Saturday night capped off an exciting night for collegiate gymnastics as the nation’s top four teams gathered in a pinnacle matchup for the SEC championship.
Though many LSU gymnasts fought hard to help the team finish third with a high score of 197.950, sophomore Kaliya Lincoln’s performance on the night particularly demonstrated perseverance.
Competing in the vault, floor and beam events, Lincoln battled through a minor elbow injury to help keep LSU close to its competitors as the night went on.
“I just am really proud of Kaliya Lincoln,” head coach Jay Clark said. “In fact, I got a text this morning from the trainer saying she didn’t think she was going to let her compete.”
Lincoln’s night began on the balance beam, where she holds an average score of 9.865. Tonight, she would defy that with a 9.900 and pave the way for teammates Konnor McClain and Kailin Chio to find even higher scores.
When LSU moved to the floor rotation, things only looked up for Lincoln as she looked to put up another high score in the anchor spot she’s held almost every meet this season. She collected her third 9.950 of the season.
“We were back and forth during warm-ups,” Clark said. “We didn’t even warm her up in the 15-minute warm-up on floor, and she just took the touch.”
Watching her explosive double-layout, overextended switch leaps and stunning front-layout directly into a front full, it would be impossible to guess that the gymnast didn’t get more than four minutes to practice her tumbling.
Her ability to step in and perform at a high level when she was needed only continued to prove why she’s tied as the fourth-best floor performer in the nation as she faced adversity like a true “fighting tiger.”
“I was really proud of her, and I thought Lexi Zeiss did a great job starting us off on bars the way she did and getting the momentum going,” Clark said. “There are so many great moments that happened.”
Lincoln last competed on vault with a powerful Yurchenko one-and-a-half. Though she couldn’t fully harness her power for the stuck landing, a final score of 9.850 would be enough to help keep her team third in the competition by the end of the night.
While the sophomore didn’t receive any new season highs during the competition, she set new expectations for the program and continued to model how valuable of an asset she is in every lineup for LSU.
She took home her first SEC championship title in a three-way tie on the floor exercise and is only pushing the boundaries of her career with every meet that passes. As both the postseason and her time in Baton Rouge progress, it’s clear that Tiger fans have performances to look forward to from the young gymnast.
