Women's Gymnasts of the Week – Jan. 16-22, 2023

Co-Gymnasts of the Week
Adeline Kenlin – Iowa

• Collected a pair of podium finishes against Ohio State in Columbus after returning to the Hawkeye lineup following an injury
• Posted a 9.850 on bars, helping the Hawkeyes to a season-best event total 49.200
• Earned a career-high 9.925 on floor to take second place and a season-high 9.900 on beam to anchor the lineup and tie for second
• The Academic All-Big Ten honoree earns her first career Big Ten Gymnast of the Week award

Hannah Joyner – Rutgers

• Finished in the top five for all her events, highlighted by a trio of event titles, in the Scarlet Knights’ dual against Illinois on Jan. 21
• Broke a 10-year-old all-around program record with a 39.525 to take home the title
• Captured the title on bars (9.900) and beam (9.925), while finishing fourth on vault (9.825) and floor (9.875)
• The two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree earns her first career Big Ten Gymnast of the Week award

Nikki Smith – Michigan State (and Freshman of the Week)

• Finished at the top of the podium twice to help the Spartans defeat in-state rival Michigan 197.200-196.975, marking the Wolverines’ first Big Ten dual meet loss since Jan. 27, 2018
• Captured the vault title with a career-high 9.950, tying for third all-time at Michigan State and contributing to the Spartans’ record-tying 49.400 team score for the event
• Added a 9.850 on bars, a 9.825 on beam and a 9.900 on floor to take home the all-around title with a score of 39.525 and secure the Spartans’ first win against the Wolverines since Feb. 3, 2007
• Earns her first career Big Ten Gymnast of the Week and her first career Freshman of the Week award

Event Specialist of the Week
Mya Hooten – Minnesota

• Posted a 9.900 or better to finish at the top of the podium for all three of her events in the Gophers’ victory against Penn State on Jan. 21
• Scored 9.900 on vault, 9.925 on bars and 9.950 on floor, steadily improving as the Gophers progressed through their Big Ten opener
• Ranks sixth nationally on floor (9.925 average), 12th on vault (9.900) and 20th on bars (9.892)
• The Academic All-Big Ten honoree collects her fifth career Big Ten Event Specialist of the Week honor and her first of the season

Gymnast of the Week
Danielle Sievers – Oklahoma
Sievers earned her first Gymnast of the Week honor as she led the Sooner squad on vault scoring a career-high 9.950 in the event. After participating in all three meets so far this season, she holds a 9.908 average on vault and is ranked No. 11 nationally. She then matched her season-high 9.875 total on bars. The sophomore finished her night securing a 9.900 on floor.

Specialist of the Week
Allie Stern – Oklahoma
Stern collected her first overall vault title this season against Utah when she tied against reigning NCAA vault champion Jaedyn Rucker. She earned an overall score of 9.975 which included a perfect 10 from one of the two judges. The super senior’s score is the highest that was given to any Big 12 gymnast in week three. Stern and the OU vault rotation received the nation’s highest total score of 49.650, which ties Michigan’s score in the event from the second week. The award is her second career honor.

Newcomer of the Week
Faith Torrez – Oklahoma
Torrez earned her first career all-around title in her second meet competing in all events. She took the individual titles in bars (9.900) and floor (9.950). The freshman matched her career-highs in floor and beam (9.900) while scoring a 9.775 in vault. Torrez received her career-high all-around score of 39.525, which ranks nationally as the second-best of all freshmen this week. This is her second Newcomer of the Week honor this season.

Gymnast of the Week
Hallie Copperwheat – Pittsburgh
Copperwheat placed first overall in the all around with a score of 39.350. The sophomore also placed second overall on bars with a 9.900 and tied for third on beam with a 9.825. In addition, the Leighton Buzzard, England native had no score below 9.825 in any event.

Specialist of the Week
Mara Titarsolej – Long Island
Titarsolej scored a 9.950 on bars to win the event for the third time this season. The junior is currently ranked No. 1 on bars in the EAGL. In addition, the Zutphen, Netherlands native is currently ranked No. 7 nationally on bars—the top spot for any EAGL gymnast.

Rookie of the Week
Natalia Pawlak – Pittsburgh
Pawlak secured first place on bars with a 9.925 and helped Pittsburgh to a 49.000 team score on that event. The freshman’s performance on bars set a new personal best score.

Gymnast of the Week
Abby Contello – Brown
In Saturday’s quad meet against No. 8 Denver, No. 18 Oregon State and Sacramento State, Contello led the Bears on both vault and bars, helping the team post season-highs on bars and overall with a 193.625. An impressive 9.825 on vault was a career-high for Contello. She also posted a 9.8 on bars and a 9.65 on balance beam.

Specialist of the Week
Keaghan Schafer – William & Mary
Keaghan Schafer was exceptional on her two events in a conference matchup against Penn. Schafer posted a career high 9.875, receiving a 9.9 from one judge on floor with a perfectly stuck double pike as her first tumbling pass. Keaghan’s score tied her for first place. She also led the Tribe on beam receiving a 9.7 for a fourth place finish. Schafer has been a standout for the Tribe during her career thus far. When returning home, she was nominated by the Athletic Department for Student-Athlete of the Week.

Newcomer of the Week
Marissa Lassiter – Penn
First year student, Marissa Lassiter, earned or tied her personal bests on all 3 events she competed at home vs William&Mary this past weekend. Lassiter started by leading off the vault team with a stuck yurchenko full, tying for first place with a 9.8. The first year made her way back into the bar lineup this week and delivered a solid 9.65 routine following a fall. Lassiter shined on floor for the third week in a row, earning a tie for second place and a 9.8 score. Her stellar performances helped lead the team to its highest home score in program history, a 194.8.

Gymnast of the Week
Payton Murphy – Western Michigan
Murphy played a big part in Western Michigan’s season-high score of 195.925 and its win at Bowling Green. She posted a 39.400, the highest mark so far in the MAC, to win the all-around. The mark also tied her career-best and program meet record that she holds. Murphy posted a 9.825 on vault and bars and a 9.875 on beam and floor.

Specialist of the Week
Suki Pfister – Ball State
Junior Suki Pfister turned in a pair of beautiful performances to help the Ball State gymnastics team break the program record with a team score of 196.550 at last Friday’s Tennessee Collegiate Classic. In fact, she tied a program record of her own, registering a career-best 9.950 in just her third collegiate floor competition to win the event. It’s also the best floor score in the league so far this season. The top vaulter in the MAC, she also landed a 9.900 to win the event and help the Cardinals break the team vault record with a score of 49.250. Pfister was not done there, however, as she registered a 9.850 on floor and a 9.800 on vault to help the Cardinals top Eastern Michigan in MAC dual action last Sunday.

Gymnast of the Week
Gayla Griswold – Lindenwood
Griswold was named this week’s MIC Gymnast of the Week after taking home the highest scores in all three events in which she competed for the Lions. The Baton Rouge, Louisiana native had an impressive outing, scoring a 9.825 on balance beam, 9.875 on floor and a 9.800 on vault. The senior has made it onto the Lions’ leaderboard in at least one event in every meet so far this year, proving to be a mainstay in many of Lindenwood’s event lineups.

Performance of the Week
Alix Pierce – Texas Woman’s
Pierce, a senior from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, has been a staple on balance beam and floor for the Pioneers. During this season, Pierce has competed on the two events in all three of the Pioneers’ meets. Performing in the sixth spot on floor on Friday, Pierce hit the routine beautifully. After the last skill, Pierce was greeted by joyous cheers from the TWU teammates and fans, which erupted even louder when the score of a 9.900 was flashed. The 9.9000 represented a career-high for Pierce, breaking their former career-high of a 9.875, which was set at the MIC Championships on March 18, 2022. Pierce also broke their former season high, which was set at the Arizona Meet on Jan. 14, 2023, of a 9.775, and recorded their first event win of the season.

Newcomer of the Week
Jaly Jones – Lindenwood
Jones claimed Newcomer of the Week honors for her stellar showing in the all-around category, where she set a new personal best with her 39.250 score. The freshman compiled an impressive 9.775 on vault, 9.875 on the uneven bars, and 9.800 on both beam and floor, already proving to be a well-rounded competitor for the Lions in her first collegiate season. This is Jones’ first time winning an MIC weekly award so far in her career.

Coaches’ Choice Award
Joy Ziegenfelder – Illinois State
The Gainesville, Florida, native came to ISU after overcoming personal challenges and physical obstacles that affected her gymnastics career. When she arrived on campus earlier this fall, Ziegenfelder began her training and worked extremely hard even though she had to keep all weight off her wrist so it could heal. Under the direction of the Redbird coaching staff, she learned a one-handed round off to double backs and an entirely new no handed beam routine. She was just recently cleared to start putting weight on her wrist, but still does the no-handed beam routine. Last Saturday in ISU’s win at Greenville, she competed on beam and took second place with a score of 9.750 behind teammate Angelica Labat. She has quickly become one of the more consistent performers on beam for the Redbirds, taking her spot in the middle of the lineup in each of the team’s four meets this season. In a short time, Ziegenfelder has become a big part of the Redbird squad and has truly found a new home at Illinois State.

Gymnast of the Week
Jada Mazury – San Jose State
San Jose State senior Jada Mazury (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) won the balance beam (9.90), floor (9.875), and all-around (39.225) titles in the Spartans’ dual meet win at Air Force (Jan. 16). Her beam score tied for the second-highest in school history, becoming the 12th Spartan to receive a 9.900 in the event. It was also the first 9.900 beam in the MPSF this year and tied for 18th all-time in the conference. This is the eighth career MPSF weekly award for Mazury.

Specialist of the Week
Emma Milne – San Jose State
San Jose State senior Emma Milne (Barrie, Ontario, Canada) won the uneven bars title with a 9.875 to help the Spartans to a winning 195.250 total at Air Force (Jan. 16). She also tied for second on the balance beam (9.825) to contribute to a 49.050 event team total. This is the 10th career MPSF weekly award for Milne.

Freshman of the Week
Kylee Greene – Air Force
Air Force freshman Kylee Greene (Bartlesville, OK) earned a second-place finish on the floor (9.825) and two fourth-place finishes on the vault (9.700) and balance beam (9.800) on the way to the Falcons’ highest-ever scoring season opener (194.150). At the Texas Woman’s Quad, Greene tied her debut on the floor with another second-place 9.825, and improved on the vault with a 9.725 to earn another fourth-place finish in the event. This is Greene’s first career MPSF honor.

Gymnast of the Week
Karley McClain – Southern Utah
McClain finished the meet against the Aggies with a 39.475 in the all-around, matching her season high and logging her third-consecutive MRGC Gymnast of the Week honor.

Specialists of the Week
Vault – Ellie Cacciola, Southern Utah; Kayla Pardue, Southern Utah; Emily Lopez, Boise State
Uneven Bars – Anyssa Alvarado, BYU, Shylen Murakami, Southern Utah
Balance Beam – Emily Lopez, Boise State; Ellie Cacciola, Southern Utah
Floor Exercise – Rebekah Bean Ripley, BYU; Rachel Smith, Southern Utah; Karley McClain, Southern Utah

All-Around Gymnast of the Week
Olivia Keyes – Rhode Island College
“Olivia competed all around Sunday for the first time this season after injuring herself on a new vault. She has been nothing but positive since that day, trying to gain all her confidence back. It was not an easy weekend for Olivia since RIC went back to back competing Saturday at Southern and Sunday at home. She won both days’ beam with a 9.7 and 9.75. Sunday Olivia won the All around with a 37.70!

Specialist of the Week
Cameron Nichols – Ithaca
Cameryn broke our school record by scoring a 9.85, leading our Beam team to a top 4 sweep of that event in our tri meet with Brockport and Ursinus College. This accomplishment is particularly rewarding, along with her 9.65 floor score (6th place) following her fractured sesamoid bone that kept her in a boot and not competing leg events for the past two years. It’s been hard for her to be sidelined for two years, but has always been a supportive team member and leader. We hope she will finally be back to her form as freshman of the year 4 years ago.

Gymnast of the Week
Jade Carey – Oregon State

• The Olympic Gold Medalist earns Gymnast of the Week honors for the second consecutive week after sweeping the podium awards at the Beaver Quad Meet featuring No. 16 OSU, No. 9 Denver, Brown and Sacramento State.
• Captured the all-around title for the second straight meet, matching her career regular season-best of 39.825, which also ties her mark for second-best all-around score in program history.
• Her 39.825 in the all-around is tied for the best score in the nation this season, while her average of 39.642 ranks fourth overall.
• Collected all four event titles at the quad meet, posting a 9.975 on vault, a 9.925 on bars, a 9.950 on beam and a 9.975 on floor.
• Her performance helped the Beavers win their home event with a season-high score of 197.200.
• Has now won 54 individual events titles in her career and 13 all-around titles.
• This is her fifth career Gymnast of the Week honor.

Specialist of the Week
Amara Cunningham – Washington

• The fifth-year senior matched her career-high on the floor with a 9.950, tying for first in the event in the Huskies’ Pac-12 opener at home against No. 6 UCLA.
• The 2021 Pac-12 First Team Floor honoree helped UW to a 49.200 team score on the floor event.
• Finished in third on the vault after posting a 9.875, which was a team-high for the Huskies.
• In 50 career collegiate competitions has a perfect hit rate of 100 in 100 total routines.
• This is her second career Pac-12 Specialist of the Week award after she earned her first on Feb. 16, 2021 during her junior campaign.

Freshman/Newcomer of the Week
Selena Harris – UCLA

• Earns award for third straight week after winning the all-around and three individual event titles to help No. 6 UCLA to its first conference win of the season, a dual meet victory at No. 25 Washington (196.900-195.825).
• Posted a 39.725 to take first in the all-around for a second consecutive week, hitting 9.925 or higher on all four events to match her career high.
• The 39.725 in a single meet is tied for fifth-best in the country while her 39.650 average in the all-around is third-highest overall.
• Won the vault with a career-best 9.950, tied a career-high of 9.925 in winning the beam, tied for first on the bars with a 9.925 and tied for third on the floor with a career-high 9.925.
• The freshman has scored a 9.9 or higher on 11 of 12 routines she has competed in to begin her collegiate career.
• In addition to ranking third in the nation in the all-around, Harris ranks tied for sixth in the vault (9.917), sixth in the bars (9.933) and tied for 10th on the floor (9.917).

Coaches’ Choice
Chloe Lashbrooke – Stanford

• Made her return to the competitive lineup after a long three years due to a shortened Covid season in 2020 and an achilles injury that kept her out of the 2021 season and most of last year.
• Performed full tumbling for the first time in a meet on Jan. 14 with an exhibition performance that earned a 9.875 and earned her a spot in the lineup at No. 25 Washington last weekend.
• Scored a 9.850 on the floor to finish sixth in the event, marking her seventh score of 9.825 or higher on the floor in as many career meets.
• Her performance contributed to No. 6 UCLA knocking off the Huskies on the road in the first dual meet of the season.

Co-Gymnasts of the Week
Sunisa Lee – Auburn
Lee, a sophomore from St. Paul, Minnesota, tied her season best in the all-around to help the Tigers set a season-high team score of 197.500 in their win over No. 25 Arkansas. Lee took the all-around title with a 39.750 for her second all-around crown of the year. Lee kicked off the meet with a career-high 9.95 on vault to finish first overall. She followed with a season-best 9.975 on bars to win her first bars crown of the season. Lee capped the evening with a 9.975 on floor that gave her the event title.

Haleigh Bryant – LSU
Bryant, a junior from Cornelius, N.C., recorded her fourth consecutive all-around title and matched her career-high all-around score against No. 12 Missouri, earning a 39.750. Bryant earned a perfect score on vault for her first 10 of the season and the sixth of her career to take the title. She anchored the uneven bars with a 9.900 and added another 9.900 on beam. Bryant then anchored for the Tigers on floor and posted a season-high 9.950 to take the title.

Specialist of the Week
Soraya Hawthorne – Georgia
Hawthorne, a senior from Memphis, Tenn., earned three podium finishes to help her team earn the win over No. 9 Kentucky. Hawthorne recorded a career-high score of 9.900 on beam for a third-place finish. She followed that with the top score of the night on floor (9.925), marking the seventh time of her GymDog career to score a 9.925 or better on floor. Hawthorne’s vault score of 9.875 matched her season-high, good for a share of second place. All three contributing scores helped Georgia to its best team score (197.225) since March 2021.

Freshman of the Week
Kayla DiCello – Florida
DiCello, a freshman from Boyds, Md., finished second in the all-around with a 39.500 in the win at No. 11 Alabama. DiCello finished first on beam with her collegiate best of 9.925 and earned a share of first place on bars with teammate Trinity Thomas with a 9.925. It marked her first apparatus wins as a Gator.

All-Around
Harriet Toth – UW-Eau Claire
Toth (So., Regina, Saskatchewan/Martin) posted the leading score for the Blugolds at the Texas Woman’s Quadrangular on Jan. 20. The meet also included Air Force Academy and Centenary College (La.). Toth tallied a career-best 37.700 to finish fourth in the all-around standings. Her top showing came in the uneven bars, where she tied for 14th place.

Specialist
Alex Wood – UW-La Crosse
Wood (Sr., Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty) captured the vault (9.800) and tied for second on the floor exercise (9.425) as the Eagles won the UW-La Crosse Triangular on Jan. 22. Her score of 9.800 is tied for sixth in school history.