Finally, some actual routines
They Got There, now it’s time to Protect The Crown. The 2025 defending SEC and national champion LSU Tigers gymnastics team is back on the Pete Maravich Assembly Center floor for the first time in over eight months for the annual Gymnastics 101 showcase meet. This year, it’s being advertised as Gym 101 x Open Mike Night because they are incorporating more interviews and Q&A moments during the event itself. If the weather cooperates, there will be a fan fest outside the PMAC starting at 4:30 p.m. where fans can take pics with the national championship trophy and get a free t-shirt (they do this every year, it’s free, go get one). The event itself starts at 6:00 p.m. and is expected to last about two-and-a-half hours. Admission is free, and if you can’t make it, check out SEC Network+. Don’t forget you have log in with your TV provider online or in the app to get access to SECN+. This is also the only autograph signing session of the year.
I’m resurrecting the format I used to preview Gym 101 last season: questions that I’ll be looking to see answered during the meet.
1: Does everyone remember to hold their landings?
It’s been a while since anybody’s had to do any routines under the PMAC lights. LSU wasn’t as good at holding landings as they could’ve been last season, so hopefully they get better. Half-tenth deductions like that matter when going up against the toughest conference in the country.
2: How are the people returning from injuries?
This is a far shorter list than 2023’s Gym 101. The two major returners from injury are Alyona Shchennikova (Achilles) and Bryce Wilson (unspecified leg injury). According to an interview with All Things Gymnastics, head coach Jay Clark said Alyona was looking ready on three events. They recorded that interview on or around November 22nd, so it’ll be interesting to see if there are any updates. As for Bryce, that’s going to be a “wait and see” kind of situation.
3: What are the newcomers bringing to the table?
Two of the newcomers are out for the season (unless a late-season emergency thrusts them into action): Zoe Miller and Kaliya Lincoln. Zoe had surgery in October to repair one of her shoulders while Kaliya is dealing with a bad leg injury. That leaves the other three newcomers, freshmen Kailin Chio and Lexi Zeiss and senior transfer Kathryn Weilbacher (first syllable is pronounced wall) out of Bowling Green. I want to note two things in the interest of full disclosure: I interviewed Kathryn when she was at BGSU last year and I’ve known Lexi and her dad, Jess, since around the time she committed (we actually met at the first game of the 2023 Men’s College World Series Final).
Kailin is a highly anticipated freshman on all four events. She’s competed against top-ranked recruit Avery Neff, now at Utah, in Level 10 competitions and beaten her several times. Lexi is especially anticipated on vault. She can stick hers more consistently than most elites, and she’s even had a major competition in which she stuck two different vaults back-to-back. Kathryn is a wild card. I haven’t seen any video of her training, but she’s more than capable of doing the all-around based on her time at Bowling Green (career high of 39.500). She does a Yurchenko Full on vault and tied the program record with a 9.950 last season. She also scored a 9.900 on floor at the 2024 MAC Championship to earn one of the six MAC floor titles (yes, a six-way tie).
4: What’s new?
The best part of Gym 101 is seeing the new stuff that’s coming in the 2025 season. Some of the ones that popped up in training footage include Aleah Finnegan’s full out on bars, Kylie Coen’s competition-ready beam routine and Olivia Dunne’s double layout on floor. Don’t forget the new floor music.
It should be a good night of fun as the road to the season continues.