LSU Gymnastics Faces Stanford and Michigan in Baton Rouge Regional Finale

The No. 2-seeded LSU Gymnastics team will compete for a position in the NCAA Championship Semifinals on Saturday, April 4, 2026. The Tigers are scheduled to take the floor in the Baton Rouge Regional Final at 5 p.m. CT inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

This meet represents the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA postseason. The top two teams from the regional final will advance to the NCAA Championships in Fort Worth, Texas, which are scheduled to begin on April 16, 2026, at Dickies Arena.

LSU will face three other programs in the regional final: No. 7 Stanford, No. 10 Michigan, and No. 15 Clemson. All four teams advanced to the final after completing the second round sessions on Thursday, April 2, 2026. A first-place finish on April 4 would secure the Tigers’ 16th regional championship title as they seek a spot in the Elite Eight.

Record-Breaking Performance in Second Round

LSU enters the regional final following a historic performance during the second round on Thursday, April 2, 2026. The team posted a final score of 198.375, which established a new school record for the highest team score at an NCAA Regional. This mark also stands as the fourth-highest score ever recorded by an LSU gymnastics team.

The performance on April 2 was characterized by high marks across all four events, with the team achieving top 10 scores in school history for each. The event breakdowns included:

• Vault: 49.475, tied for the eighth-highest score in program history.
• Uneven Bars: 49.625, tied for the best regional bars score in program history.
• Balance Beam: 49.575, the third-highest regional beam score in program history.
• Floor Exercise: 49.700, matching the program’s top regional floor mark.

LSU led the second round meet from start to finish, finishing first in the session alongside Clemson, which posted a score of 196.800. Regarding the team’s performance, Jay Clark stated that the result exceeded even my own expectations.

Individual Standouts and Titles

The Tigers swept the individual titles during the April 2 competition. Sophomore Kailin Chio emerged as a primary contributor, scoring perfect 10.0s on both the vault and the floor exercise. Chio became only the second gymnast in LSU program history to score multiple 10s at a regional meet, following Haleigh Bryant, who achieved the feat on vault and bars at the 2024 Fayetteville Regional Final.

Chio also claimed the all-around title with a score of 39.825. What we have is the second-highest all-around score at a regional in program history, trailing only the 39.850 set by Haleigh Bryant at the 2024 Fayetteville Regional Final.

Other individual titles from the April 2 session were shared among several Tigers:

• The uneven bars title was split between Kailin Chio, junior Konnor McClain, and senior Ashley Cowan, who each scored a 9.95.
• The balance beam title was split between junior Amari Drayton and sophomore Kaliya Lincoln, who both recorded a 9.95.

The upcoming regional final on April 4 will determine which two of the four competing teams move forward to the championships in Texas. The event will be covered by John Roethlisberger and Sam Peszek in Baton Rouge.