Tigers Finish 3rd at SECs, Pick Up Three Titles
· Yahoo Sports
That was incredible regardless of LSU’s finish.
The #2 LSU gymnastics team had a solid time at the 2026 SEC Championship, but they got beat by two teams on fire. The Tigers scored a 197.950, their fourth best at an SEC Championship, to finish in third place behind Oklahoma’s 198.150 and Florida’s 198.175 and ahead of Alabama’s 197.475. The three best teams in the country proved their worth, and the meet more than lived up to the hype. With the result, LSU’s record moves to 17-5-1.
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Rotation 1: LSU in 2nd
LSU began with a 49.475 on bars to start, and that put them just 0.025 out of the lead and just 0.025 ahead of third place.
Lexi Zeiss led things off with a 9.900. Ashley Cowan followed with a 9.850. Madison Ulrich was next with a 9.900 of her own. Kailin Chio tied her career high with a 9.950. Courtney Blackson got her redemption after falling last week and got a 9.875. Konnor McClain had very crunchy elbows on her Church and finished off with a 9.750, one of just two sub-9.8 scores in the entire session (the other was Jordyn Paradise’s 9.750 on vault for Bama).
Rotation 2: LSU in 1st
LSU tied their program record for an SEC Championship beam rotation with a 49.500 to take a slim lead over Florida and Oklahoma.
Kylie Coen had one of the best beam routines she’s ever done, but an unstuck dismount kept it at a 9.850. Lexi followed with a couple wobbles in her routine for a 9.800. Amari Drayton calmed things down with a 9.850. Kaliya Lincoln hit her routine for a 9.900. Konnor nailed her routine for a 9.950. Kailin finished with a 9.950 of her own.
Rotation 3: LSU in 2nd
LSU put up a 49.525 on floor. While that’s a solid score in isolation, it’s not the big stuff LSU’s capable of and it wasn’t going to be enough of a cushion going into the final rotation.
Emily Innes led off with a 9.900. Nina Ballou followed with a 9.875. Kylie had her best leap series ever and went 9.900. Amari had landing issues in both passes and went 9.825. Kailin had less control than usual in her passes and got a 9.900. Kaliya Lincoln finished things off with a great routine for a 9.950.
Rotation 4: LSU in 3rd
LSU finished with a 49.450 on vault.
Lexi led things off with a hopped Yurchenko 1.5 for a 9.875. Konnor followed with a hopped Yurchenko Full for a 9.850. Victoria Roberts did a great job in the air on her front pike half, but a hop back was all the judges could take in her 9.900. Kaliya followed with a hop on her Y1.5 for a 9.850. Amari hopped twice on her Y1.5, and Garrett Griffeth was very dismayed because he realized he let go of the mat too early and led to the second hop. Kailin stuck her vault for a 9.975 to close out an outstanding SEC championship.
As for Florida and Oklahoma, they decided to turn on the jets. Florida put up a 49.800 on bars, second only to the 49.850 NCAA record they had in 2025’s SEC Championship. A Riley McCusker 9.925 forced Oklahoma to put up a 9.975 to tie for the title and a 10 to win outright. Try as she might, Mackenzie Estep only managed a 9.950 to give Florida a massive come-from-behind win after trailing by 0.175 entering the final rotation.
Final thoughts:
LSU had a fantastic performance all things considered. It’s hard to complain about a 197.950. That said, it’s not impossible to find issues. LSU had a chance to try and create a bit of separation while on floor, and they didn’t do that. Then they went over to vault and only had one stick. To be fair, that was the only stick any of the four teams on the floor had on vault, but it’s not what LSU is capable of and certainly not like how they’ve vaulted on a podium this season.
That said, it’s not the end of the world that they didn’t hit a 198 at SECs. They’ve only done that thrice ever, and this isn’t the end of the season. This team should be as motivated as ever heading into regionals, especially after putting up a performance that wasn’t as great as they know they’re capable of doing.
LSU’s individual SEC champions:
LSU picked up three SEC championships from two different sophomores, bringing the program’s total to 59 titles from 31 gymnasts. Kaliya Lincoln won a share of the floor title, bringing her to four career floor titles and six career individual event titles. Kailin Chio won the vault and all-around titles, becoming the 11th gymnast in LSU history with multiple SEC championships.
Kailin picked up her 16th career vault title, 14th career AA title and 56th career event title. Her 14 career AA titles is tied with Jeanie Beadle and Myia Hambrick for eighth in LSU history. On the single-season front, Kailin’s up to eight AA titles, 10 vault titles and 33 individual titles. Her AA title total is tied with 2004 April Burkholder and 2014 Rheagan Courville for ninth in LSU history. Her 10 vault titles is tied with three others for fourth in LSU history. Her 33 individual titles is sixth in LSU history.
The selection show is today. LSU knows what their seed will be, #2 overall, and their regional, the one they’re hosting. They know that #7 Stanford, #10 Michigan and #15 Clemson will join them in Baton Rouge. At 11:00 a.m. on ESPNU, they find out the unseeded teams and individual qualifiers who will join them.