LSU Ties Atop Collegiate Quad Podium

That’s a fantastic way to start.

The back-to-back SEC champion LSU gymnastics team kicked off their 2026 season with a very good result. They tied atop the standings of the session of the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad with a 197.500 alongside Oklahoma, though OU got the trophy on a sixth-score tiebreaker. LSU beat UCLA and Utah, who put up a 197.000 and a 195.900 respectively. This was a solid meet for the Tigers in which they showcased how good they are when things matter.

Unlike in past years, when this thing was a long slog to read through, 2026 recaps are going to get the information out in a timely manner. Don’t worry, though, I’ll be giving more thorough analysis on certain routines and other stuff on Tuesdays when I talk about the Tale of the Tape.

Rotation 1: UCLA 49.425, OU 49.350, LSU 49.225, Utah 47.775

Utah had their first sub-48 on beam since 2/18/2000, a date which is years before any of the gymnasts on that roster were born. Oklahoma had an okay time on vault with some landing issues. UCLA did well on bars, but not as well as the score indicates.

Emily Innes led things off with a solid 9.875. Nina Ballou followed with a good routine that earned a 9.825. Madison Ulrich followed with a 9.825 of her own. Amari Drayton had a great routine going until she fell at the end and earned a 9.025. Kailin Chio picked things back up with a good 9.900, and Kaliya Lincoln closed things out with a 9.850.

Rotation 2: OU 98.825, LSU 98.600, UCLA 98.550, Utah 96.975

UCLA and Utah had okay rotations. Oklahoma went over to the loosest-scoring event and got good scores.

Lexi Zeiss led off with a nearly stuck Yurchenko 1.5. Madison followed with a stuck front pike half for a 9.900. Victoria Roberts made her LSU debut with a clean front pike half for a 9.850. Courtney Blackson hit her Y1.5 a bit to the side and earned a 9.825. Amari fell on her Y1.5 and scored a 9.250. Kailin cleaned up the fall yet again with a nearly stuck Y1.5 for a 9.900.

Rotation 3: OU 148.325, LSU 148.150, UCLA 147.700, Utah 146.525

Despite being out of the meet, Utah had the best vault rotation of any team so far this season, and Avery Neff capped it off with the first 10 of the year on a gorgeous Y1.5. UCLA had an okay time on floor. Oklahoma put up a 49.500 on beam with solid execution throughout.

Lexi led things off with a 9.875 on a routine that was nearly perfect until the dismount. Ashley Cowan followed with a 9.900 on a routine that was also nearly perfect until the dismount. Madison followed with a 9.900 on a routine that was ALSO nearly perfect until the dismount. Kailin then put up a 9.850 on a routine that wasn’t nearly perfect until the dismount. Courtney then came in and tied her career high with a 9.950 on a routine that ended with a stick. Konnor McClain finished things off with a 9.925 on a routine that would’ve gotten a 10 with a stuck dismount.

Rotation 4: OU 197.500, LSU 197.500, UCLA 197.000, Utah 195.900

Ah had a solid bars rotation and UCLA had a solid vault rotation, but it all came down to what Oklahoma and LSU did on floor and beam.

Kylie Coen led off LSU’s rotation with a 9.900. Kelsey Slade led off Oklahoma’s rotation with a 9.800. Lexi Zeiss followed with a 9.800, and Kamila Pawlak followed with a 9.775. Kaliya Lincoln made her beam debut and scored a 9.825, while Mackenzie Estep scored a 9.925. Madison Ulrich put up a 9.825, and Lily Pederson put up a 9.775 which had to count. Kailin Chio drilled her routine for a 9.950 on an event that had rough judging all day, and Elle Mueller put up a 9.875. Konnor McClain had a rough go of things and put up a 9.650, while Addison Fatta sealed the win with a 9.800.

At least, it appeared to give Oklahoma the win. Lexi’s beam score was low because one judge gave her a 9.9 start value that had something to do with her double wolf turn (I can confirm this). After a lot of arguing, pointing and calling a timeout in the discussion, head coach Jay Clark got his point across and managed to get Lexi’s beam score up to a 9.850. This put LSU in a tie with Oklahoma. Unfortunately, the meet organizers weren’t willing to go make another trophy, so they decided to use standard NCAA tiebreaking procedures by adding back the dropped scores. Oklahoma won the spinning Sprouts Collegiate Quad trophy, but LSU completed their third consecutive meet against Oklahoma without losing.

Kailin Chio won the all-around for the seventh time in her career with a 39.600 and tied for her fourth career beam title. Courtney Blackson won her first bars title as a Tiger and her 19^th career title overall.

LSU is on a slightly shorter week than usual. Their next meet is Friday, January 16 at Georgia. The meet is at 6 p.m. on SECN. Once again, I’ll be breaking this meet down more in Tale of the Tape Tuesday.