OKLAHOMA CITY – The No. 2 LSU Gymnastics team (1-0) is set to compete in the second-annual Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad on Saturday, January 11 at 3 p.m. CT in the Paycom Center.
“We’re excited for the opportunity to go out there and compete on Saturday. Our opening meet was great and served as a solid start for us. Now, we get to go get on the podium, which is great any time that we can do it before the postseason. Getting that experience is important as we get further down the line,” said head coach Jay Clark. “We want to be tested by the best, and hopefully this will cause us to continue to raise our performance level. We know that they are all great teams with great coaching staff and we’re ready to get out there.”
The Tigers will compete in the second session of competition on Saturday in Oklahoma City against No. 1 Oklahoma (3-0), No. 4 Utah (1-0) and No. 6 California (2-0), two of the 2024 NCAA Final Four teams and three national semifinalists.
Saturday’s competition will be aired nationally on ABC with John Roethelisberger and Aly Raisman on the call and Taylor Davis serving as the on-site reporter. No. 2 LSU will start the meet on vault, Cal on bars, Oklahoma on beam and Utah on floor. All teams will rotate in Olympic order.
Live stats and broadcast information for the meet can be found here.
Last Time On The Floor
The Tigers opened the 2025 season with a strong 197.300-194.100 win over the Iowa State Cyclones on January 3rd inside the PMAC. The defending national champions welcomed 12,324 fans inside the PMAC for the season opener, the most for a home opener in program history.
The team score of 197.300 on the night was 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.
LSU started the meet on vault and earned a 49.350 in their first rotation of the new year before earning a 49.275 in bars in the second rotation. LSU held a 98.625-96.575 lead heading into the third rotation.
The Tigers tallied a 49.175 on beam in the third rotation to extend their lead to 147.800-145.375 heading into the final event of the night. LSU finished floor with a 49.500, its highest score of the night.
Three freshmen made their collegiate debuts for the Tigers, 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 shared the bars and beam titles with Chio, who claimed the first event victories of her career at the season opener.
No. 1 Oklahoma opened with a first place finish in the American Gold Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Classic last Saturday, defeating Auburn, BYU and Nebraska with a score of 197.550.
Utah won their season opener over Utah State by a score of 196.775-194.450 while Cal finished on top of their session at the American Gold Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Classic in Nashville, defeating UCLA and Oregon State with a score of 196.275.
Week One Road To Nationals Rankings
The Tigers remain the No. 2 team in the country following their 197.300-194.100 season opening win over Iowa State in the PMAC. The LSU Tigers earned the second highest opening score of the 2025 season, following No. 1 Oklahoma, who opened with a 197.550 at the American Gold Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Classic Meet in Nashville.
The Tigers posted a strong opening in their first competition of the year, earning a spot in the top five on every event after week one – third on vault, fifth on bars, fourth on beam and first on floor.
Senior Aleah Finnegan and freshman Kailin Chio led the Tigers to victory in the all-around last Friday. Finnegan posted a 39.725 on the night, which was the highest all-around score by an LSU Gymnast on an opening night.
The senior 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 young career.
Finnegan enters the second week of competition ranked first on vault, seventh on bars, fourth on beam, first on floor and first in the all-around in the nation following her performance on Friday night.
Chio was the first LSU freshman to compete in the all-around since Kiya Johnson in 2020 and recorded the school’s highest all-around debut score by a freshman with her 39.575 on opening night. She currently ranks amongst the top 10 performers in the nation on bars, beam and floor.
Other LSU gymnasts who earned a spot in the week one rankings include Olivia Dunne, Chase Brock and Amari Drayton.
Dunne, Brock and Drayton all share the sixth spot on floor with their score of 9.875 while Drayton also ranks fourth on vault with her 9.925 routine.
View the full 2025 Road To Nationals rankings here.
Finnegan and Chio Win Week One SEC Gymnastics Awards
Senior Aleah Finnegan and freshman Kailin Chio took home two out of three of the week one SEC Gymnastics Awards, announced by the conference.
Finnegan was named the SEC Gymnast of the Week while Chio was named the SEC Freshman of the Week for their performances in the all-around in the Tigers season opener last Friday.
A native of Lee’s Summit, Missouri, Finnegan scored a 39.725 in her first all-around appearance since March 15th, 2024, marking the highest all-around score by an LSU Gymnast on opening night. She posted scores of 9.950 on vault, 9.900 on bars, 9.925 on beam and 9.950 on floor to win the titles on all four events and the all-around on the night.
It was the first time an LSU Gymnast swept every event title since Haleigh Bryant in the Podium Challenge on March 8th last season. Finnegan shared the bars and beam titles with Chio, who claimed the first event victories of her young career.
Chio was the first LSU freshman to compete in the all-around since Kiya Johnson in 2020 and recorded the school’s highest all-around debut score by a freshman with her 39.575. A native of Henderson, Nevada, the freshman posted scores of 9.825 on vault, 9.900 on bars, 9.925 on beam and 9.925 on floor in her collegiate debut.
They both enter week two ranked amongst the top gymnasts in the nation following their performances on Friday night. Finnegan is ranked first on vault, seventh on bars, fourth on beam, first on floor and first in the all-around while Chio ranks seventh on bars, fourth on beam, second on floor and fourth in the all-around.
Key Returners in 2025
This year’s squad consists of 21 gymnasts and 15 returners: 10 seniors, two juniors, four sophomores and five freshmen.
Haleigh Bryant, Olivia Dunne, Sierra Ballard, Chase Brock and Alyona Shchennikova are all set to return for their final seasons with the Tigers in 2025. Bryant, Dunne, Ballard and Brock enter their fifth-year season while Schchennikova is in her sixth-year.
Shchennikova is back this year after missing the 2024 season due to injury. She is an All-American on the uneven bars and will return veteran routines to the all-around. The Evergreen, Colorado native owns career high’s of 9.950 on vault and bars, 9.925 on beam, 9.975 on floor and 39.525 in the all-around.
Bryant, the 2024 NCAA All-Around Champion, AAI Award Winner and SEC Gymnast of the Year, will compete in her final season with the Tigers in 2025 after a historical season last year. She owns the program record all-around score (39.925) and career high’s of perfect 10’s across all four events.
A Louisiana native, Ballard is a veteran to the beam and floor lineup, where she owns career high’s of 9.950 and 9.925.
Dunne, a native of Hillsdale, New Jersey, played a vital role to the bars and floor lineups for LSU last season as she returned ready to go on three events. She owns career high’s of 9.925 on bars and 9.900 on floor. Brock is capable of impacting the vault and floor lineups in her final season, where she owns career high’s of 9.975 on vault and 9.925 on floor.
Other key returners for the 2025 season include Aleah Finnegan, KJ Johnson, Tori Tatum, Alexis Jeffrey, Ashley Cowan, Konnor McClain and Amari Drayton.
Finnegan, the 2024 NCAA Floor Champion, will be pivotal in the all-around for the Tigers this year. She enters her final season with career high’s of 10’s on vault, beam and floor, 9.925 on bars and a 39.800 in the all-around.
Johnson competed in every meet on vault for the Tigers during their national championship run in 2024 and in all but one meet on floor. She owns career high’s of 9.950 on vault and 9.975 on floor entering her senior season.
Cowan, Tatum and Jeffrey are all mainstays in the bars lineup for the Tigers and all own a career high of 9.950 on the event.
The duo of McClain and Drayton enter their sophomore season after a prominent freshman season, where the two competed in every meet for the Tigers. McClain is coming off an injury but will impact the bars and beam lineups, owning career high’s of a perfect 10 on both events.
Drayton is capable of impacting all four lineups for the Tigers in 2025. She appeared in the vault and floor lineups for LSU last year, recording career high’s of 9.975 on vault and 9.925 on floor.
Kailin Chio, Kaliya Lincoln, Lexi Zeiss, Zoe Miller and Victoria Roberts make up this year’s freshman class.
Tigers on TV
The Tigers will be featured on national television seven times throughout the regular season in 2025 as NCAA Gymnastics continues to reach new heights across ESPN platforms. Their seven appearances on national television matches the program’s record broadcast time set in 2024.
LSU kicked off coverage with the first televised meet of the season against Iowa State on January 3rd. This weekend, LSU will compete in the second annual Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad in session two on ABC.
ESPN and ESPN2 will host nine regular season matchups in 2025, with LSU being featured in three of those key matchups. The Tigers will face Florida and Oklahoma in primetime in the PMAC on Jan. 17 and Feb. 14, while traveling to Tuscaloosa on Feb. 7.
While broadcast time is at an all-time high, fans are encouraged to pack the PMAC for the Tigers five home meets in 2025. LSU will look to hold onto the nation’s attendance record for the second consecutive year with individual meet tickets on sale now at lsutix.net.
Follow the Tigers
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