By ANDRE CHAMPAGNE, Tiger Rag Staff Reporter
Even though the No. 2 LSU gymnastics team defeated No. 14 Penn State (4-2, 3-1 Big 10 Conference) comfortably last Friday, head coach Jay Clark wanted the Tigers to put together their first complete meet against No. 17 Auburn.
And that’s just what they did.
LSU (6-1-1, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) dominated Auburn (1-5, 0-5 SEC), 198.325-196.825, on Friday night inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center to win its 18th straight home meet.
““Well, that was better,” Clark said chuckling in his opening remarks after the meet. “I told them afterwards they answered the bell. We were visibly disappointed with last week and felt like we had prepared to do a much better job and so they heard that and they talked about it. We said it’s time to put one together. Let’s go. I don’t care about a score. That’s out of our control. Scores don’t mean all that much to me except they calculate what they calculate, but the performance level was the best we’d had all year from top to bottom. Four events. We had four relatively clean events and that’s what we should be doing.”
Sophomore Kailin Chio showed off in the win. Chio claimed her fifth all-around title this season, posting a 39.875 score – her best score this season and the second-best in program history.
“I actually wasn’t feeling good at the beginning of the week and my warmups were not that great, but you know, Jay just told me to shake it off and just do my gymnastics and so I took that reset in the locker room,” Chio said after the meet. “The momentum from vault from Lexi starting to all the way through, we just fed off the energy and I couldn’t have done it without this team, so I’m just really grateful for them.”
The Tigers began the night off on vault.
Sophomore Lexi Zeiss led Friday’s meet off with a strong 9.850. Sophomore Victoria Roberts returned to the vault lineup for the first time since the Georgia meet and did not disappoint. Roberts scored a career-high 9.875 while fifth-year senior followed with a 9.625 after an awkward landing. In the fourth spot, sophomore Kaliya Lincoln recorded both a season and career-high 9.950. Junior Amari Drayton kept things going for the Tigers as she scored a 9.90. Chio followed with a nearly perfect routine, anchoring with a season-high 9.975 to bring LSU’s score to 49.550 – it’s highest vault score of the season.
She's just not real.
— LSU Gymnastics (@LSUgym) February 14, 2026
Kailin Chio anchors with a 9.975!
📺 SEC Network | @kailin_chio pic.twitter.com/i6i6zJ0jwV
LSU led Auburn 49.550-49.000 after one rotation. The Tigers moved to uneven bars for the second rotation of the night.
For the second time of the evening, Zeis led LSU off. She scored a strong 9.875 in the lead-off spot. Senior Ashley Cowan returned to the bars lineup for the first time since the Kentucky meet. She posted a 9.875 in the second spot. Junior Madison Ulrich followed with a 9.90 in the third spot. Chio kept the momentum going for LSU as recorded a 9.925. Freshman Nina Ballou made her debut on bars for the Tigers and she posted a 9.90. The PMAC erupted when junior Konnor McClain anchored with a season-high 9.975, which brought LSU’s bars score to 49.575. The Tigers’ 49.575 was their highest of the season.
KONNOR. MCCLAIN. That's all.@_KonnorMcClain anchors with a season high 9.975!
— LSU Gymnastics (@LSUgym) February 14, 2026
📺 SEC Network pic.twitter.com/k1gW1aUMYj
After two rotations, LSU held a commanding 99.125-98.175 lead over Auburn. The Tigers moved to balance beam for the third rotation of the night.
Zeiss led the beam team off with a 9.850 to start the second half of the meet. Senior Emily Innes made her debut on beam, scoring a 9.825. Drayton followed with a 9.90 in the third spot. Lincoln posted a 9.875 and McClain followed with a 9.675 in the fifth spot. But Chio struck again. Chio anchored with another nearly perfect routine, recording her second 9.975 of the night to boost the Tigers’ beam score to 49.425.
Kailin. Freaking. Chio.
— LSU Gymnastics (@LSUgym) February 14, 2026
She anchors with her second 9.975 of the night!
📺 SEC Network | @kailin_chio pic.twitter.com/uUmeDpXkSG
Heading into the fourth and final rotation, LSU led Auburn 148.550-147.425. The Tigers looked to finish the night strong on floor.
Innes led LSU off on floor with a season-high 9.925. Ballou followed with both a season and career-high 9.925 in the second spot. Junior Kylie Coen matched her career-high of 9.925 in the third spot. The Tigers kept things going as Drayton matched her career-high of 9.950 in the fourth spot.
Chio reached the pinnacle in her fourth and final routine of the night, receiving a perfect 10. It was both a career and season high for the sophomore. Lincoln anchored with a career-high 9.975, bringing the Tigers’ total score on floor to 49.775 – which was the highest floor score in the nation.
SAY IT WITH US. KAILIN. FREAKING. CHIO.
— LSU Gymnastics (@LSUgym) February 14, 2026
The sophomore collects her first perfect 10 on floor and third in her career 👑
📺 SEC Network pic.twitter.com/uPS8ywBpwE
LSU’s 198.325 was its highest score of the season and the second highest in the nation this season.
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