LSU’s all-around sophomore Kailin Chio has recorded three perfect scores in her collegiate career, and she’s not stopping there.
The 2025 NCAA Vault Champion has managed two perfect 10s ahead of her team’s matchup against No. 1 Oklahoma on Friday, qualifying her as one of the Tigers’ strongest assets against the Sooners.
Yet, Chio’s accomplishments with LSU haven’t been reached on her own, but rather through the support and competition driven by her teammates.
“People want her to be the topic of conversation,” head coach Jay Clark said. “But I think she’d be the first to tell you that — and you heard it in some of what one of her teammates said up here — she’s relying a lot on her teammates, too, and has opened up to that whole ‘we-versus-me’ thing in a big way this year that I think is making [her gymnastics] so much more enjoyable for her.”
While Chio might be serving as the vault, balance beam and floor leading scorer for LSU, with a 9.975 and two perfect scores, she’s expressed that reveling in her team’s victory is far more important to her.
This was seen last Friday night, after she stuck her season high on floor, which started at 9.975 but was later corrected to a 10.
“I didn’t really know what the score was until everybody started jumping up and down,” Chio said. “I didn’t even see anything flash. So I think that being with the team and celebrating that with the team was way more special than that floor routine.”
Whether you’re a casual viewer or a diehard gymnastics fan, the familial-like values and support LSU gymnasts have for one another as a team is undeniable both on and off the mat.
“We’ve done a really good job of just seeing to the needs of everybody on the team,” senior Ashley Cowan said. “And I think that’s something really special that took a lot of effort in the fall to get to this point. And it’s been really cool to see how our competitors can thrive and how we as a team can grow because of that support that we have.”
That support is, of course, what Tiger fans are counting on to fuel Chio in this No. 1 versus No. 2 competition during this week’s edition of Friday Night Heights in Norman, Oklahoma.
Yes, LSU bested Oklahoma last year in a fiery 198.050-197.675 victory, but Clark said that his team focuses only on the present and not the past.
And when it comes to the present of this week, LSU’s gymnasts are treating this competition like business as usual, including Chio, who’s truly embraced how talented she is this year, her teammates said.
“She goes in and just does not have a doubt in her mind, and she relies on us,” junior Kylie Coen said.
So long as her team continues to foster her growth, the 2025 SEC Freshman of the Year will likely continue to deliver smashing performances this weekend, and for Tiger fans, Chio will hopefully lead her team to a back-to-back regular season victory over the Sooners.
“She relies on herself. She looks like she’s having more fun with the team this year. She looks like she enjoys every second,” Cohen said.
