Long Live Gym 101
2025 was all about Protecting the Crown. Now, it’s time to Clear the Path for 2026. The back-to-back SEC champion LSU gymnastics team has been working the entire offseason to get ready for the 2026 season, and now they’ll showcase it at Open Mike Night, the new name for the preview intrasquad previously known as Gym 101. This is the first week of the regular season, and the first meet that counts will be Minnesota and Iowa at Utah tonight at 8 on ESPN+.
Since LSU won’t be at home until January 23rd, head coach Jay Clark decided to move this meet to the first Friday of 2026. Admission is free, as usual, but you’ll want to arrive early. The fan fest opens at 5:00 and gates to the PMAC open at 5:30. The event itself begins at 6:30 and will run with gymnasts doing routines on alternating events over the span of four rotations. Afterward, fans can line up in the concourse for the only autograph session of the season. The mock meet will be streamed on SECN+, too. As usual, I have some questions that I want to see answered at this year’s event.
1: How do the transfers look?
In a recent interview with All Things Gymnastics, head coach Jay Clark said that the three transfers have done a great job of becoming a part of the team both in the gym and outside it. Madison Ulrich is expected to be an all-arounder, and that makes me think she’s developing a Yurchenko 1.5 to replace her Full. Emily Innes was brought in for beam stability, but her floor routine could see time in lineups and her vault has upgraded to a Y1.5. Courtney Blackson, the fifth-year senior who took 2025 off, is killing it on vault and bars. Her floor routine is good, but she earned the nickname Granny B in part because of back problems that keep flaring up on the apparatus. It will be interesting to see how they look under the PMAC roof.
2: How do the freshmen look?
LSU has four true freshmen and one redshirt freshman this season. Zoe Miller had shoulder surgery before the 2025 season, but she was expected to be medically ready on all four events a few weeks ago. She is a former elite that has a very high ceiling, so hopefully she’ll get to show that off. She has a beam routine that doesn’t require her to use her arms, so watch out for that. Of the four true freshmen, Elyse Wenner is the one with the highest chance of doing nothing since she’s dealt with some concussions. As for Nina Ballou, Molly Brinkman and Haley Mustari, they should be good to go. Haley’s bars are some of the best of any incoming freshman in the country, while Nina and Molly are powerhouses on the leg events of vault and floor.
3: How are the people returning from injury?
Konnor McClain was still recovering from her Achilles tear during the 2025 season, and that limited her to bars and beam. Now, she’s back to doing floor routines and is working on getting her Yurchenko Double to the level needed to make lineups. Chase Brock is still recovering from her Achilles tear and is unlikely to do much more than vault. Her recovery is taking longer than Konnor’s because that’s just what happens sometimes. Alexis Jeffrey had a back injury that required surgery, but she’s back to doing bars sets.
Kaliya Lincoln was a star who competed during the first half of the season, but a nagging injury worsened to the point where she needed to stop competing and let it heal. Now, she’s doing much better. Kaliya had too much power on her Y1.5, so she’s upgraded to a Double to reign it in. She can be a strong factor on all four events, so perhaps she’ll do routines on all four.
4: What’s new?
As mentioned above, Kaliya and Madison have upgraded vaults they’re working to get into competition shape. Lexi Zeiss has a more consistent beam routine that ends with a tucked dismount, something that she’s annihilated on bars. Other people will have other things, but that’s all I’ve heard about or seen. The mystery is part of the magic.
As usual, this should be a fantastic event. The season is back, and the Tigers are ready to show off why they’re a national threat. It will be far better than what happened in this building last night, at least.
Category: General Sports
