I love it when a plan comes together.
The back-to-back SEC champion #2 LSU gymnastics team soared to new heights Friday with a massive 198.325-196.825 win over #17 Auburn. A juiced-up crowd of 11,171 brought a ton of energy to cheer LSU on to the fifth-highest score in program history. Unfortunately, this meet could’ve been even better had Auburn superstar Sophia Bell not suffered a potentially season-ending injury in pre-meet warm-ups.
Rotation 1: LSU 49.550-Auburn 49.000
Auburn looked as bad on bars as advertised. The form on their dismounts was bad, and everything felt off. LSU nailed vault to set a new season high for the third straight meet.
Lexi Zeiss led off with a 9.850 on her Yurchenko 1.5. Victoria Roberts stuck her front pike half for a 9.875 and got emotional after. Courtney Blackson struggled to land her vault and earned a 9.625 [9.55/9.70]. Kaliya Lincoln nearly stuck her Y1.5 for a 9.950. Amari Drayton had a hop forward on her Y1.5 and scored a 9.900. Kailin Chio stuck her Y1.5 like clockwork and scored a 9.975. If she can correct her shoulder angle, it’ll go 10 every week, but it’d be foolish to complain about consistent 9.975s.
Rotation 2: LSU 99.125-Auburn 98.175
Auburn scored a 49.175 on an okay vault rotation. LSU set a new season high on bars.
Lexi led things off with a 9.875. Ashley Cowan made her return to the lineup with a 9.875 of her own. Madison Ulrich had a great routine yet again that scored a 9.900. Kailin drilled her routine for a 9.925, the lowest score she’d get all night. Nina Ballou made her bars debut and did a fantastic set for a 9.900. Konnor McClain did what looked like a perfect bars set, but she got a 9.975. I didn’t see anything my first couple times watching, but tit matters far less than the fact that Konnor caught her Church perfectly and did a great routine for the first time this season.
Rotation 3: LSU 148.550-Auburn 147.425
Auburn had a solid floor rotation that scored a 49.250, continuing their trend of improving as the meet progressed. LSU scored a 49.425 on beam.
Lexi led off beam for the first time, and she did well enough to score a 9.850 [9.80/9.90]. Emily Innes made her LSU beam debut with a 9.825. Amari hit her routine for a 9.900, then Kaliya Lincoln did well enough to score a 9.875. Konnor had a very wobbly routine and missed a connection in her routine. She never found a way around that miss and earned a 9.675 on a 9.80 start value. Luckily, Kailin cleaned up the miss with a 9.975.
Rotation 4: LSU 198.325-Auburn 196.825
Despite a raucous LSU crowd cheering for big scores, Auburn locked in on beam and earned a season-high 49.400. Marissa Neal managed to drill her triple series as Kailin’s 10 got flashed and crowd erupted. LSU tied their program record on floor with a 49.775.
Emily got things started with a 9.925 on a routine where she drilled her passes better than ever. Nina followed with a 9.925 of her own. Kylie Coen then went 9.925 on a routine that didn’t appear to have any obvious mistakes. Amari drilled her routine for a 9.950. Kailin Chio got her first floor 10 of her career on a legitimately perfect routine. For those who watched the broadcast and were curious about the weirdness that happened, both flashers showed 10s in the arena, but one of the people typing it into the computer accidentally put 9.95 for a judge score. It was always a 10. Kaliya finished things off with a 9.975 of her own.
Final thoughts and analysis
More of that, please. This was the first truly complete meet LSU’s had all season. Even the 198.050 started with a 49.250 on vault. The team was locked in and focused the entire time even with the two messy routines. I do have worries about Konnor on beam because she keeps making mistakes, so hopefully she can reset herself soon.
Konnor McClain won her ninth career bars title and 16th overall. Kailin Chio had an insane night. She won her 11th career vault title, ninth career beam title, fifth career floor title and 11th career all-around title. She is tied with Jennifer Wood for 10th in LSU history in career all-around titles and is 17th all-time in career individual titles. Her 39.875 AA total in this meet was second-best in LSU history behind Haleigh Bryant’s 39.925 at the 2024 Podium Challenge.
LSU has locked in their #2 ranking entering the first week of NQS. Up next is the biggest test of the year and one of the biggest meets in SEC history, as the #2 Tigers travel to Norman to face the #1 Oklahoma Sooners. OU knocked off Florida in Gainesville for the first time in program history, and they haven’t lost at home since 2014. However, the last team to beat Oklahoma in their home was LSU.