Florida, LSU secure first 2 spots in NCAA gymnastics final

Florida, coached by Jenny Rowland, won Thursday's afternoon semifinal session. Jerome Miron / Imagn Images Share articleFlorida and LSU secured two of the four spots in Saturday’s NCAA gymnastics championship, beating out Georgia and Stanford in Thursday’s afternoon semifinal. The Gators and Tigers have been considered top contenders all season, ranked second and third, respectively. Still, a spot in the final is never guaranteed; last year, both teams saw early exits from the NCAAs, failing to advance out of the semifinal round after finishing the regular season in the top three. Florida led the way Thursday afternoon. Senior Riley McCusker threw down the highest score of the session, a near-perfect bar routine that secured her a 9.9875 from the judges. “Tonight was for us all about the Gators, really just staying present and celebrating those wins,” Florida coach Jenny Rowland told ESPN after the competition. “If you saw any of those bar routines, there was a lot to celebrate, so super proud of this team.” No. 6 Georgia put the pressure on LSU, which struggled with landings on bars and a series of wobbles on beam, counting a pair of scores in the 9.7s. The Tigers entered the final rotation 0.025 behind the Bulldogs in third. It helps to have the nation’s top-ranked all-arounder on your team. Sophomore Kailin Chio closed out her day for LSU on floor with a 9.9625, which, alongside a 9.9375 from Amari Drayton, gave the Tigers the advantage over Georgia. “I told this team I was not having a repeat of last year,” Chio told ESPN after the meet, getting choked up. “I don’t want to get emotional, but I told them, ‘We got to get it together.’ And I’m just so proud of this team. I did it for them, and I did it for us.” Stanford finished the semifinal in fourth, struggling with landings on vault for a series of scores in the 9.7s and struggling to catch up from there. LSU won its first championship in 2024, and Florida hasn’t won the title since 2015. This year, the Gators hold the season high score and upset No. 1 Oklahoma — competing in the evening final — for the SEC title, while LSU finished the regular-season ranked second. The Gators and Tigers will compete alongside the top two teams from the evening semifinal session at 9 p.m. ET Thursday between No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 4 UCLA, No. 9 Arkansas and No. 13 Minnesota. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Rebecca Tauber is a Staff Editor on The Athletic’s news team. Before joining The Athletic, she worked at Denverite and Colorado Public Radio. She grew up in Lower Merion, Pa., and is a graduate of Williams College.