Women's Gymnasts of the Week – Feb. 13-19, 2023

Co-Gymnasts of the Week
Emma Silberman – Maryland

• Posted a 39.325 in the all-around to tie for the title in the Terrapins’ meet against Minnesota
• Paced Maryland on floor (9.900) and vault (9.850), helping the Terps reach their second-best team score of the season with a 196.650
• Added a 9.800 on beam and a 9.775 on bars
• The two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree collects her first career Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honor

Gianna Gerdes – Minnesota

• Set a new career best on floor with a score of 9.950, tying for the event title and leading the Gophers to a victory against Maryland on Feb. 19
• Tied her career best on vault with a score of 9.875 to finish second and shared the all-around title with a total of 39.325
• Scored a 9.800 on bars (T6) and a 9.700 on beam (T10)
• The Academic All-Big Ten honoree collects her first career Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honor

Event Specialist of the Week
JerQuavia Henderson – Iowa

• Captured the vault and floor titles to give her eight individual event titles this season and help the Hawkeyes defeat Rutgers on Feb. 18
• Performed the first Yurchenko 1.5 by a Hawkeye gymnast on vault to tie her career-high score of 9.925
• Scored her second 9.925 of the day on floor to capture her fourth floor title and added a 9.825 on beam for sixth place
• Collects her third career Big Ten Event Specialist of the Week honor and second of the season

Co-Freshmen of the Week
Maddie Komoroski – Maryland

• Captured a pair of top-five finishes, including a podium finish on floor, against Minnesota on Feb. 19
• Scored a career-high 9.925 on floor to finish third and help the Terrapins score a 49.450, their highest team score on the event since 2017
• Posted a 9.825 on beam to tie for fourth place, scoring a 9.825 or higher on beam for the sixth consecutive meet
• Earns her first career Freshman of the Week award

Payton Harris – Ohio State

• Finished at the top of the podium in the all-around and on beam to help the Buckeyes defeat Penn State on Feb. 17
• Tied her career-high on beam, earning a 9.900 to win the event title, before finishing with an all-around total of 39.325
• Recorded a 9.850 on floor (T4) and vault (T5) and a 9.725 on bars (T8)
• Earns her fourth Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor and third in as many weeks

Gymnast of the Week
Rylie Mundell – Denver
Mundell recorded the best all-around score (39.600) in the Big 12 last week when Denver competed against Air Force and UC Davis. The Parker, Colorado native won three individual titles for her season-high scoring performances in the uneven bars (9.925), balance beam (9.925) and floor routine (9.900). She also scored a 9.850 in the vault. The junior’s score helped Denver achieve a total score of 197.650, which is its second-highest road score in program history.

Specialist of the Week
Ellen Collins – West Virginia
Collins achieved her first career podium finish after she recorded her career-best 9.900 on floor at WVU’s home meet against Bowling Green. It was the first time the junior had ever recorded a 9.900 or higher. In their best performance on the floor exercise this season, all six Mountaineers posted scores over 9.900 to tally the program’s highest total of 49.575, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished since 2016. Collins also competed in vault during the meet as WVU took home the victory (196.575-194.80).

Newcomer of the Week
Faith Torrez – Oklahoma
Torrez picked up her third individual floor title as the Sooners competed at Texas Woman’s University last week. The freshman matched her career-high scores on her floor routine (9.950) and the balance beam (9.900) while posting a 9.800 on bars. The Oklahoma gymnastics team posted its second-best score of the year with a 198.325 and remains undefeated 11-0. In the first week of the National Qualifying Scores (NQS), Torrez is the highest-ranked freshman in the standings for the floor event sitting at No. 5.

Gymnast of the Week
Hallie Copperwheat – Pittsburgh
Copperwheat secured first place overall on beam with a 9.850. The sophomore also claimed second place on bars with a 9.900. In addition, the Leighton Buzzard, England native earned first place in the all around with a score of 39.250.

Specialist of the Week
Brooke Donabedian – Temple
Donabedian earned two event titles on floor—the second and third titles of the season. The junior also notched a season-high 9.925 on floor in both meets, just shy of the school record of 9.950. In addition, the Maple Valley, Wash. native finished fourth on beam on Sunday with a 9.900.

Rookie of the Week
Syd Morris – Long Island
Morris debuted in the all around, notching a school record score of 39.275 and besting the previous record of 38.575. Despite being the lead off on three of the four events, the freshman still managed to place first in the all around. The Landenberg, Pa. native also debuted on bars, scoring a 9.850.

Co-Gymnasts of the Week
McKenna Kissinger – West Chester
McKenna Kissinger was solid on all three events. However, she was amazing on the balance beam. She earned her career high score of a 9.825 which was enough for a first place finish. This is an amazing accomplishment for her because this is the first year she has ever competed beam in the lineup. Her mental and physical toughness helped her gain confidence to solidly break in to our beam lineup in her final year. Kissinger also recorded a 9.8 on floor to tie for 2nd and a 9.625 on vault. Her performances this weekend helped her team earn their season best score and the 2nd highest score in school history of a 194.65.

Raegan Walker – Yale
Raegan had a stellar meet competing for Yale on 3 events. On bars and beam she scored well over a 9.8, coming in 4th on bars and winning the beam title in the quad meet. Raegan has been a consistent competitor for the Bulldogs all year long and has been especially reliable in the last 2 meets on beam. Yale’s beam team was relying on her score as there was an earlier fall in the lineup. Raegan not only hit her routine and received the highest score for the team on beam, but received her season-best on beam this season with a 9.875. Walker also posted a 9.675 on vault.

Specialist of the Week
Campbell Marr – Penn
Campbell Marr had a career high and record breaking day in a quad meet vs Temple, NC State and GW. She started off on vault with a 9.9, tying Penn’s individual vault record, and earning the vault title amongst a strong competition. Moving on to beam, Marr tied another individual record with a huge 9.95, tying her sister for the title and leading the team to a program beam record of 49.475. Her contributions helped the Quakers to the 5th highest score in program history of 195.125.

Newcomer of the Week
Abby Royer – Southern Connecticut State
Abby Royer competed outstandingly this weekend by scoring a personal best of 9.825 for 5th place on floor exercise. Royer led all SCSU scorers on that event. Abby also scored a 9.75 on beam. As a first year student, Abby is becoming a team leader and her best work is yet to come. The Owls coaching staff is highly impressed with her improvements.

Gymnast of the Week
Hannah DeMers – Central Michigan
Hannah DeMers had a strong performance against Western Michigan on Sunday, setting a career high 9.925 to tie for first on balance beam in a dual meet in Kalamazoo. DeMers won the all-around with a season-high 39.525. She also tied for first in bars, 9.875, and on vault, 9.850. On floor, she tied for third with 9.875.

Specialist of the Week
Alyssa Guns – Kent State
Kent State’s Alyssa Guns won both of the events she competed in against Ball State on Sunday. On floor, she posted a season-high 9.925 to win the event, her second floor title this season. She also scored 9.900 on beam to set a new career-high en route to her first beam win of the season and her career. Guns was the meet’s only gymnast to record multiple 9.90+ scores.

Gymnast of the Week
Angelica Labat – Illinois State
The MIC Gymnast of the Week honor for Labat is her third of the season and ups her career total to 20 MIC weekly honors between the various categories. Labat led the Redbirds to a victory over MIC rival Southeast Missouri State last Friday night at home and was consistent across the board, posting four scores of 9.8 or better to finish with a season-high all-around score of 39.225 to take home the individual crown. That performance included a first-place finish on bars with a 9.800 and a third-place performance on floor with a 9.825. Her score of 39.225 is the second highest in the MIC this season, and she currently ranks No. 46 in the country with her National Qualifying Score (NQS) of 38.995 which is the highest in the MIC.

Performance of the Week
Alana Laster – Illinois State
Laster went big on vault and put together her best all-around performance of the season for the Redbirds in their defeat of the Redhawks. Laster won the vault competition with a season-high score of 9.925, which ties the highest individual event score of the season for a Redbird gymnast. That score helped the Redbirds post a season-high event score of 49.175 on vault, which is the second-highest score on the event in school history behind last year’s high of 49.350. Her hot start on the vault propelled Laster to a season-best effort of 39.175 in the all-around to finish second overall. That score was just short of her career-high of 39.200 set last year. The 9.9 or better score was the fifth on vault for Laster in her career, which includes her 9.9 score to win the vault competition at last year’s MIC Championships.

Newcomer of the Week
Jaly Jones – Lindenwood
Jones set a career and season-best, scoring a 9.850 on floor, which helped her finish in second place in that event against Iowa State. The Williamsburg, Iowa native also had two other top-10 finishes last week, earning fourth on bars after recording a 9.775, while finishing sixth on vault with a 9.675. Jones compiled a 38.250 score in the all-around during the meet.

Coaches’ Choice Award
Jordan Jones – SEMO
Jordan has been a fearless leader in and out of the gym in her 4 years. Last year, she had a season ending knee injury that took her out the last half of season. She decided against surgery and rehabbed and worked hard over the summer and pre-season to get back into all lineups (bars, beam and floor) and be one of our top contributors. On Friday, ONE year and a week from the date of her blowing out her knee, she suffered a career ending injury and tore her Achilles during her floor routine. It was devastating to the team and the team struggled to regain their composure after our floor rotation while Jordan was away being looked at. Once the 4 minute touch had ended, Jordan crutched her way to our team corral and was the biggest cheerleader for our team. The impact and heart that Jordan has for our team in undeniable. She is the heartbeat of this team and in a devastating time, she found it within her to still put the team first.

Gymnast of the Week
Lauren Macpherson – San Jose State
Macpherson (Gilbert, AZ) accumulated 39.500 all-around, the outright second-best four-event total all-time in the MPSF to help the Spartans match the third-best overall team score in the conference record book, 196.625 at Sacramento State (Feb. 17). She shared the uneven bars (9.875) and floor (9.90) victories, and tied for second on the balance beam with the second-best-tying routine in MPSF history (9.925). The Spartan beam team set a conference record of 49.325. This is Macpherson’s ninth career MPSF weekly award.

Specialist of the Week
Amber Koeth – Sacramento State
Koeth (Henderson, NV) made history as she became the first gymnast to ever receive a 10.0 from a judge on beam in The Nest. Koeth received a 10.0 from the lead judge and a 9.85 from the second judge to finish with a 9.925. That score set her career-high and is tied for second in MPSF and school history. She also had a 9.850 on bars to place third and closed with a 9.700 on floor. This is the first career MPSF weekly award for Koeth.

Freshman of the Week
Kylee Greene – Air Force
Greene (Bartlesville, OK), on a night in which the Falcons set a season-best 195.125 against UC Davis and No. 10 Denver (Feb. 17), tied or set career-highs in two events. On balance beam, Greene earned a career-high 9.800 on the way to the Falcons earning their second-best team score of the season (48.925). She then led Air Force on the floor with a 9.825 which tied her career-best. This is the second career MPSF weekly award for Greene.

Gymnast of the Week
Karley McClain – Southern Utah
SUU senior Karley McClain garnered a pair of weekly honors with her performances during the meet, as she finished with a season-high-tying 39.475 in the all-around to pick up her seventh-straight MRGC Gymnast of the Week award. McClain also scored a 9.925 on beam to share MRGC Beam Specialist of the Week accolades with teammate Hailey Vultaggio and BYU senior Elease Rollins.

Specialists of the Week
Vault – Emily Lopez, Boise State; Courtney Blackson, Boise State
Uneven Bars – Emily Lopez, Boise State
Balance Beam – Elease Rollins, BYU; Karley McClain, Southern Utah; Hailey Vultaggio, Southern Utah
Floor Exercise – Ariel Toomey, Utah State; Courtney Blackson, Boise State

All-Around Gymnast of the Week
Alyssa DeLorme – Ursinus
Alyssa competed All-Around for the first time this season after studying abroad in Florence, Italy last semester and received her second highest career AA score with a 38.325 to win the AA title at Ithaca’s quad meet with RIC & Brockport! (9.35 V, 9.675 UB, 9.725 BB, 9.6 FX). Alyssa was a 2022 National Qualifier in the AA but we were unsure of competing AA at all this season after being in Italy all of the fall semester. Alyssa worked to find a gym in Florence and continued training, even attending an “adult gymnastics class.” Returning to the AA this past weekend was an incredible feat for Alyssa!

Specialist of the Week
Morgan Lunn – Rhode Island College
Morgan was our anchor person on both of the events she competed this weekend. Broke the RIC beam school record with a 9.825 and had the highest score of the team on floor with a 9.725.

Gymnast of the Week
Jade Carey – Oregon State

• Earns the honor for the second straight week and fifth time this season after sweeping the event titles and capturing the all-around title with a score of 39.875, breaking her own program record.
• Her performance helped the Beavers beat Arizona (197.025-196.375) at home to stay unbeaten in Pac-12 competition.
• The 39.875 is also the highest all-around total in the nation this year and is tied for 13th-highest score in NCAA history.
• Only Pac-12 gymnast to win every event and the all-around in the same meet and has now done it three times this year.
• For a second time this season, posted two perfect 10s in the same meet after earning the score on vault and floor.
• Added a 9.900 on the bars to tie for first and a 9.975 to win beam.
• Carey is tied for first in the country in the all-around (39.705), leads the NCAA on vault (9.960), is tied for second overall on floor (9.950), is second on beam (9.945) and is tied for ninth on bars (9.925).
• This is her eighth career Gymnast of the Week honor and 14th weekly award overall.

Specialist of the Week
Chae Campbell – UCLA

• A week after earning her first career Coaches Choice award, picks up her first career Specialist of the Week honor after helping the Bruins to a tie in a` top-10 battle at Cal.
• Tied her season-highs on floor (9.950, third) and bars (9.850, tied for eighth) and added a 9.900 (tied for third) on vault to help UCLA earn a season-high 197.975, the Bruins’ highest away score in four years.
• The junior has scored 9.925 or higher on floor in all six meets in which she has competed and 9.950 in four of six meets.
• Recorded her fourth 9.900+ vault of the year.
• Ranks tied for fifth nationally on the floor (9.940).
• Sixth weekly award overall for Campbell.

Freshman/Newcomer of the Week
eMjae Frazier – California

• Earned the honor after a break-out meet at home against UCLA, collecting her first career all-around title with a program record-tying 39.700.
• With the Bears trailing heading into the final rotation on floor, tied the Cal program record of 9.975 in the event to help the Bears pull even with the Bruins for the tie.
• Her performance helped Cal stay unbeaten in Pac-12 competition and secure a 197.975, second-highest team score in program history.
• Recorded three scores of 9.9 or better, finishing tied for first on floor (9.975), tied for second on bars (9.950), fifth in vault (9.975) and tied for sixth on beam (9.900).
• Second career weekly award after the New Jersey native was named the Pac-12 Specialist of the Week on Jan. 31.

Coaches’ Choice
Malia Hargrove – Arizona

• Recorded three 9.9+s to earn career-best scores on vault, beam, floor and in the all-around at Oregon State.
• Posted a career-high 39.550 in the all-around to finish second.
• Scored a 9.975 on vault to finish second, a 9.925 on beam to tie for second and a 9.925 on floor to take third in the event.
• First career weekly award for the senior leader of the Wildcats.

Gymnast of the Week
Trinity Thomas – Florida
Thomas, a graduate from York, Pa., recorded the nation’s second highest all-around score of 39.850 against No. 8 LSU. It marked the 28th all-around win for Thomas and the third one this season. She received her third 10.0 on beam this season for her sixth perfect score of her career in the event. Thomas earned a share of first place on beam and floor (9.95) along with first place on bars (9.975) and third place on vault (9.925).

Co-Specialists of the Week
Arianna Patterson – Kentucky
Patterson, a fifth-year senior from Plano, Texas, garnered three podium finishes to help the Wildcats earn a program-best team score of 197.875 in the win over No. 14 Arkansas. Patterson earned a share of first place on vault with a 9.95 and on floor with a career-high 9.975. She also tied for second place on beam with a 9.90.

Jocelyn Moore – Missouri
Moore, a sophomore from Hillsborough, N.J., recorded her first collegiate 10.0 on vault in the win over. No. 5 Auburn. It counted as the third perfect score in program history and the first one on vault. Her performance helped the Tigers to a team score of 49.450 on vault, tying the program record. Moore also scored a 9.925 on floor to finish third and a 9.80 on bars to tie for eighth place.

Freshman of the Week
Kayla DiCello – Florida
DiCello, a freshman from Boyds, Md., posted the nation’s highest all-around score by a freshman with her 39.700 against No. 8 LSU. DiCello set her collegiate high on floor with a 9.95 to earn a share of the event title. She tied her collegiate high of 9.975 to take third place behind a pair of 10.0s by teammate Trinity Thomas and LSU’s Aleah Finnegan.

All-Around
Cate Sandvik – UW-La Crosse
Sandvik (Sr., Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) scored 37.400 in the all-around in UW-La Crosse’s dual victory over UW-Whitewater on Feb. 17. She placed fourth in the floor exercise (9.675), fifth on the uneven parallel bars (9.425) and tied for fifth on the vault (career-high 9.600).

Specialist
Emily Buffington – UW-Oshkosh
Buffington (Jr., Huntersville, N.C./Lake Norman Charter) set season-best scores in a pair of first-place performances in UW-Oshkosh’s dual win over Winona State University (Minn.) on Feb. 16. She won the vault with a score of 9.750 and the uneven parallel bars with a score of 9.650.