Meet 14: NCAA Regional Final
READ: Tigers Advance from Semifinal | Clemson Wins 2026 ACC Title
- Saturday, Apr. 4, 2026, 6 p.m. ET
- Pete Maravich Assembly Center • Baton Rouge, La.
- TV: ESPN+
- Live Scoring (Virtius)
- Clemson Meet Notes: (Download PDF)
- Clemson Record Book
- Clemson will begin on the beam
BATON ROUGE, La. - The 15th-seeded Clemson Gymnastics program will meet No. 2 LSU, No. 7 Stanford and No. 10. Michigan in a quad meet on Saturday, April 4 at 6 p.m. ET at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center and on ESPN+ in the Baton Rouge Regional Final. The top two finishers advance to the 2026 NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships held in Fort Worth, Texas, from April 16-18.
Stanford and Michigan advanced over North Carolina and Utah State.
Clemson is making its first appearance in a Regional Final, and is seeking its first appearance at Nationals in its first season under the direction of Co-Head Coaches Justin Howell and Liz Crandall-Howell. Clemson advanced out of the Baton Rouge Semifinal with a 196.800 on Thursday night, finishing second behind LSU (198.375) and ahead of No. 17 Auburn and Nebraska.
All-American Brie Clark led Clemson on beam (9.875), vault (9.900) and floor (9.950), as Clemson used a 0.050 advantage to pull away from Auburn in the final rotation to advance.
Co-Head Coaches Justin Howell and Elisabeth Crandall-Howell advanced to Nationals five times in their time at California.
Regional Final 1 (6 p.m. ET)
- No. 2 Seed – LSU
- No. 7 Seed - Stanford
- No. 10 Seed - Michigan
- No. 15 Seed - Clemson
Clemson has competed against all three of the programs that made the NCAA Regional Final.
TIGERS ADVANCE TO REGIONAL FINAL
- Clemson was one of four teams to advance to the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional Final as the Tigers posted a 196.800 to finish second in the semifinal.
- Clemson is under the direction of first-year Co-Head Coaches Justin Howell and Elisabeth Crandall-Howell, who have now made a Regional Final in 11 consecutive seasons.
- It is Clemson’s first time advancing to a Regional Final in its third season overall.
- Graduate Brie Clark led Clemson on beam (9.875), vault (career-high 9.900) and floor (9.950). In its final rotation, Clemson posted a 49.225 on vault, tied for its third-best showing ever, to hold on over Auburn. Host No. 2 LSU posted a 198.375.
TIGERS TAKE ACC TITLE
- Clemson posted a 197.100, the ninth-highest score in the nation on championship weekend, to upend No. 7 Stanford, No. 14 Cal, No. 20 NC State, No. 22 UNC and Pitt to win the ACC Championship
- Clemson won by a 0.025 margin after its school-record bars performance (49.450), which included four 9.900s, and a season-best 49.250 on vault.
- Madison Minner won the ACC Vault title with a 9.900, while Maggie Holman (vault), Lippeatt, Malewski, Hannah Clark and Kuhl (bars), Malewski (beam), and Brie Clark (floor) all earned podium finishes.
Clark becomes Clemson’s first First-Team All-American
- Brie Clark was named a First-Team Regular-Season First-Team All-American and All-ACC on floor, ranking No. 1 in the ACC in NQS (9.945); She has won floor nine times in 2026 and has won beam in two road meets. She has 21 career floor and five beam event wins.
- Clark is the only gymnast in the nation with a 9.900+ on floor in all 12 meets this season
Clemson earns No. 15 national seed
- Clemson earned the No. 15 national seed, its first national seed.
- Clemson has qualified for the NCAA Championships in each of its first three seasons.
- The Tigers were in the Regional First Round in both 2024 (L vs Iowa State) and 2025 (W vs. Rutgers)
- 14 Tigers have NCAA experience, including 13 at Clemson + Ella Cesario (see page 14)
ONE DAY BETTER
- Clemson has taken big strides in its first season under new Co-Head Coaches Justin Howell and Liz Crandall-Howell
- Clemson leads the region and is No. 5 nationally in average score improvement, going from 195.970 to 196.698 (+0.728). It led to a 12-spot jump (27 to 15), which is third-best nationally.
- They’ve led Clemson to seven of its top nine team scores in program history (36 meets); Clemson has 14 team scores of 196.500 or better (38%) - nine are in 2026 (75%). Clemson also broke 197 three times in 2026 (twice previously) and has its four highest team scores away from home.
- Clemson is one of seven teams nationally (and one of 2 in the region) to improve in all four events
- Clemson’s 18-spot jump on bars from 2025 is the biggest jump nationally
- Clemson’s 20-spot jump on beam from 2025 is second-best nationally
- Clemson has surpassed 196.500 nine times in 2026 (including 8 in a row) after doing so five times in its first 25 meets.
COMPETING WITH THE BEST
- 13 of Clemson’s 18 head-to-head meetings have been ranked in the top 25.
- Clemson has competed against 4 teams in the Regional - Auburn, Stanford, Michigan and UNC
- Additionally, four members of Clemson’s roster were previously at Utah State (2022)
TRENDING...
- Tara Walsh was named All-ACC on vault with a 9.880 NQS. She has competed in 36 events in 2026, with 29 at 9.8 or above (80.6%) and 23 of those scored a 9.850 or higher
- Lilly Lippeatt has 28 routines of 9.800 or higher in 2026, including 9.900s on bars, beam and floor. 21 of her last 23 routines have been 9.8 or higher, dating to 1/30.
- Ella Cesario ranked 3rd in the ACC in AA NQS (39.385); She is 1 of 2 ACC gymnastics in the top-15 of all four events... She has four of the top eight AA scores in program history.
CLEMSON LOVES GYMNASTICS
- Clemson ranked 6th in the nation with 43,161 fans and its 7,194 per meet ranked 10th in 2026
- Clemson ranked in the top ten in attendance nationally in each of its first three seasons in Littlejohn