How to Watch: LSU Tigers in the 2025 SEC Gymnastics Championships on Saturday

Jay Clark's crew hits the road for the SEC Championships, set to take place on Saturday night.

Courtesy of LSU Gymnastics.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The No. 2 LSU Gymnastics team (11-2, 7-1 SEC) is set to appear in the second session of the 2025 SEC Gymnastics Championships inside Legacy Arena on Friday, March 22 at 7 p.m. CT on SEC Network. 

“This meet is going to be tight. I don’t know that there’s ever been an evening session this stacked. You’ve got the top three teams plus the No. 7 team in the country in the same meet,” said head coach Jay Clark. “It just goes to show the difficulty of our conference as a whole. It’s just going to come down to mindset. We’re excited, and I’m hopeful that we have fans show out to create an atmosphere for all the teams in Birmingham tomorrow!”

“To see the growth that we’ve shown over the last month has been tremendous. I feel good about where we are. You’d love to have a full boat, but I like what we have and I certainly think that we have what we need to get it done. We’ve been able to utilize our depth and put ourselves in a good spot.”

The SEC Championships consist of a one-day, two session format between the top eight teams in the conference. The ninth-place team does not qualify for the championships.

Seeding for the SEC Gymnastics Championships is based on final regular-season Team National Qualifying Scores (NQS). No. 2 LSU owns an NQS of 198.005 entering this weekend. 

Session I of the day will feature seeds 5-8 as No. 5 Kentucky, No. 6 Georgia, No. 7 Auburn and No. 8 Alabama will kick off competition at 2:30 p.m. CT on Saturday.

The evening session of the conference championships is made up of the top four seeds and will feature four of the top 10 teams in the country. The Tigers claimed the No. 2 seed and will compete against No. 1 seed Oklahoma, No. 3 seed Florida and No. 4 seed Missouri in the second session.

LSU will start the meet on bars and rotate in Olympic order to beam and floor before finishing on vault. Oklahoma starts on vault, Florida on floor and Missouri on beam.

Both sessions of competition on Saturday will be broadcast nationally on SEC Network with John Roethlisberger, Aly Raisman and Sam Peszek on the call. Taylor Davis will serve as the on-site reporter in Legacy Arena. 

SEC Championships History

Saturday’s meet marks the 44th edition of the SEC Championships. For 20 years, SEC campuses hosted the conference championship as the inaugural championship was held at LSU in 1981, but in 2001, the SEC Gymnastics Championship moved to neutral sites. 

Previous host sites include: Birmingham, Ala. (2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2011, 2014, 2022 and 2025); Duluth, Ga. (2004, 2005, 2008, 2012, 2015 and 2023); North Little Rock, Ark. (2007, 2013 and 2016); Nashville, Tenn. (2009), Jacksonville, Fla. (2010 and 2017); St. Louis, Mo. (2018); New Orleans, La. (2019) and Huntsville, Ala. (2021).

LSU owns five SEC Championship titles in program history, including the inaugural conference title in 1981, as they will look to defend last year’s title this weekend.

The Tigers claimed three consecutive titles in 2017, 2018 2019, and last year’s 2024 title. The program has already claimed a share of the regular season title in 2025, their first since 2018 and third overall. 

Here is a breakdown of LSU’s finishes at the SEC Championship: 1st Place – 5 times (1981, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2025); 2nd Place – 6 (1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2015, 2021); 3rd Place – 11 (1982, 1983, 1991, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2004, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2023); 4th Place – 17 (1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1993, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012); 5th Place – 4 (1992, 1996, 2011, 2022); 6th Place – 0; 7th Place – 0; 8th Place – 0

The four teams in the SEC Championships’ final session are among the nation’s top-10: No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Florida, No. 7 Missouri. 

All SEC programs in this year’s championship enter the weekend ranked amongst the nation’s top 20 – No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 LSU, No. 3 Florida, No. 7 Missouri, No. 8 Kentucky, No. 10 Georgia, No. 12 Auburn and No. 13 Alabama.

League teams made up half of the nation’s top 10 for eight of the last 16 SEC Championship meets, with six in 2025 the all-time high. 

This year marks the first time since 2007 that the SEC Championship meet includes the nation’s top three teams.

Week 11 Road To Nationals Rankings

The Tigers remain the No. 2 team in the country heading into the 2025 SEC Championships in Birmingham this weekend, where they will be the second seed.

The Tigers have claimed the second spot for eight out of 11 weeks of regular season competition and have not placed lower than three throughout the season so far.

No. 2 LSU concluded their regular season with a 198.200-197.550 win over No. 14 Auburn, their highest road score this year. The strong road performance improved their NQS (National Qualifying Score) to 198.005 in this week’s rankings.

Oklahoma has placed as the No. 1 team in the country for all 11 weeks of regular season competition and currently owns a NQS of 198.040. No. 3 Florida, No. 4 Utah and No. 5 UCLA round out the top five in this week’s rankings.

LSU’s current NQS is made up of the average of their highest scores, three of which must be away scores, and dropping their highest overall score of 198.575 at home. Those five counting scores are now 198.125, 198.050, 198.200, 198.000, 197.650.

LSU NQS SCORES

1. 198.575 (H)
2. 198.200 (A)
3. 198.125 (A)
4. 198.050 (H)
5. 198.000 (H)
6. 197.650 (A)

NQS: 198.005

The Tigers ranked in the top five on every event for the second straight week, including the top spot on vault. The squad currently ranks first on vault, third on bars, fifth on beam and second on floor.

LSU has ranked in the top 10 across the board during all 11 weeks of regular competition so far and has claimed the top vault spot on seven separate occasions 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 39.670 and also sits in the top 20 on every event, including the No. 1 spot on vault with her NQS of 9.955.

The freshman previously claimed the top spot on vault in week seven and hasn’t placed lower than two in the last six weeks of competition.

Other Tigers to earn a spot in the top national event rankings are Haleigh Bryant, Aleah Finnegan, Konnor McClain and Amari Drayton. Bryant ranks in the top 20 on vault, beam and floor while Finnegan placed in the vault, beam and all-around rankings. 

McClain has placed in the top 20 on bars for nine weeks and claimed a top in the 25 on beam this week. Drayton ranks No. 16 on floor.

Chio Wins Ninth SEC Freshman of the Week Honor, Breaks Conference Record

Kailin Chio won her ninth career SEC Freshman of the Week honor on Tuesday, breaking the previous single season record by any freshman in the conference since the award began in 2009.

Chio shares the week 11 honor with Oklahoma’s Addison Fatta after both freshmen put up a 39.650 in the all-around last Friday. Chio now owns the most SEC Freshman of the Week honors in conference history, breaking the previous record of eight set by Florida’s Kayla DiCello’s in 2023. 

She also holds the LSU record for the most SEC awards by a gymnast in their first season. She surpassed Haleigh Bryant’s previous record of five in 2021.

The LSU freshman out of Henderson, Nevada recorded her first career perfect 10 in the Tigers regular season finale against No. 14 Auburn last Friday.

She became the first freshman in the country to earn a 10 this season after her flawless yurchenko one and a half on vault. Her 10 on vault was only the third in the country by any gymnast so far this season.

Chio put up strong scores to add to LSU’s season high road victory last Friday, recording scores of 9.9000 on bars and 9.925 on floor on top of her perfect 10.0 on vault.

She took home the vault title on the night, her 20th title this season and sixth on the event, winning at least one title in all but one competition so far this year.

She has earned a spot amongst the top five gymnasts in the nation for four straight weeks, currently ranking No. 5 in the all-around with her NQS of 39.670.

She also sits in the top 10 nationally in the vault and beam rankings, including the No. 1 spot on vault with her NQS of 9.955 on the event. 

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