WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah — The No. 2 nationally preseason ranked LSU Gymnastics team will begin its 2026 campaign this Saturday, January 10, at 3:00 p.m. CT as part of the third-annual Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad at the Maverik Center.
The meet will be broadcast live on ABC, bringing premier NCAA gymnastics action to a national audience to kick off the new year. John Roethlisberger, Aly Raisman and Sam Peszek will be covering the action in Utah while Taylor Davis will serve as the on-site reporter.
The Tigers will compete in Session I on Saturday featuring preseason ranked No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 4 UCLA and No. 5 Utah. This quad meet marks a marquee opening test for LSU as the squad seeks to build momentum and showcase its depth early in the season.
UCLA and Utah are coming off victories after beginning their season last weekend. The Bruins won the Best of the West quad meet on January 3 while the Utes earned a pair of victories at a tri-meet with Iowa and Minnesota in their season opener.
LSU and Oklahoma will both kick off their seasons in Utah this weekend, with both teams beginning their 2026 journeys on the road for their first two competitions of the year.
Live stats and streaming information for the meet can be found here.
Program History
LSU enters the 2026 season with high expectations, coming off back-to-back SEC Championships and opening at No. 2 in the WCGA preseason poll — the second straight year the Tigers begin among the nation’s top two.
Head Coach Jay Clark enters his sixth season at the helm alongside Associate Head Coaches Courtney McCool Griffeth and Garrett Griffeth in their fifth season. The national champion, two-time individual NCAA Champion, Honda and AAI Award Winner and 33-time All-American Haleigh Bryant joined the staff and will begin her first year as Assistant Coach in 2026.
The Tigers have reached the NCAA Championships in Fort Worth for the last three consecutive seasons under Clark’s leadership. Last season marked LSU’s 40th straight appearance in the NCAA postseason and 34th program appearance in the NCAA Championships.
The LSU Gymnastics team posted a strong season in 2025, winning back-to-back SEC Championships, claiming the SEC Regular Season title for the first time since 2018 and winning their second straight regional championship as they begin a new journey to Fort Worth this Saturday.
2026 Roster
This year’s roster combines seasoned returners and promising newcomers. LSU returned 14 from the 2025 squad, including four fifth-year seniors, and welcomed seven newcomers. The roster is composed of a total of 21 gymnasts – seven seniors, five juniors, five sophomores and four freshmen.
While LSU graduated veteran all-around competitors Haleigh Bryant and Aleah Finnegan and key multi-event performers such as Sierra Ballard, KJ Johnson and Alyona Shchennikova, the Tigers reloaded over the summer and feel confident in their current team to step into those lineup roles.
2025 SEC Freshman of the Year Kailin Chio is ready for her second season with the Tigers following a historic freshman season that made her a seven-time All-American. Her classmates – Lexi Zeiss, Kaliya Lincoln, Victoria Roberts and Zoe Miller – have also been building for year two.
Zeiss is ready to go on all four events, while Lincoln is ready on three and Roberts on two. Miller is easing back in from two previous shoulder surgeries, but is currently training beam and floor for the Tigers.
Konnor McClain, Amari Drayton, Kylie Coen and Leah Miller make up this year’s junior class. McClain is a six-time All-American and two-time All-SEC member who primarily competes on bars, beam and floor for the Tigers, while Drayton earned her first regular season All-America honor on floor in 2025 and primarily competes vault and floor, but is ready to go on beam as well this year.
Coen made her debut on beam and floor for the Tigers in 2025 and will look to be a mainstay in those two lineups again in 2026.
Ashley Cowan is now a true senior in 2026 and is a veteran to the bars lineup alongside fifth-year seniors Tori Tatum and Alexis Jeffrey on that event.
Kathryn Weilbacher and Chase Brock are also back for their fifth-year and are training the all-around. Weilbacher debuted routines on vault, beam and floor for the Tigers at Open Mike Night showcase on January 2nd.
Transfers Courtney Blackson, Emily Innes and Madison Ulrich joined the Tigers roster in 2026, providing depth on multiple events for LSU this year.
Blackson returned to gymnastics for her fifth and final season after taking a year off. She competed at Boise State from 2021-2024, where she was two-time All-American and finished as the national vault runner-up at the NCAA Championships in 2023. Blackson brings career highs of 10.000 on vault and 9.950 on bars and floor.
Innes came from the University of Washington, where she competed three seasons from 2023-2025. She is a 2025 Big Ten All-Conference selection on floor and a Big Ten All-Championship Team honoree who also captured the NCAA Regional Floor title in 2024. She owns career highs of 9.875 on vault, 9.900 on beam and 9.950 on floor.
Ulrich begins her junior season at LSU after a standout two-year career at Denver, where she competed in the all-around in every meet and became one of the program’s most decorated gymnasts. She comes to LSU a three-time All-American and an individual qualifier at the 2025 NCAA Championships. She earned All-Big 12 Conference honors in 2025 and was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year in 2024.
The junior will be pivotal in the all-around for the Tigers with career bests of 9.925 on vault, 9.975 on bars, 9.900 on beam, 9.950 on floor and 39.575 in the all-around.
Nina Ballou, Molly Brinkman, Haley Mustari and Elyse Wenner round out this year’s roster as the freshmen class. Ballou and Brinkman trained the all-around all preseason for the Tigers while Mustari has been consistently training bars, beam and floor.
Ballou is a five-time National Champion and three-time Nastia Liukin Cup qualifier who trained at American Twisters in Coconut Creek, Florida. She medaled in the all-around at three consecutive national championships, including winning gold in 2022.
Brinkman is a native of Chandler, Arizona, who trained at Gold Medal Gymnastics. She is a five-time Arizona state champion and three-time national qualifier. She earned gold on vault, bars, and floor at the 2025 Arizona State Championships while also claiming the floor title at Regionals in 2025.
A native of Edmond, Oklahoma, Mustari is a decorated Level 10 gymnast with multiple national accolades who trained at Dynamo Gymnastics. A six-time national champion with five nationals appearances, Mustari recorded nine perfect 10’s in her Level 10 career, including eight on bars.
Wenner is a native of Breinigsville, Pennsylvania, who trained at Stallone Gymnastics. She is a two-time nationals and Nastia Liukin Cup qualifier and earned three national titles in her Level 10 career, including two on beam and one on vault.
Across all four events, LSU looks to leverage its blend of experience and youthful talent as it navigates one of the country’s toughest schedules, highlighted by competitive outings against SEC rivals and nationally ranked programs throughout the season.
2026 Schedule
The Sprouts Collegiate Quad opener on ABC kicks off a nationally visible season for LSU Gymnastics. The team’s 2026 television schedule includes eight appearances across ABC, ESPN2 and the SEC Network — ensuring Tiger fans across the country can follow the squad’s journey.
Conference action opens in only the second meet of the year for the Tigers on January 16 when the squad travels to Athens to face Georgia before coming home to Baton Rouge for their 2026 home opener on Friday, January 23 against Kentucky. The month closes out with a road meet at Missouri on January 30.
The team’s February slate features three exciting home meets against Penn State (Feb. 6), Auburn (Feb. 13), and Alabama (Feb. 27), as well as a road trip to reigning national champions Oklahoma on February 20.
LSU will also head down the road to the Raising Cane’s River Center for the fourth-annual Podium Challenge on March 1 before traveling to face Florida in Gainesville on March 8. The Tigers will close the regular season at home against Arkansas on March 13.
Postseason action begins with the 2026 SEC Championship on Saturday, March 21 before LSU and the Baton Rouge community serves as a host site for NCAA Regionals from April 3-5.
This year’s NCAA Championships in Fort Worth, Texas, are set for April 16 and 18 at Dickies Arena.
Stay up to date with all things LSU Gymnastics by following the team’s social media channels @LSUgym on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.