LSU Gymnastics sets record, advances to Regional Final

BATON ROUGE, La.  –  The No. 2 national seed LSU Gymnastics team opened its NCAA Championship campaign with a school record regional score, finishing the NCAA second round with a 198.375 team score on Thursday evening in the PMAC.

With the first place finish, LSU and Clemson (196.800) advanced to Saturday’s regional final and will meet Michigan and Stanford, who finished in the top two in Thursday’s afternoon session.

The Fighting Tigers made history with their stellar team performance on Thursday night as the 198.375 final score marked the highest team score at an NCAA Regional in program history and the fourth highest score achieved by an LSU team. The squad also marked the program’s highest bar score at an NCAA Regional with a 49.625 and the team’s highest floor score at an NCAA Regional with a 49.700.

Individually, sophomore Kailin Chio led the headlines as she scored two perfect 10’s on vault and floor, becoming only the second gymnast in program history to score multiple 10’s at a regional (Haleigh Bryant, vault and bars at 2024 Fayetteville Regional Final). Her all-around score of 39.825 is the second highest all around score at a regional in program history, trailing only Haleigh Bryant’s 39.850 at the 2024 Fayetteville Regional Final.

The LSU Tigers swept the individual titles on the night. Chio’s 10 took home the vault title while Chio, junior Konnor McClain, and senior Ashley Cowan split the bars title with a 9.950. The beam title was split between junior Amari Drayton and sophomore Kaliya Lincoln at a 9.950 while the floor and all-around titles were claimed by Chio, who scored a perfect 10.000 on floor and finished the all-around with a 39.825.

The night began with LSU competing on the vault, where sophomore Lexi Zeiss opened with a 9.850. McClain hit a strong 9.900 in the second spot, followed by a 9.875 from sophomore Victoria Roberts in spot three. The fourth spot saw Lincoln score a 9.850 ahead of another 9.850 tally from Drayton in spot five.

The anchor spot saw Chio execute another flawless vault routine as she claimed her third 10.00 on the event this season and fourth in her career. It was the ninth perfect 10.000 at an NCAA regional in program history, and the fifth on vault. Chio joins Haleigh Bryant (2021, 2024), Ashleigh Clare-Kearney (2008), and Jennifer Wood (1995) as the only LSU gymnasts to earn a perfect score on vault in an NCAA Regional.

The perfect 10 scoreline boosted LSU’s vault score to 49.475, tied for the program’s eighth highest score on vault in an NCAA Regional. After the first rotation, LSU (49.475) led the way over Clemson (49.200), Nebraska (49.125), and Auburn (49.000).

The second rotation took the Tigers to the bars, where Zeiss matched her career-high in the leadoff spot with a 9.900. The second spot saw another career-high match as Cowan scored a 9.950 ahead of a 9.850 from junior Madison Ulrich in spot three. In spot four, Chio added a 9.95 before graduate student Courtney Blackson earned a 9.875 in the fifth spot. McClain anchored the bars rotation for LSU with a stellar 9.950 performance to bring the Purple & Gold’s score to a 49.625, tied for the program’s highest bar score at an NCAA Regional (2024 Fayetteville Regional Final).

At the halfway point of the meet, LSU held a commanding lead with a 99.100 over Clemson (98.400), Auburn (98.275), and Nebraska (97.475).

Rotation three took the Fighting Tigers to the beam, where junior Kylie Coen led off with a 9.900 ahead of a 9.750 from Zeiss in spot two. The third spot saw Drayton match her career-high with a 9.950 before Lincoln also matched her career-high with a 9.950 of her own in spot four. McClain tallied a 9.900 in the fifth spot ahead of a 9.875 from Chio in the anchor position to bring LSU’s beam score to a 49.575, the third highest beam score at an NCAA Regional for an LSU team.

Heading into the final rotation of the night, LSU’s 148.675 led the pack over Clemson (147.575), Auburn (147.525), and Nebraska (146.350).

The night concluded with the Tigers on the floor, where senior Emily Innes got things rolling with a 9.900 in the leadoff spot. Freshman Nina Ballou marked her NCAA postseason debut with a strong 9.900 in the second spot ahead of a 9.875 from Coen in spot three, then a 9.950 from Drayton in the fourth spot. Spot five saw Chio go perfect once again with her third 10.000 on floor this season and her second of the night. Lincoln anchored the rotation with a 9.950, taking the team’s floor score to 49.700 to tie the highest floor score at a regional in program history.

LSU’s 198.375 finished the night in first place, followed by Clemson in second with a 196.800, Auburn in third with a 195.500, and Nebraska rounding it out with a 195.000. It was a historic night for LSU, with its 198.375 marking the highest postseason score in program history and tying the fourth highest mark in program history (198.375 vs. Minnesota in 2015).

Chio now sits at 12 perfect scores in her career, with 11 coming this season and four on vault, five on beam and three on floor in her career. The sophomore claimed four individual titles on the night to take her season total to 37 and her career total to 60. It was her 11th vault title of the season, first on bars, sixth on floor, and ninth on the all-around. Cowan’s share of the bar title is her first of the 2026 season and the fourth of her career. McClain’s share of the bar title is her fifth individual title this season, 12th of her career on bars and her 19th overall.

Drayton’s share of the beam title marked the first on the event for the junior, her sixth event title of the season, and ninth overall title in her career. For Lincoln, it was also the first beam title of her career and her sixth event title this season, seventh overall in her career.

No. 2 LSU will compete in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center for the final time in 2026 at 5 p.m. CT on Saturday, April 4, in the Baton Rouge Regional Final. The Tigers will compete against No. 15 Clemson, No. 7 Stanford and No. 10 Michigan with the top two teams advancing to Fort Worth to compete in the NCAA Championship Semifinal on Thursday, April 16.

Tickets for Saturday’s regional final can be purchased here.

Stay up to date with all things LSU Gymnastics by following the team’s social media channels @LSUgym on Instagram, X and Facebook.

**Press Release