Florida, LSU, Oklahoma, Minnesota Advance to NCAA Gymnastics Final

Fort Worth, Texas, saw Florida, LSU, Oklahoma, and Minnesota advance to the NCAA women's gymnastics championship on Saturday after Thursday's semifinals at Dickies Arena, setting up a competition among seasoned powerhouses and an underdog for the national title.

In the afternoon session, Florida and LSU secured the top two spots, outpacing Georgia and Stanford. The Gators, ranked second entering the meet, took control early with strong performances across rotations, highlighted by senior Riley McCusker's 9.9875 on bars, the session's highest score. Florida coach Jenny Rowland emphasized the team's focus afterward, saying, "Tonight was for us all about the Gators, really just staying present and celebrating those wins." LSU, ranked third, faced early challenges with wobbles on beam and lower scores in the 9.7 range on bars but rallied in the final floor rotation. Sophomore Kailin Chio delivered a 9.9625, complemented by Amari Drayton's 9.9375, to edge out Georgia by a narrow margin. Chio, who ranks first nationally in all-around, vault, and beam, told reporters, "I told this team I was not having a repeat of last year... I'm just so proud of this team." Both teams had exited...