Last year, Kailin Chio and Lexi Zeiss were the star-studded freshman who fueled LSU gymnastics to a conference championship.
This year, they’re the stand-out sophomores who represent what No. 2 LSU stands for as a team, even when things don’t go its way.
Competing as teammates and living as roommates for the last two years, Chio and Zeiss’ friendship has come a long way, and if you were tuned into Saturday night’s competition, you would know that the two could be found by each other’s side all night.
“Those two are thick as thieves, and a year ago, they were not,” head coach Jay Clark said. “Sometimes that happens when you come in, [and] you get freshmen roommates, and you know each other as freshmen, and then over time, you become best of friends. And that’s where they are right now.”
Whether Chio was preparing to deliver her bar routine or set out on the floor, Zeiss never left her side to offer supportive words to get her teammate in the right headspace before competing.
“I think they rely a lot on each other, just for words of encouragement and to settle each other down,” Clark said. “And they’re just very, very close. They’re very similar in terms of their competitive spirit and drive, too.”
Yet, the sophomores’ heartwarming relationship goes beyond the two of them, representing the family-like values that LSU’s program prides itself on.
While the Tigers placed third behind Oklahoma (198.150) and Florida (198.175) in the SEC gymnastics championship, they competed for what truly drives them both in and outside of the gym: the success of their team.
During the regular season, junior Kylie Coen mentioned how she writes the number 21 on her hand during competitions as a reminder that she’s not competing just for herself, but for the other 20 girls on her team.
“I mean, every day I write 21 when we do our meets,” Coen said after LSU’s purple and gold classic podium challenge. “So it just represents this team, I do it for them, and we all do it for each other.”
The core of LSU’s team is built on the value that its gymnasts have for one another, and that core took the form in Zeiss and Chio’s support for one another on Saturday night.
Following Clark’s comments on the sophomore duo and how the two have grown closer in comparison to last year, Chio offered her own perspective on what her and Zeiss’ relationship means to her.
“You know, it’s just kind of just our thing that we’ve had since freshman year last year,” Chio said. “Our relationship has grown so much since last year, and just being roommates, it’s just everything I could ask for. You know, we just kind of give each other a fist bump, just tell each other to go out there and do what we know how to do, and that we love each other.”
Her love for Zeiss is, of course, evident in her love for the rest of her team, and much like Coen, she wants to remind Tiger fans that everything she does is for them.
This is echoed in the fact that even though she claimed the competition’s all-around title with a score of 39.775, the work that she puts in for her team means more to her than any personal meet accolade.
“It’s definitely a great feeling,” Chio said. “But, you know, I think if you know me well enough, this all-around title, it means a lot, but not as much as you know the team title at the end of the day, you know. So we’re gonna go back in the gym and keep working, keep grinding for later on in April.”
Even though the Tigers fell short in Saturday night’s matchup, their drive for each other as a team is what they are taking in preparation for the regional round of the NCAA championship in Baton Rouge.
