Chio, Lincoln lead LSU SEC Gymnastics honors haul

BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU Gymnastics sophomore duo of Kailin Chio and Kaliya Lincoln earned 2026 SEC Gymnast of the Year and SEC Co-Specialist of the Year honors as the Southeastern Conference announced its postseason awards on Wednesday. A total of eight Tigers earned All-SEC honors for their performance in the 2026 SEC Championships.

The SEC Gymnast of the Year and Specialist of the Year awards are voted on by the league’s head coaches, with nominees based on regular-season NQS rankings and SEC Championship performances.

Chio’s honor marks back-to-back recognition for the Las Vegas native, who was named SEC Freshman of the Year in 2025 before claiming the league’s top individual honor in 2026. The sophomore is the ninth gymnast in school history to win the SEC Gymnast of the Year award, with the last being Haleigh Bryant in 2024.

After a record-setting freshman campaign, Chio has delivered one of the most dominant sophomore seasons. She has ranked as the nation’s No. 1 gymnast for four consecutive weeks with a National Qualifying Score (NQS) of 39.795 and owns a season-high 39.875 in the all-around, tying the highest score in LSU history. She claimed her first SEC individual titles at the 2026 SEC Championships, winning both the all-around (39.775) and vault (9.975) while posting 9.900+ scores on all four events.

Chio has led the nation on multiple events throughout the season, including nine straight weeks at No. 1 on beam (9.950 NQS) and five consecutive weeks atop the vault rankings (9.980 NQS). She is the first gymnast since 2019 to hold three of the five national top spots simultaneously.

One of the most remarkable moments of her season came in LSU’s regular season finale against Arkansas, where Chio recorded three perfect 10.0 scores in a single meet, becoming the first gymnast in NCAA history to earn a perfect 30.000 on every event she competed in. She currently owns nine perfect 10s this season—an LSU single-season record—and 10 in her career, the second-most in program history.

This season, Chio has accumulated 56 career titles, including 33 just this year. Her 10 beam titles in 2026 rank second-most in LSU single-season history, while her eight all-around titles rank among the program’s top-10 all-time seasons.

Lincoln earned SEC Co-Specialist of the Year honors after a standout sophomore season as a key contributor on vault, beam and floor for the Tigers. It is the first SEC Award of her career, becoming the fifth gymnast in school history to win the specialist award, following Kiya Johnson as the last Tiger to claim the award in 2021.

The Frisco, Texas native owns NQS marks above 9.900 on all three events she competes, including a 9.915 on vault, 9.905 on beam and 9.906 on floor. Lincoln has competed in every meet this season and has delivered consistent routines all throughout the regular season, including five meets with scores of 9.900 or higher on at least two events. She posted season highs of 9.975 on both vault and floor and a 9.950 on beam.

At the SEC Championships, Lincoln claimed a share of the floor title with a 9.950, marking the first SEC title of her career. She has totaled four event titles this season—three on floor and one on vault—and five for her career.

In addition to the league’s top honors, LSU placed eight gymnasts on the 2026 All-SEC Team:

• Nina Ballou – 9.875 (FX)
• Kailin Chio – 9.975 (VT), 9.950 (UB), 9.950 (BB), 9.900 (FX), 39.775 (AA)
• Kylie Coen – 9.900 (FX)
• Emily Innes – 9.900 (FX)
• Kaliya Lincoln – 9.950 (FX)
• Konnor McClain – 9.950 (BB)
• Victoria Roberts – 9.900 (VT)
• Lexi Zeiss – 9.875 (VT)

The All-SEC Team is comprised of the student-athletes who recorded the top four scores (including ties) on each event and in the all-around during both sessions of the SEC Championships.

It was the first career All-SEC honor for Ballou in her freshman season, as well as firsts for Coen, Innes, Lincoln, Roberts and Zeiss. Chio earned All-SEC honors on all four events and the all-around at this year’s SEC Championship, marking her second straight year on the All-SEC team and moving her total to eight career All-SEC honors. McClain earned her third straight year on the conference team and her third career honor.

With a combined 12 honors across eight gymnasts in 2026, LSU now owns 128 All-SEC honors in program history.

**LSU Press Release