By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
The No. 2 seeded LSU gymnastics team is going back to Fort Worth once again. The Tigers are headed to the NCAA Semifinals for the fourth consecutive year after finishing first in the Baton Rouge Regional Finals, posting a score of 197.825 on Saturday night inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
“I’m super proud of them winning this thing, pushing forward, getting to the semifinals, going back to Fort Worth and that was the ultimate goal,” head coach Jay Clark said after the meet on Saturday.
It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for LSU throughout the meet, though. The team was hit with adversity when junior Konnor McClain took a scary fall on bars, where she injured her wrist and shoulder. But the Tigers continued to fight and were able to close the meet out strong without allowing it to snowball.
“As I’ve said before, this team’s full of fight,” Clark said. “I mean whenever we’ve faced anything that kind of gets in the way or we seem a little off, they don’t quit. And that was the key today, was just staying there and just keep punching. And they did a great job of doing that.”
Clark gave an update on McClain’s injury after the meet.
“Some of it’s shoulder. Some of it’s elbow,” Clark said. “Not really sure what part of it she aggravated on that. We won’t know for sure until we get a scan, but the doctors felt like structurally, everything was intact, but the injury has injury has involved a lot of nerve pain that gets into her hand and so I suspect it’s probably more of that.”
Kailin Chio stole the show on Saturday night. The sophomore earned her 10th all-around title of the season, posting a total score of 39.750.
Chio also continued to place herself atop the LSU record books in the remarkable performance. She tied the program record for most vault (12) and beam (11) titles in a single season.
LSU began the night off on vault for the first rotation of the evening. Sophomore Lexi Zeiss led the vault lineup off with a steady 9.850. Junior Konnor McClain matched Zeiss’ 9.850 in the second spot. Sophomore Victoria Roberts, who has had one of the most reliable routines on the team this season, matched her season and career-high of 9.90 in the third spot. Sophomore Kaliya Lincoln earned a 9.825 after taking an extra step on her landing in the fourth spot while junior Amari Drayton recorded a 9.850 in the fifth spot.
The Tigers needed a big score. But there was no pressure. Why? Because Chio stepped up to anchor. And she delivered, like she has all season. Chio earned a ten to give the Tigers a score of 49.450 after one rotation. It was Chio’s 12th perfect score of the season and her fourth on vault this season.
Superhuman. That's all.
— LSU Gymnastics (@LSUgym) April 4, 2026
Kailin Ch10 gets her fourth 10 on vault and 12th perfect score this season 🤯
📺 ESPN+ | @kailin_chio pic.twitter.com/Agv26WEohB
LSU held a narrow 49.450-49.400 lead over No. 7 seeded Stanford after the first rotation. 10th-seeded Michigan followed in third with a 49.375 and 15th-seeded Clemson landed in fourth place with a 49.375. The Tigers moved to uneven bars for the second event of the night.
Zeiss stuck her landing in the lead off spot to earn a strong 9.875. Senior Ashley Cowan posted a 9.90 in the second spot and junior Madison Ulrich recorded a 9.850 in the third. Chio followed with a 9.80 in the fourth spot. Freshman Haley Mustari posted a strong 9.875 in her postseason debut. McClain took a rare fall in the anchor spot and looked to have injured herself, forcing LSU to count Chio’s 9.80. The Tigers scored a 49.300 on bars.
New stick celly unlocked @AshleyCowan16
— LSU Gymnastics (@LSUgym) April 4, 2026
It's a 9.900 for Ash!
📺 ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/IuFjKoHgTn
At the halfway point, LSU led Clemson 98.750-98.600. Michigan followed in third with a 98.475. Stanford fell to fourth with a 98.350. The Tigers moved to balance beam.
Junior Kylie Coen led the lineup off with a 9.90. Zeiss followed with an impressive 9.850. Drayton posted a 9.825 after landing awkwardly in the third spot. Lincoln recorded a 9.875 in the fourth spot. Ulrich replaced McClain in the fifth spot on beam and recorded a 9.825. The Tigers found themselves in familiar territory. Needing another big spot in the anchor, Chio came up big for her team. She recorded a 9.975 to bring LSU’s beam score to 49.425.
The best closer in the nation.
— LSU Gymnastics (@LSUgym) April 4, 2026
It's a 9.975 for @kailin_chio in the anchor spot!
📺 ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/VVwTbRotH1
After three rotations, LSU led Clemson and Stanford 148.175-147.900 while Michigan placed fourth with a 147.575. The Tigers moved to floor for the fourth and final rotation of the evening.
Senior Emily Innes led the floor lineup off with a solid 9.85. Freshman Nina Ballou followed with another 9.85 in the second spot. Coen kept the momentum going with a 9.875 in the third spot. Drayton put together one of her best routines of the entire season as she earned a 9.95 in the fourth spot. Chio followed with her second 9.975 of the night. Lincoln anchored with a perfect ten – the first of her career.
FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HER CAREER, KALIYA LINCOLN IS PERFECT 😍
— LSU Gymnastics (@LSUgym) April 4, 2026
📺 ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/PJ42I52nYk
Lincoln’s perfect score catapulted the Tigers’ floor score to 49.650.
FINAL SCORES
LSU – 197.825
Stanford – 197.225
Clemson – 197.150
Michigan – 196.750
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