LSU Gymnastics National Runner-Up, Earns Second-Highest Score at NCAA Championship

FORT WORTH, Texas – The No. 2 national seed LSU Gymnastics team finished as the 2026 NCAA National Runner-Up with a 198.0750 team score in the NCAA Championship Final on Saturday afternoon inside the Dickies Arena.

The Tigers posted their second highest team score in an NCAA final in program history, and fourth overall, with their 198.0750 on Saturday. No. 2 LSU narrowly fell to No. 1 Oklahoma’s 198.1625. It’s the fourth second place finish in program history and LSU’s best finish to a season since winning the national championship in 2024.

A strong championship showing was highlighted by sophomore Kailin Chio hitting a perfect 10.000 score on vault, the first at an NCAA Championship since 2023 and the first for an LSU gymnast at the championship. The Tigers’ best rotation of the meet was on bars, where they scored an NCAA Championship program-record 49.6125.

LSU opened the national championship on the floor as senior Emily Innes led off with a 9.8250. Spot two saw freshman Nina Ballou earn a 9.8750 ahead of a 9.8625 from junior Kylie Coen in the third spot. Junior Amari Drayton scored a 9.9375 in spot four before sophomore Kailin Chio tallied a 9.9000 in the fifth spot. In the anchor position, sophomore Kaliya Lincoln earned a strong 9.9375 to bring LSU’s floor total to a 49.5125.

After the first rotation, LSU’s 49.5125 had the team in second place behind Oklahoma (49.6000) and ahead of Florida (49.3875) and Minnesota (49.2625).

Rotation two took the Tigers to the vault, where sophomore Lexi Zeiss led off with a 9.8375. The second spot had junior Konnor McClain hit a 9.8875 ahead of a 9.8750 from sophomore Victoria Roberts in spot three. Lincoln scored a 9.8000 in the fourth spot before Drayton added a 9.8750 in spot five.

The anchor spot saw Chio execute a perfect routine and score a perfect 10.0000. It marks the first time in program history that an LSU gymnast scored a perfect score on any event at the NCAA Championship and it’s the 14th perfect vault score at an NCAA Championship ever. The perfect 10 score took LSU’s rotation score to a 49.4750.

At the halfway point of the meet, LSU remained in second place with a 98.9875 narrowly behind Oklahoma (99.0875) and ahead of Florida (98.8375) and Minnesota (98.7125).

The third rotation had LSU compete on the bars, where Zeiss matched her season-high with a 9.9250 in the opening spot. Senior Ashley Cowan scored her own 9.9250 in the second spot ahead of a 9.8875 from junior Madison Ulrich in spot three. Chio scored a 9.9000 in the fourth spot before graduate student Courtney Blackson scored a 9.9125 in spot five. In the anchor spot, McClain scored a 9.9500 to round out LSU’s rotation score to a 49.6125.

LSU’s 49.6125 was the highest score in program history at an NCAA Championship on the bars and lifted the Tigers to the lead with a 148.6000 heading to the final rotation. LSU led Oklahoma (148.5250), Minnesota (148.1000), and Florida (148.0875).

The national championship came down to the beam and the Tigers had Coen lead things off with a 9.9125. Zeiss scored a 9.2375 in the second spot before Drayton picked her teammate up with a 9.8750 in spot three. In the fourth spot, Lincoln scored a 9.8375 ahead of a strong 9.9500 from McClain in spot five. Chio anchored the meet with 9.9000 to give LSU a rotation score of 49.4750.

The Tigers narrowly came up short to Oklahoma, who scored a 49.6375 on their final rotation on the floor to overcome the small deficit and take the lead. The second place finish is the fourth time in program history that the Tigers have been NCAA National Runner-Ups, having previously finished in that spot in 2016, 2017, and 2019.

Two Tigers took home three individual titles. McClain took home a share of the bars title with her 9.9500 as well as the beam with another 9.9500. She finishes the year with eight individual titles. Chio’s perfect 10.000 on vault was the 44th and final event title this season, bringing her final title tally to 44 in one season, the fourth highest total for an LSU gymnast in a single season.

The perfect vault score was Chio’s 13th perfect score this season and the 14th of her career. In a dominant individual season, Chio finished the year with five perfect scores on vault, five on beam, and three on the floor. At 14 career perfect scores, she now trails only Haleigh Bryant (18) for the most career perfect scores in program history.

(Release via LSU Athletics)