but would come up short in the championships with a fourth place finish of 197.400.

Over on beam, Florida’s Alyssa Arana posted a below-average 9.775 but had to count it because of Leanne Wong’s uncharacteristic score of 9.675 on the event. Their final score was 197.825, which wouldn’t be enough to win it.

The nation’s leading team on floor, Oklahoma, hadn’t put up the scores it would’ve hoped but was still in the race with anchor Faith Torrez. 

Before she could complete her routine, Bryant was last up on vault for LSU. 

In moments leading up to her routine, she danced alongside her teammates as fans counted down the seconds until she launched off the spring pad.

She ran, catching momentum as she flipped through the air and stuck a 9.950, matching her personal best this year — a score consistent to LSU’s performance on the event throughout the season.

Bryant is yet to receive a 10 this season, but she delivered exactly when the team needed it most. LSU’s score surpassed both Florida and Missouri at 198.200. 

The final judgement fell on Torrez, who achieved perfection once this season and proved lightning does strike twice with the night’s fifth and final 10.

Even perfection couldn’t topple the Tigers, though. The 10 only brought Oklahoma’s score to 197.925, which crowned LSU as the 2025 SEC Champions.

It’s their second consecutive title after last year’s set the precedent for a first-ever national championship. Their sixth conference championship is the reward for a season of resilience.

The Tigers were tasked with a new challenge this year as the Sooners entered the SEC. LSU was classified as the No. 2 team week after week but finally proved that they could beat them on equal turf.

“The regional format is — I call it this every year —  an actual meat grinder, and it’s the hardest thing that’s coming up. So I think this bodes well, but it’s not a guarantee of anything,” Clark said.

Clark said that although this is a confidence booster, the team knows from experience that their mindset needs to remain the same. With one championship down, LSU’s eyes are already set on the next.