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No. 1 Gymnastics wins 15th NCAA regional championship

Apr 5, 2025 | 9:15 PM
(Photo by LSU Athletics)
STATE COLLEGE, PA – The No. 1 nationally ranked and top-seeded LSU Gymnastics team won the 2025 Penn State Regional after finishing on top of Saturday’s regional final with their score of 198.050 inside Rec Hall. LSU’s score on the day marked the first time in program history that the Tigers scored over a 198 in both regional rounds.
The Tigers claimed their 15th regional championship title in program history on Saturday. With the win, the program earned their 34th NCAA Championship appearance overall and their third consecutive appearance in the NCAA Championships.
“There’s no complaints after scoring a 198. It was tough to get out of this thing, and we did what we needed to do to win and advance,” said head coach Jay Clark. “We told them to focus on base hits, and that’s what they did. We understand that we need to be better to win a championship, but that’s not what tonight required.”
No. 1 LSU (198.050) defeated No. 8 Michigan State (198.00), No. 9 Kentucky (197.625) and No. 16 Arkansas (197.325) in Saturday’s final to finish in the top two and advance to the NCAA Semifinals.
MSU’s second-place finish on the night was its best regional final finish in the current regional format introduced in 2019. The Spartans will make just their second appearance in program history at the NCAA Championships and first since 1988.
Two Tigers earned individual titles on the night – Senior Aleah Finnegan won the floor title with her 9.975 and claimed a share of the beam title with her 9.950. The reigning SEC Freshman of the Year Kailin Chio also claimed a share of the beam title with a 9.950 of her own.
Both of their scores on the night landed third in the LSU record books for highest individual event scores at a regional.
LSU opened the meet on bars, where freshman Lexi Zeiss matched her career-high on the event with a 9.925 in the opening spot. Junior Ashley Cowan scored a 9.875 in the followup spot ahead of a 9.900 from freshman Kailin Chio in the third spot. Spot four saw senior Aleah Finnegan score a 9.850, followed by another 9.850 score from sophomore Konnor McClain in the fifth spot. Senior Haleigh Bryant anchored the rotation with a 9.900, taking the team’s score in the opening event to a 49.450.
LSU narrowly led the meet after the first rotation, holding a narrow lead over Michigan State (49.425) and Arkansas (49.400).

The second rotation saw the Tigers on beam. Graduate student Sierra Ballard set the tone for a strong rotation with a 9.90 in the leadoff spot. Sophomore Kylie Coen hit a career-high 9.925 in the second spot, followed by Chio matching her career-high with a 9.950 in spot three. The fourth spot saw McClain hit a 9.925 ahead of another 9.925 from Bryant in the fifth spot. The anchor spot saw Finnegan score a 9.950, taking the team score on beam to a stellar 49.675.

The 49.675 is a program-high on beam for LSU in an NCAA Regional, beating the previous high of a 49.600 scored at the 2014 Baton Rouge Regional. The lowest score dropped in the rotation was a 9.900 as all six Tigers in the lineup posted scores of 9.9+.
At the halfway point, LSU held onto the lead with a 99.125 score, with Michigan State (99.075) holding the second spot over Arkansas (98.900) and Kentucky (98.700).
Rotation three took the Tigers to floor, where Coen scored a 9.850 in the opening spot. Ballard earned a 9.900 in the second spot ahead of a return to the floor lineup for McClain, who scored a 9.900 in her first floor routine of the 2025 season. Sophomore Amari Drayton added a 9.925 in the fourth spot before Finnegan performed a nearly flawless routine on her way to a 9.975. Bryant anchored the event with a 9.875, taking the total for the event to a 49.575.
The 49.575 was the second highest floor score of the 2025 season for the Tigers, and the fourth highest score on the floor at an NCAA Regional in program history. Heading into the final rotation of the night, LSU’s 148.700 topped, followed by Michigan State (148.650), Kentucky (148.225) and Arkansas (148.125).
The final rotation saw LSU on vault, where senior KJ Johnson scored a 9.900 in the leadoff spot. Zeiss scored a 9.825 in the second spot before Finnegan added a 9.825 of her own in spot three. Drayton scored a 9.900 in the fourth spot, followed by a 9.750 from Chio. The meet was closed out by Bryant, who scored a 9.900 to end the day and bring the team’s rotation score to a 49.350. That score was enough to bring the overall score to a 198.050 and clinch the regional title for the Tigers, narrowly edging out Michigan State’s 198.000.
LSU’s 198.050 score on Saturday marked the sixth consecutive meet that the Tigers scored a 198.000 or higher, which is the longest streak in program history and the second longest streak in NCAA history.
Finnegan earned two more event titles on the night, moving her career total to 43, with 17 of those coming on floor, 13 on beam, six on vault, one on bars and six in the all-around. Her 17 career floor titles is the sixth most in LSU history.
Chio added one more to her resume, now with 23 titles in her young career.
LSU and Michigan State were the first two teams to advance to the NCAA Championships along with UCLA and Utah from the Salt Lake City Regional. There are two remaining regional finals set to be played out on Sunday, April 6, to determine the last four teams who will make up the Elite Eight.
The remaining teams fighting for their spot at nationals are Oklahoma, Missouri, Auburn and Arizona in the Seattle Regional Final and Florida, Auburn, Alabama and Cal at the Tuscaloosa Regional Final.
The top eight teams will compete in two sessions of the NCAA Championship Semifinals on Thursday, April 27 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. The top two teams from each semifinal session will advance to the final four and compete for the national title.
Both semifinals on April 17th will air on ESPN2, and the National Championship on Saturday, April 19 will be broadcast live at 3 p.m. CT on ABC.
**LSU Press Release**