For the third consecutive season, LSU gymnastics made it to the national semifinal. Unfortunately for the Tigers, 2025 wasn’t their chance to repeat. LSU finished third in its session with a 197.525 and was eliminated from the tournament. UCLA (197.7375) and Utah (197.7625) advanced, while Michigan State (197.3625) was also eliminated.
The Tigers trailed through one rotation, and found themselves in fourth place by the halfway point, without a single score of 9.9 or better. While a team score of 49.5 on the balance beam briefly put LSU in the second-place transfer spot, a monster Bruins routine on the event on the fourth rotation eliminated the Tigers.
Team performance
LSU had entered riding high, scoring over 198 in every meet since late February. However, there were bumps in the road in the regional final earlier this month, with the Tigers’ 198.05 score being the lowest since facing Kentucky in the regular season.
On Thursday, it was more of the same. Aside from that beam rotation, LSU’s team scores were mired in the 49.3-range on the vault, uneven bars and floor exercise. In total, it was the team’s first loss since a late-January defeat to Arkansas.
Individual performance
Still, at least one Tiger managed to take home some hardware.
While team championships won’t be awarded until Saturday afternoon, individual championships in each event were awarded Thursday night — and these titles didn’t need to come from advancing teams.
Star Kailin Chio capped off her freshman season in one of the best ways possible. By scoring a 9.975 on the vault to claim the NCAA vault championship.
Livvy Dunne’s career comes to an end
The fifth-year senior star had to close her college career on the sideline.
While she had been rehabbing an avulsion fracture in her kneecap since early March, Thursday was the earliest she could have returned from injury, albeit limited. If she were to return, she could have participated in the bars — an event with less wear and tear on the knee — but not the beam or floor.
Ultimately, the Tigers started on bars and chose to leave her off the lineup card.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU gymnastics finishes third in semifinal, eliminated from tournament