BATON ROUGE – The No. 2 nationally ranked LSU Gymnastics team opened the 2025 season with a strong 197.300-194.100 win over the Iowa State Cyclones on Friday night inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The defending national champion Tigers welcomed 12,324 fans inside the PMAC for the season opener, the most for a home opener in program history. The 197.300 is the second highest score for the Tigers in a season opener, only trailing the 197.825 posted in 2017, and marks the first time since the 2018 season opener that the Tigers scored over a 197.000 to open the year.
Tiger Nation is different.
Our 2025 season opener was one for the books! pic.twitter.com/PIcj2ygPTQ
— LSU Gymnastics (@LSUgym) January 4, 2025
“I think in my time here, it may be the best opening performance that we’ve had top to bottom,” head coach Jay Clark said. “That does not mean it was mistake free, it just means that they did a great job from an approach and a mindset. They did not get distracted by things that could have distracted them. We went out there and earned a very strong opening score.”
Senior KJ Johnson opened the Tigers’ first rotation of the season on vault with a 9.825 and was followed by 5th-year senior Chase Brock, who matched the 9.825 scoreline posted by her teammate. Senior Aleah Finnegan posted the highest score of the rotation with a strong 9.95 in the third spot, followed by a 9.825 from freshman Kaliya Lincoln in her first collegiate pass in the fourth spot. Sophomore Amari Drayton posted a 9.925 in the fifth spot before freshman Kailin Chio anchored with a 9.825 in her first collegiate pass to help the home team finish the first rotation with a 49.350.
That's a 9.95 for Le 😮💨
📺 SEC Network pic.twitter.com/5HFasUh5pD
— LSU Gymnastics (@LSUgym) January 4, 2025
In her first collegiate pass, freshman Lexi Zeiss opened the second rotation on bars with a 9.80 and was followed by junior Ashley Cowan with a 9.85. Senior Alexis Jeffrey posted a 9.825 in the third spot before Chio posted a 9.90 in her first collegiate bars pass. The experienced Finnegan followed Chio with her own 9.90 in the fifth spot before sophomore Konnor McClain anchored the rotation with a 9.80.
The Tigers posted a 49.275 in bars and held a 98.625-96.575 lead heading into the third rotation.
Graduate Student Sierra Ballard posted a 9.250 after a fall on the first pass of the beam rotation and was followed by a 9.675 by Drayton in the second spot. Despite it being her first college beam performance, Chio showed veteran composure and scored a 9.925 in the third spot. 5th-year senior Olivia Dunne scored a 9.825 in the fourth spot and was followed up by McClain with her own 9.825. The veteran Finnegan anchored the beam with a 9.925 to wrap up the rotation with a 49.175.
She's already a natural. 💅
It's a 9.925 for Kailin!
📺 SEC Network | @kailin_chio pic.twitter.com/6diAErP9uH
— LSU Gymnastics (@LSUgym) January 4, 2025
LSU led by a score of 147.800-145.375 heading into the final event of the night, the floor.
Ballard bounced back from her beam performance and set the tone for the Tigers on floor with a 9.85 score in the opening spot. Brock followed that up with a 9.875 in the second spot before Dunne matched Brock with her own 9.875. In the fourth spot, Drayton scored a 9.875 ahead of Chio’s 9.925 in her floor debut. The final pass of the night fell to Finnegan, with the 2024 NCAA National Champion picking up where she left off with a 9.95 in the anchor position. The Tigers finished floor with a 49.500, its highest score of the night.
Senior Aleah Finnegan made her first all-around appearance since March 15th, 2024 on Friday night for the Tigers. She posted a 39.725 on the night, which was the highest all-around score by an LSU Gymnast on an opening night.
“Aleah had a night,” said Clark. “From a performance standpoint, that may be the best four for four I have ever seen her put together. Everything was clean, everything was good. She planted her vault, drilled the bar set, it was one of the best beam sets you will see anywhere in the country all year long, and crushed it on the floor, too.”
Freshman Kailin Chio became the first LSU freshman to compete in the all-around since Kiya Johnson in 2020 as she posted a 39.575 on opening night, posting the school’s highest all-around debut score by a freshman.
What a debut night for @kailin_chio 🤩 pic.twitter.com/ARPgUyOt5z
— LSU Gymnastics (@LSUgym) January 4, 2025
“She has got an edge to her that you do not often see,” Clark said. “Just a really drawn down, serious competitor. Obviously, physically gifted, but it is really about her approach and her mindset and what she demands of herself that we see day in and day out that seems to be paying dividends. Her club coaches did a tremendous job with her, preserving her body and keeping her where she can come in and do what she did right out of the gate in college. It is just outstanding. I am glad she is on our team. In the absence of Haleigh (Bryant) and Kylie (Coen) we had to have people step up and she was one of the ones that did. She was one of the ones that really stepped in and filled a void.”
Three freshmen made their collegiate debuts for the Tigers tonight, with Chio competing in the all-around, Kaliya Lincoln on vault and Lexi Zeiss on bars.
Finnegan took home the titles on all four events and the all-around for the first time since Haleigh Bryant in the Podium Challenge on March 8th last season. She shares the bars and beam titles with Chio, who claimed the first event victories of her career last night.
Opening night in the PMAC did not disappoint#GeauxTigers | @SECNetwork pic.twitter.com/ktkHJTFdnL
— LSU Gymnastics (@LSUgym) January 4, 2025
The No. 2-ranked LSU Tigers will return to action at 3 p.m. CT on Saturday, January 11, when they compete in session two of the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.