By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
LSU junior gymnast Konnor McClain has experienced a roller coaster of emotions in Baton Rouge since arriving on campus in 2023. A key piece of the Tigers’ lineup, McClain has dealt with a frustrating string of injuries that continues to mount.
During Saturday’s Baton Rouge Regional final, McClain suffered a rare fall on bars after missing her grip mid-routine, leading to an injury on the landing.
“Some of it’s shoulder. Some of it’s elbow, not really sure what part of it she aggravated on that,” head coach Jay Clark said after the meet on Saturday. “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.”
Jay Clark provided a bit of an update on Konnor McClain after she got injured while falling on bars tonight.
— Sara Palczewski (@SaraPalczewski) April 5, 2026
The #LSU junior dealt with forearm issues earlier in the season pic.twitter.com/dwSKandF4r
Unfortunately for McClain, it’s another setback. The junior tore her Achilles in the summer of 2024 at the U.S. Core Hydration Gymnastics Classics. She has also been banged up this season, including being scratched before the Oklahoma meet after injuring her forearm on bars in warmups.
McClain was emotional exiting the PMAC floor on Saturday after another injury that could potentially cause her to miss the most important week of the season. Clark said it is difficult to see McClain go through another setback, but emphasized the importance of the team rallying around her.
“You know, just frustrated for her because she gets going, gets in a good rhythm and feeling good and getting her confidence again and then something seems to kind of knock her down,” Clark said. “I know she’s frustrated with that pattern, but we just got to let her know we love her and we’re going to make sure we do everything in our power to have her feeling better.”
Her teammates are echoing that support as well.
“People take things differently, but I think for her, just knowing and hearing words that we’re there for her, that we love her and just knowing that we have her back,” sophomore Kailin Chio said on Saturday. “And I think that just her getting the right treatment from here on out is just super important and I think that for us athletes and as her teammates, it’s just super important for us to check in on her every single day and just see how she’s feeling.”
If McClain is unable to compete next week, LSU would be without one of its most reliable and consistent gymnasts. Junior Madison Ulrich stepped in on beam Saturday, and Clark expressed full confidence in his team’s depth.
“I mean people forget Maddie Ulrich was the sixth best all-arounder at the national championship last year, so we have a ton of confidence in her no matter where we put her,” Clark said.
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