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LSU gymnast Konnor McClain bows as teammate Alyona Shchennikova places the Tigers' 'stick crown' on her head following her balance beam routine on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025 at the Raising Cane’s River Center in the Podium Challenge against George Washington. McClain scored a 9.
925 in the event. STAFF PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON LSU’s head Gymnasics coach Jay Clark applauds his winning team Friday, March 7, 2025 during the Tigers' final home dual meet of the season against Georgia. LSU won 198.
575-197.175. PHOTO BY PATRICK DENNIS LSU gymnast Kailin Chio sticks a flip on the balance beam during the SEC meet against Oklahoma on Friday, Feb.
14, 2025 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Chio scored a 9.925 in the event.
STAFF PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Every week, multiple times a meet, the “stick crown” comes out. An LSU gymnast nails her routine, glues her feet to the mat as though there was a magnetic attraction, and the crown, a surprisingly weighty piece of costume jewelry, materializes and is carefully placed upon yet another Tiger’s carefully coiffed head. No doubt several LSU gymnasts will get crowned in Friday’s meet at Auburn.
And it stands to reason the more stick crowns the Tigers get the better their chances of winning. This Friday, there is a bigger prize in mind. LSU has come to the end of the regular season tied with Oklahoma for first place in the Southeastern Conference standings at 6-1.
Both the Tigers and Sooners, who are at Georgia, need a win ensure they claim at least a share of the trophy. For No. 1-ranked Oklahoma, in its first season competing in the SEC, it would be a new achievement.
For LSU it wouldn’t be a first but something that none of the current Tigers have experienced. LSU’s last SEC regular-season title came way back in 2018. First vault is set for 7 p.
m. at Neville Arena between No. 2-ranked LSU and No.
14 Auburn. Because of the SEC men’s basketball tournament, all SEC meets this week will be shown on a streaming basis only on SECNetwork+ via WatchESPN.com and the ESPN app.
From 1981-2016, the only SEC championship awarded was at the league’s annual championship meet. That competition is still ahead, with the SEC Championships set for March 22 in Birmingham, Alabama. For years, former LSU coach D-D Breaux lobbied for the regular season crown to be created, much like she once lobbied back in the 1980s to keep her endangered program afloat.
Finally in 2017 the SEC created the regular-season prize. As if scripted, LSU won the first two, with Florida winning the past six. The No.
3 Gators (4-3 SEC) are out of contention this year, however. This is strictly between LSU and OU. One can easily argue that the SEC championship meet trophy, which LSU won in 2024 at the Smoothie King Center, is bigger than the regular season championship.
Then of course there is the unquestioned importance of the NCAA championship, which the Tigers won for the first time this past April. But in a conference as difficult as the SEC, with all nine of its gymnastics-playing schools ranked in the top 16 nationally, the regular season title is a meaningful accomplishment. “We want to win the meet,” LSU coach Jay Clark said when asked if the Tigers are more pursuing a title or a great score Friday.
“I think we’re in a good place. I don’t know what the outcome this week or any week will be. But I feel good about what we’ve done.
We want to win the meet. We’re not being dismissive of any of the goals we set at the beginning of the year.” LSU forced its way into a first-place tie with OU on the strength of last week’s 198.
575-197.175 trouncing of Georgia. The score was the highest in program history and the highest in the nation this season.
But what put LSU in position to share first place, most specifically, were two other results. One was a disappointing 196.875-196.
600 loss Jan. 24 at Arkansas, the Tigers’ low point this season. Three weeks later, LSU beat OU 198.
050-197.675 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The Tigers haven’t lost since that trip to Fayetteville, but scores have sometimes been hard earned.
Aside from a 198.125 Feb. 28 at the Raising Cane’s River Center, a result that counts as a road score per NCAA rules, LSU’s best away score was a 197.
650 in a runner-up finish to OU on Jan. 11 in the Sprouts Collegiate Quad in Oklahoma City. LSU’s other road scores in SEC competition were a 197.
300 at Alabama and a 197.200 at Kentucky, both wins. “I feel good about where we are,” Clark said.
“I think about the Kentucky meet when I challenged them that their performances on the road should match what we do at home. For the most part since Arkansas, we’ve done a good job of that.” LSU will likely be led by a trio of all-arounders: seniors Haleigh Bryant and Aleah Finnegan and freshman Kailin Chio, all coming off milestone performances against Georgia.
Bryant shared first place on floor with a 9.95, her 100th career individual title, just the third Tiger gymnast to reach that mark. Finnegan posted LSU’s first 10.
0 score of the season, anchoring the Tigers on beam, while Chio won her fifth all-around title with a personal best 39.800. She’s second in the nation on vault and fifth in the all-around.
The Tigers may be without freshman Kaliya Lincoln, who did vault last week but has been bothered by a lingering shoulder injury. Clark indicated freshman Lexi Zeiss may replace Lincoln on vault and that sophomore Kylie Coen, who filled in for Lincoln on floor against Georgia, could remain in that role. SEC standings Team SEC Pct.
Overall Pct. NQS Oklahoma 6-1 .857 14-1 .
933 197.965 LSU 6-1 .857 10-2 .
833 197.825 Florida 4-3 .571 9-3 .
750 197.760 Missouri 4-3 .571 12-4 .
750 197.345 Georgia 3-4 .429 5-6 .
455 197.135 Kentucky 3-4 .429 6-5 .
545 197.130 Auburn 3-4 .429 10-5 .
667 197.040 Arkansas 2-5 .286 7-8 .
467 197.010 Alabama 1-7 .125 5-9 .
357 197.085 Last week’s results Friday’s results LSU 198.575, Georgia 197.
175 Kentucky 197.925, Arkansas 197.725 Florida 198.
025, Alabama 197.450 Oklahoma 198.200, Michigan 196.
900 Sunday’s results Missouri 198.100, Auburn 197.150 California 197.
200, Michigan State 197.150, Alabama 196.875, North Carolina 195.
625@ Friday’s schedule LSU at Auburn, 7 p.m. (SECNetwork+) Oklahoma at Georgia, 6 p.
m. (SECNetwork+) Kentucky at Florida, 6 p.m.
(SECNetwork+) Missouri at Arkansas, 7 p.m. (SECNetwork+) Sunday’s schedule Alabama at Michigan, 5 p.
m. (B1GNetwork+) End regular season @-Elevate the Stage, Huntsville, Alabama All times Central.
