Gymnastics Notches 198.000 Victory over No. 9 Missouri

BATON ROUGE – The No. 3 LSU Gymnastics team (5-2, 2-1 SEC) took down No. 9 Missouri (6-3, 1-2 SEC) by a score of 198.000-197.175 in front of a crowd of 13,082 fans on Friday night inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

LSU became only the second team in the 2025 season to notch the 198.000 mark. The score was powered by new season-highs on vault (49.550) and beam (49.550) as well as tying the team’s season-high mark on bars (49.425).

Freshman Kailin Chio claimed the first all-around title of her collegiate career with a career-high 39.650.

“I was out with the flu all week, but the staff told me how amazing the team was when they returned from last week,” said Head Coach Jay Clark. “The things they were saying in the meeting, and the intentionality and the energy that they brought to practice really shifted this week; and they really understood the reasons for what had happened the previous week, and it showed out there tonight.”

The meet opened with senior KJ Johnson setting the tone for rotation one as she scored a season-high 9.90 in her return to the vault lineup. The second spot saw senior Chase Brock match her season-high with a 9.925 before senior Aleah Finnegan added another 9.925 of her own in the third spot. Freshman Kaliya Lincoln kept it rolling with a career-high 9.925 in spot four ahead of sophomore Amari Drayton scoring a 9.750 in the fifth spot. Freshman Kailin Chio anchored the rotation with a 9.875 to bring the Tigers’ vault score to a season-high 49.550.

The Tigers 49.550 score on vault is currently the highest score by any team in the nation on the event thus far this season. After the first rotation, LSU led by a margin of 49.550-49.350.

LSU headed to the uneven bars for rotation two and was led off by freshman Lexi Zeiss, who scored a 9.85 in the opening spot. Junior Ashley Cowan scored a 9.85 in the second spot while senior Alexis Jeffrey hit a season-high 9.925 in spot three. Next, Chio scored a career-high 9.925 and was followed by Finnegan, who tallied a 9.80. Sophomore Konnor McClain wrapped up the rotation with a 9.875 to take the home Tigers’ score to a 49.425, which matched the team’s season-high.

With two rotations in the book, LSU held a 98.975-98.525 lead over Missouri.

Graduate student Sierra Ballard opened rotation three on beam by matching her season-high with a 9.875 score. A pair of career-highs followed with sophomore Kylie Coen scoring a 9.90 in the second spot, followed by a 9.95 for Chio in spot three. In the fourth spot, it was a season-high for McClain as she stuck the landing in a 9.95 effort. Senior Haleigh Bryant earned a 9.875 in spot five before Finnegan anchored with a 9.85 to bring the third rotation score to a strong 49.550.

The 49.550 beam rotation marked a season-high for the Tigers. LSU would move to the final rotation with a commanding lead of 148.525-147.850.

Ballard opened the floor rotation for LSU with a 9.850, followed by Brock matching her season-high with a 9.875 in the second spot. The third spot saw Chio score a 9.90 before Drayton posted her own 9.90 in spot four. Finnegan scored a 9.750 after narrowly stepping out on a pass before Bryant anchored the meet with a season-high 9.95. Bryant’s season-high score brought LSU’s rotation score to a 49.475.

The Tigers final score of 198.000 on the day is the second highest team score across the nation in 2025 and marks only the second time in program history that the Tigers scored a 198.000 or better in the month of January (LSU scored a 198.125 against Kentucky on January 19th, 2024).

LSU claimed at least a share in three of the four event titles. On vault, Brock, Finnegan and Lincoln share the top spot with Missouri’s Hannah Horton. The bars title was split by Chio, Jeffrey and Mara Titarsolej from Missouri. The floor title went to Bryant, who claimed the win with her 9.95 score.

Brock, Jeffrey and Lincoln took home their first titles of the year in tonight’s win, including the first of her career for Lincoln. Finnegan’s title was her 11th of the season and 34th in her career.

Chio moved her career total to six titles after claiming two against Missouri on bars and the all-around while Bryant notched her 96th career title and 16th on bars.

No. 3 LSU hits the road next week to Tuscaloosa, where they will take on No. 14 Alabama on Friday, February 7 at 8 p.m. CT on ESPNU.