COLUMBIA, Mo. – The No. 2 LSU Gymnastics team (4-1-1) secured a top 10 SEC road win with their 197.675-197.500 victory over No. 7 Missouri (4-3) on Friday night inside Mizzou Arena.
It was a gritty road performance in Columbia on Friday night to earn LSU’s highest road score of the season thus far.
Kailin Chio was the only gymnast in the meet to compete in all four events, finishing the night with a 39.600 in the all-around. She tallied team-best scores of a 9.975 on beam and a pair of 9.950’s on floor and vault. The sophomore claimed four titles on the night, moving her total to 11 titles this season and 34 in her career through just four meets this season.
Junior Amari Drayton won her first vault title of the year, now with two in her career, and Lincoln earned the third of her career and second on floor this season.
No. 2 LSU opened up the night on bars, where sophomore Lexi Zeiss got things rolling with a 9.800. Junior Madison Ulrich delivered a season-high 9.925 in the second before freshman Haley Mustari made her LSU debut and posted a solid 9.900 in the third spot. Sophomore Kailin Chio scored a 9.725 in the fourth slot followed by a tremendous 9.925 from graduate student Courtney Blackson in the fifth spot. Junior Konnor McClain anchored the bar rotation with a 9.825 to bring LSU’s team score to 49.375.
At the end of the first rotation, LSU led by a margin of 49.375-49.275.
The Purple & Gold Tigers moved to vault for the second rotation, where Zeiss led off with a 9.775. The second spot saw a 9.825 from McClain before Blackson posted a season-high 9.900 in the third slot. Junior Amari Drayton delivered a season-high 9.950 in the fourth spot and sophomore Kaliya Lincoln tallied a 9.800 in the fifth spot. Chio finished strong in the anchor spot with a 9.950 and helped boost the vault score to a season-high 49.425.
At the halfway point, LSU extended its lead over Missouri, 98.800-98.625.
The third rotation brought LSU to floor, where senior Emily Innes set the tone with a 9.850. Freshman Nina Ballou and junior Kylie Coen followed with a pair of 9.900s in the second and third spots, respectively, to match their career highs. Drayton posted a 9.775 in the fourth spot due to going out of bounds before a pair of back-to-back 9.950s from Chio and Lincoln finished strong in the fifth and sixth spots. LSU finished the rotation with a 49.550 on floor.
After three rotations, LSU held a 148.350-148.025 advantage over Missouri.
The final rotation saw the Purple & Gold Tigers on beam where Coen posted a 9.850 in the leadoff spot. Zeiss added a 9.825 in the second spot ahead of a 9.925 from Drayton to match her season-high. Lincoln added a 9.750 in the fourth spot before a 9.550 from McClain in the fifth spot. Chio delivered in the anchor spot with a 9.975 to secure the LSU win and bring the rotation total to a 49.325.
LSU finished the night with a 197.675 to secure the win over Missouri’s 197.500.
The victory marked LSU’s first road win this season and its second consecutive win over Missouri in the regular season.
LSU took home six titles on the night. Chio claimed her third all-around of the season with her 39.600 on the night after recording three scores of 9.95 or higher. Drayton earned a bars title and Lincoln took home a floor title.
The Tigers return home next Friday, February 6 to host Penn State at 7:30 p.m. CT on SEC Network+ inside the PMAC.Stay up to date with all things LSU Gymnastics by following the team’s social media channels @LSUgym on Instagram, X and Facebook.
