The LSU gymnastics team may have missed out on the Southeastern Conference regular-season and championship meet titles, but their eyes are firmly set on the big prize: the NCAA championship. As the Tigers gathered in their state-of-the-art practice facility, they anticipated seeing their name as the No. 2 national seed, ready to welcome eight teams to the Pete Maravich Assembly Center next week.
Sophomore standout Lexi Zeiss summed up the team’s mindset perfectly: “Obviously we wanted the SEC championship. It didn't go our way, but it doesn't defeat us. We're ready to go and push towards that national championship, because it's definitely not over yet.”
The NCAA competition is just heating up, with a 36-team field divided into four nine-team regionals. LSU will host the regional at the PMAC, kicking off April 1 with Air Force and Nebraska battling it out in a first-round/play-in meet. The winner will join LSU, No. 15-seeded Clemson, and unseeded Auburn in a second-round regional semifinal.
The action continues with another semifinal featuring No. 7 Stanford, No.
10 Michigan, unseeded North Carolina, and Utah State. The stakes are high, as the top two teams from each semifinal advance to the regional final, with the ultimate goal of reaching the NCAA Championships in Fort Worth, Texas.
LSU coach Jay Clark emphasized the importance of staying focused, despite the home advantage. “We've got our work cut out for us,” Clark stated.
“At this stage of the game, nothing's easy. The days of a regional being an afterthought for the top teams are long gone.”
The Tigers, with a 17-5-1 record, finished third in the SEC Championships behind Florida and Oklahoma. They boast SEC individual titles from Kailin Chio in the all-around and vault, and a co-SEC floor title from Kaliya Lincoln, who is managing an elbow issue. Fortunately, an MRI showed no structural damage, and Clark is hopeful she'll be ready for competition.
Tickets for the regional are available, with all-session passes ranging from $40-50 for adults and $30-40 for children. Clark urged fans to fill the seats, saying, “We need them to get in there and fill that place up, or get close to that.”
The regional promises to be a thrilling showcase of talent, with gymnasts like Alyssa Bigler from Air Force and Whitney Jencks from Nebraska competing in the all-around, and others showcasing their skills on vault, bars, beam, and floor.
In addition to Baton Rouge, other NCAA regional sites include Lexington, Tempe, and Corvallis, each hosting top-tier teams and fierce competition. The road to Fort Worth is paved with excitement, and LSU is ready to make their mark.