Da Boot Sports
4/18/2026
By: Terrill J. Weil


   FORT WORTH, TX - LSU battled hard in Fort Worth, but fell just short of another national championship. Oklahoma won their ninth title, edging out the Lady Tigers in an exciting meet. 


   The opening rotation had LSU on the Floor. Emily Innes started things off with a 9.825.  Nina Ballou followed with a 9.875.  Kylie Coen scored a 9.862.  Amari Drayton finished with a very solid 9.937.  Kailin Chio posted a nice 9.900. Anchor Kaliya Lincoln finished the rotation with a great 9.937.  We headed to the second rotation with LSU in second place with a 49.5125. 

​   The second rotation moved LSU to the Vault. Lexi Zeiss led off with a 9.837.  Konnor McClain then finished with a 9.887.  Victoria Roberts posted a 9.875.  Kaliya Lincoln followed with a 9.800.  Amari Drayton posted a 9.875. Kailin Chio anchored the event with an incredible 10.000....
   LSU remained in second place behind Oklahoma with a 98.9875 at the halfway mark. 

   The Lady Tigers were right on the heals of Oklahoma as they moved to the Bars for the third rotation. Lexi Zeiss started things off with a solid 9.925.  Ashley Cowan followed with a solid 9.925.  Madison Ulrich posted a 9.887.  Kailin Chio scored a 9.900.  Courtney Blackson finished with a very nice 9.912.  Anchor Konnor McClain finished off the event with a fantastic 9.950.  As we headed to the final rotation of the day, LSU moved into first place with a 148.6000.

   The final event of the meet for LSU was Beam. A second national championship was right in front of them, waiting for the taking. Do the Lady Tigers have it in them? Kylie Coen led off with a very nice 9.912.  Lexi Zeiss had a hick up during her routine finishing with a 9.237.  Amari Drayton followed with a 9.875.  Kaliya Lincoln scored a 9.837.  Konnor McClain scored a fantastic 9.950. Ancor Kailin Chio finished the event with a 9.900.
   With a 198.0750, the Lady Tigers finished in second place behind Oklahoma who won their eighth national championship.

   Another great season for LSU Gymnastics comes to an end.  GEAUX TIGERS!!

Da Boot Sports
4/16/2026
LSU Sports Communications
By: Alyssa Leal


​   FORT WORTH, Texas –  The No. 2 national seed LSU Gymnastics punched their ticket to the NCAA Championship Final after a second-place finish in the 2026 NCAA Semifinal Session I with a final score of 197.4375 on Thursday afternoon inside the Dickies Arena.

   No. 2 LSU advanced in the second spot alongside No. 3 Florida, who took first place in the afternoon session with a 197.7875. The two SEC teams will be joined in Saturday’s NCAA Championship by the first and second place teams from the second semifinal session, which consists of No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 8 UCLA, No. 9 Arkansas, and No. 14 Minnesota at 8 p.m. CT.

   The Tigers were boosted to their second-place finish with a 49.4750 on bars and a 49.5250 on floor. Individually, LSU took home individual titles in four out of the five events in session one. Sophomore Kailin Chio took home a share of three titles - vault with a 9.9625, floor with a 9.9625, and all-around with a 39.6125. Sophomore Kaliya Lincoln matched Chio with a 9.9625 on vault while junior Konnor McClain’s 9.9500 on beam was tied for the highest score in the session alongside Stanford’s Ana Bărbosu.

   The advancement to the NCAA Championship marks the program’s 11th national championship appearance in program history, and the third under head coach Jay Clark.

   LSU opened the semifinal on vault, where sophomore Lexi Zeiss led off with a 9.8500. McClain scored a 9.8250 in the second spot, followed by a 9.7250 from sophomore Victoria Roberts in spot three. The fourth spot saw Lincoln score a strong 9.9625 before junior Amari Drayton tallied a 9.8750 in the fifth spot. In the anchor spot, Chio scored a 9.9625 to bring the Tigers’ rotation score to a 49.4750, the sixth highest vault score at an NCAA Championship in program history.

   After the first rotation, LSU led with a 49.4750, followed by Florida (49.4625), Stanford (49.2500) and Georgia (49.1500).

    The Tigers moved to bars for rotation two and were led off by a 9.8375 from Zeiss in the opening spot. Senior Ashley Cowan scored a 9.8375 of her own in the second spot before junior Madison Ulrich added a 9.7750 in spot three. The fourth spot saw Chio score a 9.8000 ahead of a 9.8000 from freshman Haley Mustari in her NCAA Championships debut in the fifth spot. McClain anchored the rotation with a 9.9125 to give her Tigers a final bar score of 49.1875.

   At the halfway point, LSU’s 98.6625 placed them in second place behind Florida (98.9000) and ahead of Georgia (98.4000) and Stanford (98.1250).

   The third rotation took LSU to the beam and had junior Kylie Coen lead off with a 9.7875. Zeiss followed up in the second spot with a 9.7625 ahead of a 9.8625 from Drayton in spot three. The fourth spot saw Lincoln score a 9.4250 before McClain scored a 9.95 in spot five. Chio anchored with a 9.8875 to bring LSU’s final beam score to 49.2500.

   Heading into the final rotation of the meet, LSU sat in third place with a 147.9125 behind Florida (148.150) and Georgia (147.9375) and ahead of Stanford (147.4125).

   The Tigers concluded the semifinal on the floor, with senior Emily Innes opening the rotation with a 9.8625. Freshman Nina Ballou scored a 9.7750 in the second spot before Coen scored a 9.8500 in spot three. Drayton scored a 9.9375 in the fourth spot ahead of a stellar 9.9625 from Chio in spot five. The final performance of the meet for LSU saw Lincoln anchor on floor with a 9.9125 to round out LSU’s floor score to a 49.5250.

   LSU’s strong performance on floor helped overcome the deficit to Georgia and gave the Tigers a final finish of second place in the session with a 197.4375. Florida took first place with a 197.7875, Georgia finished third with a 197.2625, and Stanford came in fourth place with a 196.9375.

   With her three event titles in session one, Chio now holds 43 event titles on the season and 66 in her young career. The vault title was her 13th on the event this season, which now sits alone as the most vault titles in a single season by an LSU gymnast.

   For Lincoln, it’s her eighth event title this season and her second on vault in 2026. For McClain on beam, it’s her sixth event title of the year and her first on the beam event since 2024. She now sits at a total of 20 event titles in her collegiate career.

   LSU will compete in the NCAA Championship at 3 p.m. CT on Saturday, April 18 live on ABC alongside Florida and the top two finishers from the No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 8 UCLA, No. 9 Arkansas, and No. 14 Minnesota semifinal meet. 

Da Boot Sports
​4/13/2026
By: Da Boot Sports Staff


   LSU Gymnastics had their weekly press conference on Monday afternoon. Ashley Cowan, Lexi Zeiss, Haley Mustari and Head Coach Jay Clark met with the media to answer questions. 

   *Video of the press conference is posted below....

​

Da Boot Sports
4/4/2026
By: Terrill J. Weil


   BATON ROUGE, LA - LSU won their Regional Final in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Saturday afternoon with a score of 197.825. They will advance to the NCAA Championship Semifinals in Fort Worth, Texas. 


   LSU began the finals on Vault. Lexi Zeiss led off with a 9.850.  Konnor McClain followed with a 9.850.  Victoria Roberts scored a nice 9.900.  Kaliya Lincoln finished with a 9.825.  Amari Drayton earned a 9.850.  Anchor Kailin Chio scored an amazing 10.000 to finish off the opening rotation. As we move on, LSU was in the lead, 49.450.

   Rotation two moved LSU to the Bars. Lexi Zeiss started things off with a 9.875.  Ashley Cowan then added a very nice 9.900.  Madison Ulrich finished with a 9.850.  Kailin Chio posted a 9.800.  Haley Mustari then put up a 9.875.  Anchor Konnor McClain scored a 4.600. Halfway through the meet, LSU held a slim lead.

   The Lady Tigers moved to the Beam for the third rotation. Kylie Coen started with a nice 9.900.  Lexi Zeiss scored a 9.850.  Amari Drayton followed with a 9.825.  Kaliya Lincoln posted a 9.875.  Madison Ulrich scored a 9.825.  Anchor Kailin Chio finished with a 9.975. Even though the Lady Tigers were having an off night, they still led, 148.175 heading into the final rotation. 

   LSU would finish the night on the Floor. Emily Innes led off with a 9.850.  Nina Ballou added a 9.850.  Kylie Coen followed with a 9.875.  Amari Drayton added a very solid 9.950.  Kailin Chio posted a great 9.975. Anchor Kaliya Lincoln finished off the night for LSU with an amazing 10.000.
   The Lady Tigers finished first over all with a 197.825.

   LSU will advance to the NCAA Semifinals in Fort Worth, Texas on Thursday, April 16. Session one will start at 3:30pm and Session two will begin at 8:00pm. 

​   

Da Boot Sports
4/2/2026
By: Terrill J. Weil


   BATON ROUGE, LA - LSU had a strong showing in the second round of the NCAA Regionals: Session II in Baton Rouge on Thursday night, taking first place with a 198.375, advancing to the Regional Finals.

   With LSU being the host team, they began the opening rotation on Vault. Lexi Zeiss led off with 9.850.  Konnor McClain followed with a nice 9.900.  Victoria Roberts posted a 9.875.  Kaliya Lincoln finished with a 9.850.  Amari Drayton scored a 9.850.  Anchor Kailin Chio had a super  amazing 10.000. Other than Chio's perfect 10, the Lady Tigers had a slow start, but still led after rotation one with 49.475. 

   The Lady Tigers moved to the Bars for the second rotation. Lexi Zeiss started things off with nice a 9.900.  Ashley Cowan then added a very strong 9.950.  Madison Ulrich posted a 9.850.  Kailin Chio posted a strong 9.950.  Courtney Blackson finished with a 9.875.  Konnor McClain finished off the rotation for the Tigers with a great 9.950. should of been a 10.  After the second rotation, LSU was still in first place with a 99.100.

   Rotation three put LSU on the Beam. Kylie Coen opened up with a very nice 9.900. Lexi Zeiss followed with a 9.750.  Amari Drayton added a super 9.950.  Kaliya Lincoln then scored a very solid 9.950.  Konnor McClain posted a nice 9.900. Anchor Kailin Chio finished with a 9.875. We headed to the final rotation of the night with LSU still on top with a score of 148.675.

   The fourth rotation sent LSU to the floor. Emily Innes led off with a very solid 9.900.  Nina Ballou then posted a very solid 9.900.  Kylie Coen scored a 9.875.  Amari Drayton had a fantastic 9.950. Kailin Chio scored an incredible 10.000, her second of the night. Anchor Kaliya Lincoln closed the night out with a fantastic 9.950.  LSU finished the night in first place with a very strong 198.375.

   LSU & Clemson qualified to advance to the Regional Finals, along with Stanford and Michigan. The Regional Finals will be on Saturday, April 4 at 5:00pm in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The winner will advance to Fort Worth, Texas to compete for a national championship.