LSU junior Konnor McClain was injured Saturday night during the Baton Rouge regional final of the 2026 NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships, potentially leaving the Tigers without one of their key contributors as the team heads to nationals.

McClain anchored the Tigers’ bars lineup in the second rotation. Her toe-on piked Tkatchev, also known as a Church, looked beautiful through the air, but she seemed to try to regrip with her fingertips – the catch wasn’t there. She fell hard to the mat below on her knees, and when she got up, she seemed to be holding her right arm. McClain was taken off the field of play to be evaluated and emerged later still holding her arm.

After the meet, LSU head coach Jay Clark gave an update on McClain on the ESPN+ broadcast, sharing that she has been struggling with some shoulder/elbow stuff – “It presents kind of as nerve pain.”

The hope is that there is no structural damage, with Clark adding, “It doesn’t appear that way at this point, but we won’t know until we get a good scan.”

There’s not a lot of time to come back from an injury like this, Clark admitted – “We’ll see.”

McClain was replaced in the beam lineup by Madison Ulrich, who scored a 9.825. The Tigers ultimately dropped that score from their total.

LSU went on to win the regional final with a 197.825 and will advance, along with Stanford, to the national semifinals in Fort Worth, Texas on April 16. If the team makes it to the Four on the Floor team final on April 18, they will have two more meets total.

As she has her entire collegiate career, McClain has been a staple in the bars and beam lineups this season. She also added vault and has been stellar with her clean Yurchenko full. She averages in the 9.800s on all three events, with highs of 9.975 on bars and beam and a 9.925 on vault. McClain has been one of the top five contributors, points-wise, for LSU in 2026.

If she is unable to return for nationals, LSU will have to try to replace those crucial routines in the vault, bars, and beam lineups. At this point in the postseason, every routine counts, and losing McClain could be costly. That being said, the Tigers have a big roster and should be able to find a solution.

McClain has been plagued by injuries throughout her career. Most notably, she tore her Achilles in the first meet of her elite return in 2024. After earning a 14.200 on beam, she suffered the injury while warming up on floor, putting a quick end to her bid to make the Paris Olympic team.