Fifteen meets and countless hours of practice led No. 2 LSU gymnastics to one destination, the national championship stage in Fort Worth, Texas.
After sliding past the national semifinal round by the skin of its teeth, LSU entered the championship competition alongside No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 3 Florida and No. 13 Minnesota, where it clinched second place with a 198.0750.
While LSU packed a punch going into the fourth rotation in first place, it ultimately fell short of the championship title after a series of 9.8000s on the balance beam.
“Bottom line is we put ourselves in a position to win,” LSU head coach Jay Clark said. “That’s all you can expect as a coach, and sometimes at the end, things just got to line up for you. There’s nothing that I’m not proud of.”
The Tigers began the afternoon on the floor exercise, where senior Emily Innes filled her regular leadoff spot and delivered her final collegiate routine, earning a 9.8250.
Junior Amari Drayton followed suit with the first score above 9.9000 and above score, as she landed a 9.9375 in the fourth spot, which was quickly added to by sophomore Kailin Chio, who secured a 9.9000 on the floor.
As Chio earned a round of applause from Fort Worth’s Tiger fans, Florida’s junior Alyssa Arana fell from the balance beam, which led to the Gator’s third place ranking at the end of the first rotation.
Before LSU wrapped up the floor with its 49.5125 score and second-place ranking, it rallied around sophomore Kaliya Lincoln, who anchored the event in her team’s favor with a 9.9375.
The Tigers harnessed that energy as they moved to their No. 2 event for the second rotation, the vault.
After sophomore Lexi Zeiss led LSU’s vault lineup with a 9.8375, hops and steps littered its routines, until Chio arrived on the runway.
The gymnast took her time before saluting the judges, appearing to feel the pressure as she knew what she needed to do for her team. Delivering a stick on vault isn’t something new to the 2025 NCAA Vault Champion, so it’s no surprise that she not only stuck her routine, but earned yet another perfect 10.
“I was kind of shocked about the score, to be honest,” Chio said. “But, just doing it for this team, getting us back on track, and to just in the hopes of getting where we need to go. And I’m so proud of myself and for this team to light that fire and get us going.”
Chio’s perfect score was the only of the championship competition and marked her fifth 10 on the event this season. Not only that, but she also received a perfect score from all six NCAA vault judges, leaving no room for doubt in her performance.
Her performance allowed LSU to remain in second place as it entered the third rotation with a 98.9875, exactly 0.1000 behind the Oklahoma Sooners.
As Zeiss led off with a stuck dismount, the gymnast earned a 9.9250, matching her career high, which was immediately duplicated by senior Ashley Cowan, who delivered her final routine for LSU.
While Tiger fans rallied around their team, Oklahoma’s junior Kiera Wells fell from the balance beam mid-routine, just before Chio took to the uneven bars, where she secured a 9.9000.
Before fifth-year senior Courtney Blackson earned yet another score over 9.9000, a 9.9125, Florida’s junior Danie Ferris failed to stick her vault as she stepped back and out of bounds on her landing, which was later added by another failed stick for senior Selena Harris-Miranda on vault.
LSU, however, wasn’t matching with the mistakes of its competitors as it celebrated junior Konnor McClain, who stuck a 9.9500 for her team.
This would go on to put the Tigers in first place at the end of the third rotation with a 148.6000, ahead of Oklahoma’s 148.5250, Florida’s 148.1000 and Minnesota’s 148.0875.
“That’s the bars I see every day in the gym,” Clark said. “So I’m not surprised. It’s not like it was lightning struck. We were ranked in the top three on that event all year long, so it wasn’t a surprise to do well over there.”
If this matchup felt familiar, it’s because the Tigers had yet another back-and-forth meet with the Sooners earlier this year at the Sprouts Market Collegiate Quad. As the two teams entered the fourth rotation with only a 0.0750 difference from first place, the stakes were high for the SEC competitors.
Junior Kylie Coen opened the rotation with a 9.9125 stick. Zeiss came after, but she fell from the balance beam and had to restart her routine.
Nonetheless, the sophomore’s 9.2375 was dropped as junior Amari Drayton mounted the balance beam, earning a 9.8750, followed by a 9.8375 from Lincoln.
“This takes five out of six on every event,” Clark said. “It doesn’t take six out of six, and she’s wearing it. She shouldn’t, but that’s the kind of competitor she is, and we wouldn’t even been in a spot to even think about winning if she hadn’t done what she did on the first two events.”
It was up to McClain to fill that fifth spot with a decent score as LSU sat in fourth place with a 187.4625, and that’s exactly what she did as she stuck a 9.9500.
Then, just like usual, all eyes were on Chio to close off the event. McClain pulled her team out of fourth-place territory and into the third spot behind Florida, and Chio’s routine had the potential to win the meet if it came in above 9.9875.
Chio’s 9.9000 raised LSU to a 198.0750, and the Tigers secured the runner-up spot in the 2026 NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championship behind Oklahoma’s winning score.
This concludes the Tigers’ 2026 season, where they appeared in yet another hard-fought national championship.
“We’re not going anywhere,” Clark said. “We got a great group coming back, and we fully expect to be right back in the mix and take another swing at this thing next year.”
