Women's Gymnasts of the Week – Feb. 6-12, 2023

Gymnast of the Week
Deja Chambliss – George Washington
Chambliss earned a fourth-straight vault title with a season-high 9.925. The Graduate Student was also co-champion in the all-around with a season-best 39.425, with no score below the 9.800 threshold. In addition, the Chesterfield, Va. native led the Colonials on bars with a 9.800 and had a season-high matching 9.825 on beam.

Specialist of the Week
Lali Dekanoidze – North Carolina
Dekanoidze won bars for the fourth time this season with a 9.975 and placed second on vault with a career-best tying 9.900. This was the sophomore’s third 9.975 this season on bars, matching the North Carolina school record for the third time this season. In addition, the Matthews, N.C. has not scored lower than 9.850 on bars all season and has scored a 9.950 score or better on bars four times this year.

Rookie of the Week
Polina Belanovski – Towson
Belanovski posted career highs of 9.900 on vault at both meets, winning the event at both. One judge gave the freshman a perfect score of a 9.950 on a Yurchenko full. In addition, the Brookfield, Wis. native helped the Tigers to a top five floor score on Sunday and top 10 team scores at both meets.

Co-Gymnasts of the Week
Raegan Walker – Yale
Raegan had a strong competition competing in three events this past weekend. She won 1st place on bars scoring a 9.85 with a stuck dismount, which is her highest score of the season so far. On beam Raegan has been working through adversity, but came through in a big way for the Bulldogs after a previous fall in the lineup. Her strong routine closed out Yale’s beam rotation with a 9.725.

Sydney Beers – Cornell
Voted Gymnast of the Week for the second week in a row, Sydney has been rock solid for the Big Red. This week she had her 2nd highest vault and floor scores with a 9.8 and 9.825 respectively. Beers also tied her highest bar score and had her 2nd highest all around of the season so far with a 38.9. Coach Melanie Hall says the Beers is “a true leader in the gym and pushes her teammates to be their best. Her work ethic and steady demeanor at practice and competition makes her a fierce competitor and our most consistent team player.”

Specialist of the Week
Julia Bedell – Brown
Bedell moved herself into elite company this week by tying the program record with her win on floor scoring a 9.925. This ties the program record mark held by three other gymnasts, including Olympian Alicia Sacramone. She also won the vault with a 9.825, helping Brown to a dual meet win over Springfield with a team score of 194.375.

Newcomer of the Week
Marissa Lassiter – Penn
In a quad meet vs Towson, WCU and Ursinus, Marissa Lassiter shined on the three events she competed, notching career highs on two of them. Her stuck yurchenko full was the 2nd highest score for the team and tied for 3rd overall amongst a strong competition. Her bar routine was also the 2nd highest score for the team as well as a personal best. Lassiter ended on floor with a huge career high 9.875, leading the Quakers and earning 3rd overall. Her stellar performance on floor helped Penn to its season high score on the event. Marissa continues to be a reliable competitor and has made a tremendous impact so far in her debut season.

Gymnast of the Week
Payton Murphy – Western Michigan
Murphy had a record-setting day in Sunday’s victory over Eastern Michigan. Murphy broke her own school record in the all-around with a score of 39.500. She nearly had a perfect 10 on the floor, tying the program record with a 9.975. Her contribution on the floor led to a team floor record of 49.525. In addition to winning on floor and all-around, Murphy also took second on beam and tied for third on both bars and vault.

Specialist of the Week
Taylor Waldo – Ball State
For the third time this season, senior Taylor Waldo tied Ball State’s individual beam record, scoring a 9.925 in Sunday’s dual victory over Northern Illinois. In addition, Waldo followed with a season-best score of 9.850 on floor. Overall, her effort helped the Cardinals rally from down .550 points after the first two rotations to win the meet 196.050 to 195.950.

Gymnast of the Week
Taylor Ingle – SEMO
Ingle had an outstanding performance last Friday night registering her best All-Around score of the season with a 39.150. Headlined by a season-high on the Bars (9.825), Ingle registered a 9.725 or higher in every rotation during the competition. She also took first place in the All-Around competition for the entire meet. For Ingle, the award is her second weekly conference award of the season, having won the Newcomer of the Week the first week of the season.

Performance of the Week
Nirel Bart-Williams – Illinois State
Bart-Williams competed in the all-around for the Redbirds once again and scored her second 9.9 or better mark of the season on floor to highlight her all-around performance of 38.775. Her score on floor helped the Redbirds post a 49.200 for their second-highest team score of the year on the event and wound up tying her for 12th when combined with the evening session scores that consisted of gymnasts from Oklahoma, Alabama, Arkansas and Stanford. She also posted the top score on beam for the Redbirds in the afternoon session with Utah, Illinois and Georgia.

Newcomer of the Week
Nya Kraus – Lindenwood
Kraus won the balance beam title with a 9.850 in Lindenwood’s tri-meet with SEMO and Fisk.

Coaches’ Choice Award
J’Chelle Heard – Illinois State
Heard has battled back from challenging Fall, both athletically and personally, and has re-motivated herself along with her teammates to become a huge cheerleader for the team. She made the trip last weekend to the Metroplex Challenge as a back-up on vault, but seized the opportunity in the last couple team practices before the competition and made the vault line-up. She then proceeded to lead off with a 9.800 Yurchenko Full vault as the team went on to post its highest team score of the year against three top-25 ranked teams.

Gymnast of the Week
Lauren Macpherson – San Jose State
San Jose State junior Lauren Macpherson (Gilbert, AZ) had another big night to lead the Spartans to a 195.800 total against Air Force (Feb. 10). She won the balance beam with an MPSF and school-record tying 9.925, tied for first on bars with a 9.90, and won the all-around with a career-best and MPSF all-time top-10 total of 39.375. Macpherson tied the Spartan and MPSF beam record set seven times by teammate Emma Milne, along with 12 other 9.925 scores in conference balance beam history.

Specialist of the Week
Keanna Abraham – UC Davis
UC Davis sophomore Keanna Abraham (Bakersfield, CA) tied her own school record from last week with a winning 9.925 on vault, which also tied for second in MPSF history, as the Aggies totaled the second-best score in conference history (196.750). Abraham also became just the second gymnast in MPSF history to record multiple career scores of 9.925-plus on the vault. She added another 9.925 on floor, an all-time top-20 score in MPSF history. This is the third career MPSF weekly award for Abraham.

Freshman of the Week
Amelia Moneymaker – UC Davis
UC Davis freshman Amelia Moneymaker (Sacramento, CA) recorded personal-bests in all three events she participated in as the Aggies accumulated the second-best total in MPSF history with 196.750 against Sacramento State (Feb. 12). Moneymaker won the floor competition with a top-20 all-time MPSF score of 9.925 and was the runner-up on bars with a 9.850. She started off the meet with a sixth-place showing on vault. This is the second career MPSF weekly award for Moneymaker, including a repeat of last week.

Gymnast of the Week
Karley McClain – Southern Utah
McClain shared honors on the floor with teammate Aubri Schwartze as the duo’s matching 9.925s on floor propelled Southern Utah to a 197.125-196.150 victory over BYU in Provo. McClain finished with a 39.425 in the all-around en route to her award as MRGC Gymnast of the Week.

Specialists of the Week
Vault – Sydney Benson, BYU
Uneven Bars – Anna Bramblett, BYU; Emily Lopez, Boise State
Balance Beam – Elease Rollins, BYU
Floor Exercise – Karley McClain, Southern Utah; Aubri Schwartze, Southern Utah

All-Around Gymnast of the Week
Skye Cohen – Ithaca
Skye had a great performance this weekend with an AA score of 37.900 at Cornell on February 12th. She earned a 9.675 (FX), 9.550 (VT), 9.425 (BB) & 9.250 (UB)!

Specialist of the Week
Maya Belog – Springfield
Scoring a 9.750 on Floor Exercise, 9.7 on Balance Beam and a 9.55 on Vault,
Belog played a key role in Springfield producing a 189.525, its best score of the season and highest dual meet score since 2020. A steady competitor for the Pride all season, she registered career-high marks on the floor exercise and vault and placed third individually on the beam to highlight her efforts against Brown!

Co-Gymnasts of the Week
Jade Carey – Oregon State

• Earns the honor for the fourth time this season after capturing four event titles and matching her season-best of 39.825 to win the all-around in the home dual against No. 7 California.
• Her performance helped Oregon State post a season-high 197.375 to stay undefeated in Pac-12 competition after a tie with the Bears.
• Only Pac-12 Gymnast to win every event and the all-around over the weekend, recording a 9.925 on vault, a 9.975 on bars, a 9.950 on beam and a 9.975 on floor.
• The Olympic medalist tied her Team USA teammate and Pac-12 Co-Gymnast of the Week recipient Jordan Chiles for the highest all-around score in the country last weekend, while the score is tied for highest in the nation in 2023.
• Carey and Chiles are two of only five gymnasts to post a 39.825 all-around score this year, with Carey the only gymnast to do it twice.
• Carey leads the country on vault (9.939), is third in the all-around (39.705) and on floor (9.950) and is tied for sixth on beam (9.925).
• This is her seventh career Gymnast of the Week honor and 13th weekly award overall.

Jordan Chiles – UCLA

• Earns the award for the second straight week after winning the all-around with a career-high 39.825 and helping the Bruins to a dual win over No. 20 Arizona State (197.800-196.900).
• Chiles’ and Carey’s all-around score tied for the highest in the country during week six competition and is tied for the highest in the nation in 2023.
• The Olympic Medalist won three individual events, scoring UCLA’s first perfect 10 of the season on the floor, her third 9.975 of the year on the bars and a 9.95 to win the vault.
• Helped UCLA achieve season-high totals on uneven bars (49.575) and floor exercise (49.675), with both scores ranking ninth on UCLA’s all-time team lists for those events.
• Added a 9.900 on beam to tie for second in the event.
• Chiles has recorded a team-best 20 scores of 9.9 or higher on 24 routines this season (nine consecutive), while she ranks tied for third in the country on bars (9.958) and tied for fourth on floor (9.9346) and in the all-around (39.650).
• This is her third Gymnast of the Week honor of the season (Jan. 10, Feb. 7) and fifth weekly award of her career.

Specialist of the Week
Maile O’Keefe – Utah

• Earns the award for the second consecutive week after posting her second straight 10.0 on beam to help No. 4 Utah (197.600) to a win in the afternoon session of the Metroplex Challenge over No. 22 Illinois (196.300), No. 18 Georgia (196.100) and Illinois St. (195.850).
• Now has six career Perfect 10s on beam, tying the school record that stood since former Ute Theresa Kulikowski posted six from 1999-2003, and she is one shy of tying her own program mark for most in a season (3).
• The senior standout has won the beam title in all but one competition in 2023 and has a season average of a 9.975 with no routine scoring below a 9.95.
• Also posted a 9.925 on bars to finish second overall, while she has not scored below a 9.925 in her last eight routines overall.
• O’Keefe leads the country on beam with a 9.975 average and is one of just eight gymnasts to record a 10.0 on the event this year.
• This is her third career Pac-12 Specialist of the Week honor and her 11th weekly award overall.

Freshman/Newcomer of the Week
Makenna Smith – Utah

• After being added to the beam and bars lineup last minute due to a teammate’s injury in the first rotation, the freshman made her collegiate debut in the all-around and finished first with a 39.400 to help the Utes win their session at the Metroplex Challenge over No. 22 Illinois, No. 18 Georgia and Illinois St.
• Posted a career-high 9.90 on bars to finish in a tie for third in the event.
• Tied for highest score by a Ute on the floor with a 9.90 to tie for fourth.
• Scored a pair of 9.8s on the vault and beam.
• Became just the second Ute to compete in the all-around this year and has hit on 18-of-18 routines, which is the second-most on the team.
• First career weekly award for Smith.

Coaches’ Choice
Chae Campbell – UCLA

• After missing last week due to difficult family matters, Campbell returned to competition against No. 20 Arizona State, finishing in the top three in a pair of events to help the Bruins take down the Sun Devils.
• Stuck her vault and scored a 9.850 to finish in a tie for second in the event.
• Posted a season-high 9.850 as the leadoff on bars and finished with a 9.925 on floor to take third.
• Her performances helped the Bruins earn season-high scores on bars (49.575) and floor (49.675), which both rank ninth all-time in program history, and the second highest team score of the season (197.800).
• First career Coaches Choice award and fifth weekly award overall for Campbell.

Gymnast of the Week
Trinity Thomas – Florida
Thomas, a graduate from York, Pa., matched the nation’s season-high all-around score of 39.825 in the win over No. 15 Missouri. It marked Thomas’ 28th all-around win as a Gator, making her Florida’s career leader. She recorded her second 10.0 on beam, the fifth of her career, and now has four 10s this season along with teammate Leanne Wong and Auburn’s Sunisa Lee. Thomas also earned a share of first place on floor with a 9.975.

Specialist of the Week
Derrian Gobourne – Auburn
Gobourne, a fifth-year from Sarasota, Fla., helped the Tigers earn a season-high 197.750 in the win over No. 9 LSU. Highlighting her night was the 9.975 on floor to earn a tie for first place and push Auburn to a season-best score (49.650) in the event. She posted a 9.925 to start the meet on vault, good for a tie for second overall. Rounding out the meet, Gobourne added a 9.85 on bars to help the Tigers reach a season-best score (49.500).

Freshman of the Week
Kayla DiCello – Florida
DiCello, a freshman from Boyds, Md., was runner-up in the all-around in the win over No. 15 Missouri. DiCello registered a 39.750, leading the nation’s freshmen in 2023. She earned a 10.0 on the uneven bars, the nation’s first by a freshman in any event. DiCello also set her collegiate best on the balance beam for the second consecutive week with a 9.975.

All-Around
Cate Sandvik – UW-La Crosse
Sandvik (Sr., Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) captured the all-around title (37.600) in UW-La Crosse’s dual victory at UW-Eau Claire on Feb. 10. It was her second career appearance competing in the all-around. Sandvik also finished second (9.600) in the floor exercise, tied for fourth on the vault (season-high 9.425) and fifth on the uneven parallel bars (9.450).

Specialist
Isabela Krulich – UW-Stout
Krulich (So., Rosemount, Minn./Rosemount) won the balance beam with a score of 9.700 in a dual meet against UW-Whitewater on Feb. 10. It was her highest score in the event this season and just a quarter-point short of a collegiate best.