LSU Gymnastics falls short, Chio wins NCAA vault title
04/18/2025
(Photo by LSU Athletics)
FORT WORTH – The No. 1 LSU Gymnastics team had their 2025 season come to a close in the evening session of the 2025 NCAA Championship Semifinals after finishing third with a 197.5250 team score on Thursday night in Dickies Arena.
No. 1 LSU finished behind Utah (197.7625) and UCLA (197.7375) in Thursday’s meet, who advanced to Saturday’s final round with their top two finishes. The Tigers defeated Michigan State (197.3625) on the night.
Final from Fort Worth pic.twitter.com/kxK3bVVPls
— LSU Gymnastics (@LSUgym) April 18, 2025
Freshman phenom Kailin Chio wrapped up a sensational freshman campaign by claiming the 2025 NCAA Vault Champion title with her score of 9.9750, the 19th individual national championship won by a Tiger and eighth on vault.
The Tigers opened the night on the beam, with leadoff freshman Lexi Zeiss grabbing a 9.9000 to start things off. Junior Ashley Cowan scored a 9.8125 in the second spot, followed by a 9.8250 from freshman Kailin Chio in spot three. Senior Aleah Finnegan scored a 9.8500 in the fourth spot ahead of a 9.8750 from sophomore Konnor McClain. The anchor spot saw senior Haleigh Bryant score a 9.8750 of her own to give the Tigers a 49.3250 team score in the rotation.
LSU was in third place after the opening rotation with a 49.3250, trailing UCLA (49.5250) and Michigan State (49.3875).
Rotation two saw LSU compete on the beam. Graduate student Sierra Ballard scored a 9.8750 to open the rotation ahead of a 9.8000 from sophomore Kylie Coen in the second spot. Spot three saw Chio score a 9.8750 before sophomore Konnor McClain grabbed a 9.90 in spot four. Bryant scored a 9.8750 in the fifth spot before Finnegan concluded the rotation with a 9.2250 due to a fall from the beam. The rotation score came out to a 49.3250.
At the halfway point, LSU’s 98.6500 ranked fourth in the meet behind Michigan State (98.8375), Utah (98.7750) and UCLA (98.7625).
The third rotation took the Tigers to the floor, with sophomore Konnor McClain leading things off with a 9.8625. Ballard scored a 9.8250 in the second spot before Chio scored a 9.8875 in spot three. In the fourth spot, sophomore Amari Drayton scored a 9.9000 ahead of a 9.9375 from Finnegan in spot five. The anchor spot saw Bryant keep her strong night rolling with a 9.9125 to help boost the Tigers to a 49.5000 score for the rotation.
Heading into the final rotation of the night, the margins were narrow, with LSU’s 148.1500 ranking them second behind UCLA (148.1875) and ahead of Utah (148.1125) and Michigan State (148.0000).
LSU concluded the night on the vault, with senior KJ Johnson opening the rotation with a 9.8375. Zeiss scored a 9.8000 in spot two before Finnegan posted a 9.8500 score in the third spot and then a 9.8125 from Drayton after her. The fifth spot saw Chio execute a near perfect yurchenko one and a half that scored a 9.9750 and was followed up by a 9.9000 from Bryant in the anchor position to bring LSU’s final rotation score of the night to a 49.3750, which was not enough to bring the Tigers to a top two finish to advance to the final round on Saturday.
Individually, Chio’s 9.9750 stood alone at the top of the vault competition and meant that she took home the 2025 NCAA vault title. The win marked the first vault title won by a Tiger since 2021, when freshman Haleigh Bryant took home the crown. Chio joined elite company as she became the third freshman in program history to win an individual national championship along with Bryant and Kennedi Edney (2017).
The Tigers score finished fourth across both semifinal sessions on Thursday. Finnegan and Bryant finished amongst the top 10 performers on the day. Bryant finished fifth on vault and tenth on floor while Finnegan finished fifth on floor.
Chio finished tied with Bryant in sixth in the all-around in her first nationals appearance as a freshman.
LSU’s third place finish brings an end to what has been a historical season for the Tigers that was highlighted by a regular season championship, its sixth SEC Championship title, their first No. 1 seed ever and the program’s 15th regional championship.
**LSU PRESS RELEASE**