By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
There’s no other way to put it: the way that the LSU gymnastics team performed on Thursday will not cut it if it wants to capture its second national title in three years on Saturday (3 p.m., ABC). The Tigers’ inability to put together a strong bars and beam set almost cost them a shot at a national championship.
LSU tallied a concerning 49.1875 on bars and a low 49.2500 on beam during Thursday’s NCAA Semifinals. But even though they struggled, head coach Jay Clark said he still has full belief that his team will shake back on Saturday.
“I don’t know that there needs to be any conversation about what happened,” Clark said on Thursday. “We survived and we know that and we know we weren’t out best. There’s no real reason to have that conversation. What I want for them is to be physically rested and mentally rested and feel confident. They’re a good team. They’re a really good team. They’re a super strong team and they’re very committed to one another.”
Last rotation. For a spot in the natty.
— LSU Gymnastics (@LSUgym) April 17, 2026
Fighting. Tigers. pic.twitter.com/1X1fiMGua1
Winning a national championship takes a team’s very best during the final meet. Clark said LSU’s chances at a national championship will come down to being its very best version of itself.
“It’s about them competing at or near the best of their ability and whatever that is, we talked about raising our floor and because the ceiling of what your potential is sort of a phantom thing,” Clark said. “You don’t always know what that is, but you can continue to get closer and continue to push closer to that ceiling. And hopefully they’ll be free of mind and fearless and be able to do that on Saturday.”
Sophomore Kailin Chio, who delivered a 9.625 on floor to clinch LSU’s spot in the national championship on Thursday, acknowledges that the Tigers will need to be much better if they want any shot at reaching their top goals. She said they will use Thursday purely as a learning lesson.
“I think that just learning from our mistakes and taking the good and throwing out the bad,” Chio said on Thursday.
In order to fully capitalize on the lows, sophomore Kaliya Lincoln says the Tigers have to stay focused on being themselves and do what they’ve done all year in order to deliver on each turn.
“Just be confident in ourselves, confident in our gymnastics and really just taking in the fact that our normal is more than enough and just remembering that and kind of just going out there and leaving it all out there no matter what,” Lincoln said.
LSU will start out Saturday’s national championship on floor, which it ranks second nationally. Then, the Tigers will move to vault for the second rotation, bars on the third rotation and beam on the last rotation.
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