AUBURN, Ala.– The No. 2 LSU Gymnastics team (10-2, 6-1 SEC) will face No. 14 Auburn (10-5, 3-4 SEC) in their regular season finale on Friday, March 14 at 7 p.m. CT inside Neville Arena.
“We’re in a good place and I’m pleased with what we’ve done so far, but we still have about five weeks to go if everything goes well, so I just want to continue to focus on our goals,” said head coach Jay Clark. “We need to stay the course and continue to improve every single meet. Auburn is a good team that has a great environment and we want to embrace it. We want to compete in environments that test us, that’s what great about the SEC. We want to go over there and win the meet.”
The competition between the two Tigers will be streamed on SEC Network+ with JJ Jackson and Toi Garcia on the call.
If No. 2 LSU defeats No. 14 Auburn this Friday, they will win at least a share of the 2025 SEC Regular Season title, which would be their third in program history. The Tigers previously claimed the regular season title in 2017 and 2018.
Final seeding placements for the 2025 SEC Gymnastics Championships in Birmingham on Saturday, March 22, will be announced on Monday following the conclusion of regular season competition this weekend. The Tigers are set to compete in the evening session of the conference championship meet at 7 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
Live results and broadcast information for the meet can be found here.
Scouting Auburn
LSU is 88-18-0 against Auburn all-time and 14-8-0 when facing them on the road. The Tigers are 8-2 overall in their last 10 matchups against Auburn and are 3-2 in their last five matchups on the road in Auburn.
The Auburn Tigers are 10-5 on the year and 3-4 in conference matchups. They are also 3-1 at home this year entering their senior night against LSU this Friday.
Auburn ranks No. 14 in the week 10 rankings, dropping a spot after losing at Missouri in their last meet, but improving their NQS. They own an NQS of 197.040 with a season high team score of 197.750 coming on the road against Alabama. It was the program’s first victory at Coleman Coliseum.
Their score at Alabama tied the program best road score and was the fifth highest in Auburn history.
Auburn’s beam squad remains ranked No. 6 nationally with a 49.385 NQS after going 49.400 on Sunday. Their vault squad improved its NQS to 49.245 and ranks No. 10. Floor is 14th at 49.360 and bars ranks No. 18.
Week Ten Road To Nationals Rankings
The Tigers placed as the No. 2 team in the country for the third straight week in this week’s Road to Nationals rankings. The squad has claimed the second spot for seven out of ten weeks of regular season competition and have not placed lower than three throughout the season so far.
No. 2 LSU set a new school record in their home finale last Friday night over No. 10 Georgia, scoring a program high 198.575 on the night, the highest score by any team in the country this year. They are currently the only team in the country to hit the 49.600 score mark on every event this season.
Oklahoma has remained the No. 1 team in the country for all 10 weeks of regular season competition thus far and currently owns a NQS (National Qualifying Score) of 197.965. The Tigers follow in the second spot after improving their NQS to 197.825 this weekend. No. 3 Florida, No. 4 UCLA and No. 5 Utah round out the top five in this week’s rankings.
The remainder of the SEC also ranks in the top 20 nationally – Missouri (No. 7), Georgia (No. 9), Kentucky (No. 10), Alabama (No. 12), and Arkansas (No.16) following.
LSU’s season best score on Friday night will be dropped from their NQS this week. The Tigers current NQS is made up of the average of their five highest remaining scores, three of which must be away scores. Those counting scores are now 198.125, 198.050, 198.000, 197.650 and 197.300.
LSU NQS SCORES
198.575 (H)
198.125 (A)
198.050 (H)
198.000 (H)
197.650 (A)
197.300 (A)
NQS: 197.825
The Tigers moved back into the top five on every event this week – first on vault, third on bars, and fifth on beam and floor. LSU has ranked in the top 10 across the board during all 10 weeks of regular competition so far and has claimed the top spot on vault six times this year.
Kailin Chio continues to rank amongst the top gymnasts in the nation as only a freshman. She currently ranks No. 5 in the all-around with her NQS of 39.655 and also sits in the top 10 nationally in the vault and beam rankings.
Senior Aleah Finnegan and sophomores Konnor McClain and Amari Drayton also earned a spot amongst the top 25 performers in the country.
Finnegan ranks amongst the top 25 performers in the nation on vault, beam and the all-around. McClain has placed in the top 20 on bars for eight weeks while Drayton earned a spot in the top 20 on floor.
View the full Road To Nationals rankings here.
Chio Claims Eighth SEC Freshman of the Week Honor, Ties Conference Record
Kailin Chio claimed her eighth career SEC Freshman of the Week honor on Tuesday, which tied the conference record for the most by any freshman in a single season. Chio matched Florida’s Kayla DiCello’s record of eight awards in her freshman season set in 2023.
The freshman out of Henderson, Nevada, already holds the LSU record for the most SEC awards in their first season. She surpassed Haleigh Bryant’s previous record of five in 2021.
Chio’s scores of 9.900+ on every event last Friday helped lead the Tigers to a program record score over No. 10 Georgia last Friday (198.575). She posted a career high 39.800 in the all-around to finish on top of the meet, claiming her fifth all-around title this year.
Her career high 39.800 is the second highest all-around score in the country currently.
She also shared the vault and floor titles on the night with her 9.950 on vault and career high 9.975 on floor, moving her career total to 19 titles this year.
Chio has earned a spot amongst the top five gymnasts in the nation for three straight weeks, currently ranking No. 5 in the all-around with her NQS of 39.655. She also sits in the top 10 nationally in the vault and beam rankings.
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