It was a hard-fought battle between No. 2 LSU gymnastics and No. 3 Alabama in Friday’s showdown, but the win for LSU was more than just another victory.
It was a competition defined by confidence and composure, where clutch performances helped to push LSU above Alabama and elevate the team’s identity to new heights.
LSU put up a solid composite score in its first rotation, with numerous confident and powerful vaults, but the event’s standout was the defending 2025 NCAA Vault Champion, Kailin Chio.
After receiving her second career 10 during last week’s rotation against No. 1 Oklahoma, Chio continues to prove why she earned the champion title as a freshman.
The sophomore found another 9.975 following her near flawless yurchenko one-and-a-half to bring her average score up to 9.956 at the end of the runway. Now with seven out of her eight vaults stuck throughout the season, it’s no surprise as to why she’s a reliable vault weapon.
“She continues to do what she’s always done,” head coach Jay Clark said. “I’m grateful that she’s in those spots when we need her.”
Over at the uneven bars was a familiar lineup for Tiger fans, but a memorable night for senior Ashley Cowan.
Competing on the event for her sixth time this season, Cowan put up one of her best routines this year, and the judges seemed to agree.
From beautifully executed release moves and transitions to a stuck double-layout dismount, Cowan found a season-high score of 9.925 on the event to help keep the Tigers ahead of Alabama early on.
Once beam rolled around, it became clear that if any gymnast were to own Friday’s competition, it would belong to junior Konnor McClain. Though she found scores of 9.900 on vault and bars, a near-perfect 9.975 on beam was the highlight of her night.
The remarkable score was a season-high for the Tiger on the event.
“I have worked so hard in the past two weeks after my last beam routine that I messed up, and I’ve messed up so many times this year that I was just over it and so frustrated,” McClain said.
The emotion McClain showed after her last routine of the meet stemmed from everything that had built up to that point.
“I just put my head down in the gym, and I have worked so hard, so finally to do what I’ve been doing in practice just meant so much to me,” McClain said. “I finally feel like I deserved it because I worked so hard, and the only other thing I could do was cry. I was just so happy.”
McClain, seeming to have found her breakthrough on Friday, also made an impact on the rest of the team. Chio followed McClain up on beam with a 10, her third on the event this season and sixth perfect score at LSU.
“I actually got off the beam, and I told Konnor, ‘That was for you,’” Chio said. “Seeing her go up before and just doing one of the best beam routines of her life, she deserved that 10 in my eyes. I just got off that beam and I told her that I’m so proud of her. I had her back, and honestly, did it for her.”
In the night’s final rotation, junior Amari Drayton stood out as one of the electric members in the lineup. Though her exceptional 9.925 on the event was only the second-highest score behind Chio’s 9.975, it’s not what made her stand out as the competition came to a close.
Earlier in the night, Drayton found a 9.825 on vault, an event that showcases just how powerful the gymnast is; however, she fell on beam. Her score tanked to a 9.175.
As the team moved from the beam to the floor, the energy that Drayton re-harnessed to come back and redeem herself showcased exactly what it means to be a “Fighting Tiger.”
“We never see that from her, and it’s hard to come back from a fall,” McClain said. “I think she just wiped it away, and she does that floor routine so good. Everybody gets so excited just to watch her compete on floor, so to see her put beam aside, she just didn’t let that ruin her confidence.”
Behind LSU’s confidence throughout the night were key performances from each of these gymnasts, supported by the rest of their team. Though each contributed in her own way, their effort didn’t just secure the win; they embodied the confidence and hard work that have defined this team all season.
