While No. 2 LSU touched down in Fort Worth, Texas, uncertainty rose among many Tiger fans when it came to discussing one of its star gymnasts.
During the Baton Rouge regional final two weeks ago, junior Konnor McClain fell from the uneven bars mid-routine and suffered a minor injury.
This unanticipated event not only permanently withdrew McClain from the rest of that meet but also sparked a lot of debate as to whether or not she would be able to compete alongside her team in the NCAA semifinal round this weekend.
“It’s really just going to come down to where she is physically and mentally,” LSU head coach Jay Clark said on Monday. “Right now, I feel good, cautiously optimistic that she’ll be in a good place. We’ve got her on a good rhythm.”
Yet, as the lineup was released for each event, it was revealed that McClain would be featured on all three of her usual events, vault, bars and balance beam.
McClain, however, noted that she didn’t know whether or not she felt good enough to compete in each event until she completed her vault, which earned LSU a 9.825.
From there, McClain worked through her nerves, serving as a statement performer for the Tigers, ultimately defining what it means to turn adversity into accomplishments.
“The buildup to being here today, it was really hard, because I would wake up sometimes, and my arm would hurt, and I just wouldn’t be able to practice that day,” McClain said. “So I was definitely day to day, on and off. Like it was a struggle being here, but it was so fun being out there today.”
The fun that LSU manages to find while competing seems to be what often motivates it to keep going, with many of its gymnasts referring to finding the “joy” in a competition.
That joy was slightly harder to come by on Thursday night as the Tigers delivered what could be described as an uncharacteristic performance, one that was distant from their “normal gymnastics.”
While Clark commented that his team’s performance was not their best, he also made note of the fact that it proved that gymnasts were “fighters,” and one of the strongest among them was, in fact, McClain.
From her 9.825 on vault to then mounting the uneven bars, Tiger fans sat on the edge of their seats, unsure if McClain would be able to pull her routine off. Yet as she landed her dismount, that sense of uneasiness fled fans as the gymnast not only safely delivered her routine, but secured LSU its first and only score above a 9.9, earning a 9.9125.
“I had the time of my life just being here with this team,” McClain said. “I love this team with my whole heart. So just doing what I can do in bringing whatever scores we need to the team is just so special to me, because I just love them, and I want to do my best for them.”
The 2025 All-SEC gymnast’s love for her teammates carried her to her third and final routine of the night on the balance beam.
While some of her teammates, like sophomores Kaliya Lincoln and Lexi Zeiss, saw their own struggles on the event, McClain remained unbothered and went on to earn the only score above a 9.9 on the event that afternoon, and the highest score for LSU of that rotation overall.
With McClain’s beam routine earning a 9.9500, she closed out her 2026 NCAA semifinal performance on a high note, one that would inspire her teammates to continue to push themselves despite their earlier shortcomings as LSU moved to the fourth rotation.
“I think just being here with the team and wherever we go, like, as long as I have my team with me, like, I’m just happy to be there,” McClain said. “And so if they’re there and I’m there, then I’m happy, and I think they just make me successful.”
After McClain cheered on her teammates from the floor’s corral, she watched them build off of her hard work as they punched their tickets to the national championship final this Saturday.
Until then, she said that while she might need to do some rehab, all she feels that her team needs is a mental reset in order for them to come back swinging into Saturday’s competition.
“Just stop thinking about gymnastics for the next 24 hours, and then Saturday, we’ll lock in again,” McClain said. “But I definitely need to do some rehab. But I think I’ve just as a team, like a mental reset is good enough for us going down the line.”
