LSU gymnastics didn’t just win on Friday night - they owned the PMAC. In front of a roaring home crowd, the Tigers delivered their most complete performance of the season, rolling past No.
17 Auburn with a dominant 198.325 to 196.825 victory. From the very first vault to the final floor routine, LSU looked like a team that had finally put all the pieces together.
Head coach Jay Clark had been waiting for this kind of meet. Just a week earlier, after a win over Penn State, he admitted the team hadn’t quite nailed a full performance - strong on vault and floor, but dragging on bars and beam.
Friday night? A different story.
“That was better,” Clark said, opening his post-meet press conference with a smile that said it all.
Floor: Fireworks and a Perfect 10
Let’s start with the exclamation point - the floor rotation. LSU didn’t just close the meet; they brought the house down with a 49.775, a season high that felt more like a statement.
Emily Innes kicked things off with a 9.925, and the scores just kept climbing. Nina Ballou and Kylie Coen matched Innes with 9.925s of their own, and the PMAC crowd could feel something special brewing.
Then came Amari Drayton with a 9.950, setting the stage for Kailin Chio’s flawless routine - a perfect 10, her second of the season and first on floor. Kaliya Lincoln anchored the rotation with a 9.975, putting a bow on a floor performance that will be tough to top.
Vault: Fast Start Sets the Tone
That floor finale might’ve stolen the spotlight, but the momentum started much earlier - right from vault. LSU opened the meet with a season-high 49.550, their second straight meet setting a new bar on the event. Lexi Zeiss led off with a 9.850, followed by Victoria Roberts, who continued her comeback with a 9.875.
Courtney Blackson had a tough landing, scoring a 9.650 that would eventually be dropped, but the back half of the lineup more than made up for it. Lincoln and Drayton threw down scores of 9.950 and 9.900, and then Chio closed it out with a 9.975.
“Momentum is a contagious thing,” Clark said. “And we caught it early.”
Bars: A Bounce-Back Performance
Bars had been a sore spot last week, but LSU flipped the script in a big way. The Tigers posted another season high on the event, starting with matching 9.875s from Zeiss and Ashley Cowan. Madi Ulrich followed with a clean 9.900, and then Chio did what she does - a 9.925 that looked effortless.
Freshman Nina Ballou made her collegiate debut on bars and didn’t flinch, earning a 9.900 in her first go. Konnor McClain wrapped things up with a 9.975, capping a rotation that turned a previous weakness into a major strength.
Beam: Shuffled Lineup, Same Steady Results
Beam has been LSU’s most consistent event this season, and even with some lineup tweaks, the Tigers didn’t miss a beat. Clark opted to rest Kylie Coen and shuffled the order, giving Zeiss the leadoff spot for the first time this year. She delivered with a 9.850, and Emily Innes made her beam debut with a solid 9.825.
Drayton, continuing a standout night, posted a 9.900, while Lincoln added a 9.875. McClain’s 9.675 was the score that got dropped, but Chio once again delivered in the clutch, earning a 9.975 and commanding the crowd’s full attention throughout her routine.
A Statement Meet at the Right Time
From top to bottom, this was the kind of meet LSU had been building toward. Four rotations, four clean performances, and a season-high team score to show for it.
“The performance level was the best we’d had all year,” Clark said. “Top to bottom … we had four relatively clean events, and that’s what we should be doing.”
Now the Tigers take this momentum on the road, with a marquee matchup looming against top-ranked Oklahoma. If Friday night was any indication, LSU is peaking at just the right time - and they’re not just chasing scores anymore. They’re chasing something bigger.