COLUMBIA, Mo. – The No. 2 LSU Gymnastics team (3-1-1) will travel to Columbia for a top-10 SEC road matchup against No. 7 Missouri (4-2) on Friday, January 30 at 6:45 p.m. CT inside the Hearnes Center.
The meet will air live for a Friday Night Heights dual-meet on SEC Network with Alex Perlman (PxP) and Anastasia Webb (Analyst) calling the battle between the two Tigers.
LSU is 49-10-0 all-time against Missouri and 10-6-0 when facing them on the road. The Purple & Gold Tigers fell in their last road matchup in Columbia in 2024 as they are looking to bring back home the win this Friday.
Live stats and streaming information for Friday’s matchup between LSU and Missouri can be found here.
Last Time On The Floor
The Tigers put up a school record performance in their home opener last Friday, taking down the Kentucky Wildcats by a final score of 198.050-195.725 in the PMAC and extending their unbeaten streak at home to 16 meets. Their score was only the second 198+ by any team in the country so far this season.
The squad’s 198.050 on the night also marked their highest score in a home opener in school history, beating the previous record of 197.850 set against Georgia in 2017. They marked season high performances on bars (49.550), beam (49.650) and floor (49.600) in their last meet as they look to carry that momentum into Friday’s matchup in Columbia.
LSU defeated Kentucky in front of 13,516 fans for their home opener, marking the highest attendance for a home opener in program history and the third largest crowd for a gymnastics meet in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The Tigers swept all five event titles on the night; Sophomore Kailin Chio took home three titles with her perfect 10.00 on beam, 9.950 on vault and a 39.775 in the all-around while graduate student Courtney Blackson claimed the bars title with her 9.950 and sophomore Kaliya Lincoln took home the floor title with her 9.950.
Chio finished the night with a season high 39.775 in the all-around against the Wildcats after putting up four scores of 9.9+ on the night. The sophomore now owns seven titles in 2026 and 30 in her career through three meets of her sophomore season.
Blackson took home her second bars title of 2026 since her return to gymnastics while Lincoln earned the second title of her career and first on floor.
Week Four Rankings
The Tigers moved back up to No. 2 in the national rankings after putting up the second highest score in the nation, now owning an average of 197.467. LSU also ranks in the top-10 on three events: vault, bars and beam for the second straight week.
LSU is ninth on vault, second on bars and second on beam entering the fifth week of competition, while also having multiple gymnasts place in the individual event rankings.
Sophomore Kailin Chio is currently the No. 4 gymnast in the country with her average of 39.467, while junior Madison Ulrich also sits in the top-15 all-arounders currently with her average of 39.363. Chio is the top performer on beam in the country right now, claiming the No. 1 spot through the Tigers first three meets this season. She also ranks No. 3 on vault.
Fellow sophomore Lexi Zeiss earned a spot in the top-25 on two events for the first time in her career, ranking No. 25 on vault and No. 11 on bars.
Graduate transfer Courtney Blackson sits at No. 7 on bars in the country after scoring a pair of 9.950’s in two of the Tigers three meets so far.
On bars, Konnor McClain ranks No. 4 and Ashley Cowan ranks No. 24, while on beam, Amari Drayton sits at No. 10 and Kaliya Lincoln is No. 25. Lincoln is also the only Tiger to rank on floor this week as she sits in the ninth spot nationally.
Kailin Chio Named Week 4 SEC Gymnast of the Week
Kailin Chio claimed her second SEC Gymnast of the Week Award this week following a season-high performance against Kentucky in the Tigers last meet. In just the third meet of her sophomore season, she once again finished as the top performer in the Tigers’ meet against Kentucky with her all-around score of 39.775, helping lead the squad to a school record home opener score (198.050) last Friday night.
Her all-around score is also the second highest by any gymnast in the nation through four weeks of competition.
Chio’s night was highlighted by a perfect 10 on beam, which was the first perfect score on the event by any gymnast in the country so far this season, her first perfect 10 on beam and second 10 in her career.
She also put up scores of 9.9+ on every event for the Tigers, tallying a 9.950 on vault, 9.900 on bars, 10.00 on beam and 9.925 on floor. Chio finished the night with the highest scores on vault and the all-around on top of her perfect beam score, taking home three titles on the night.
This week’s SEC honor marks the 11th of her career, with nine of those coming in her freshman season in 2025 and one other this season.
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