Saturday night in the PMAC saw highs and lows for every team competing in the NCAA regional final, but for sophomore Kaliya Lincoln, a career-defining moment came during the last routine of the night as she earned her first career perfect 10 on the floor exercise.
The Texas native found scores of 9.825 and 9.875 earlier in the night on vault and beam, respectively. But on floor, Lincoln would end LSU’s competition with its 13th perfect score of the year.
“I’m so happy for her,” Kailin Chio said. “It’s been a long time coming, and she’s done so many floor routines that deserved a 10. Just to be able to celebrate somebody else getting that perfect score and knowing what that feels like — it was so great to just be able to celebrate her and celebrate all of her hard work.”
As her teammate mentioned, Lincoln has been on the cusp of a perfect score at multiple points throughout the season, holding three 9.975s on the floor exercise. With an average of 9.942 on the event, Lincoln also finds herself tied at No. 2 in the National Qualifying Score floor rankings.
Just two weeks prior to Saturday’s regional round, Lincoln also found herself splitting the SEC floor title with her score of 9.950, and later being named SEC Co-Specialist of the Year for her exceptional performance this season. Both of these are the first SEC awards and titles of her career.
The most impressive part of Lincoln’s accomplishments at the event is that she was absent from the floor lineup for a three-meet stint while nursing Achilles discomfort. Her success is evident as she hasn’t scored below a 9.925 since the Tigers’ second meet of the season.
As the Tigers look to take on the semi-final round in the national championship next, Lincoln’s feat came at just the right time. A season that has been marked by career-firsts for the gymnast, with her last routine in the PMAC this season earning a perfect 10, only continues to prove how much of an asset she is to the program.
“It was amazing,” Lincoln said. “All I could think about before I went was just go out there and do what you need to do for this team. I feel like that’s exactly what I did, and after my routine, I didn’t really realize why everyone was screaming because I couldn’t see. I just had so much fun celebrating with this team, and it was a time like no other.”
