© Michigan Photography

Courtesy Michigan Athletics

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – University of Michigan women’s gymnastics senior Natalie Wojcik was named the 2022 AAI Award winner as announced this evening (Tuesday, April 12) by American Athletic Incorporated.

The AAI Award is considered the Heisman Trophy of women’s gymnastics and is given annually to the nation’s top senior collegiate gymnast. In the 31-year history of the award, Wojcik is the third Michigan gymnast to earn the honor, joining Beth Wymer (1995) and Kylee Botterman (2011).

Wojcik has cemented herself as one of the greatest gymnasts to compete at the University of Michigan, breaking countless individual records in her four years. An all-around competitor since she stepped on campus, she has earned 87 career event and all-around victories so far as well as notching 108 career scores of 9.900 or higher.

Wojcik was the individual NCAA champion on the balance beam in her freshman year and helped lead the Wolverines to their first-ever national title in the 2021 campaign. The Douglasville, Pa., native is a four-time WCGA All-American (first team: beam; second team: 2x vault, floor exercise) as well as a 12-time WCGA regular season All-American. She also is a two-time WCGA Regional Gymnast of the Year and was named the 2019 Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Year.

Furthermore, Wojcik is a regional champion on the uneven bars and floor, a four-time Big Ten individual champion, a four-time first team All-Big Ten honoree, and a three-time member of the All-Big Ten Championship team.

She has recorded four perfect 10s in her career and holds the Michigan career record with 21 all-around scores of 39.600 or better, including five over 39.700. She also holds the Michigan record as a 14-time Big Ten Gymnast of the Week, capturing the honor three times in 2022 while also earning Big Ten Specialist of the Week on two occasions this season.

In addition to all of her individual achievements, Wojcik has led Michigan to a national championship, two Big Ten team championships, and three Big Ten regular-season titles.

Wojcik is triple-majoring in psychology, Spanish and linguistics with career aspirations to become a speech-language pathologist. Following her graduation from Michigan, she will pursue a master’s degree. A 2021 CoSIDA Academic All-America second team selection, Wojcik is a WCGA Scholastic All-American, a two-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar, and a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree. She was named a 30 Under 30 Changemaker by Public Charter School Alliance in 2021.

Outside of the gym, Wojcik served as an undergraduate research assistant in Dr. Laura Zahodne’s Neuropsychology and Cognitive Aging Lab, where she worked specifically on the Michigan Cognitive Aging Project, which investigates factors that lead to healthy aging in older adults.

Wojcik has also been passionate about volunteer opportunities her entire life as she grew up working with the Special Olympics gymnastics teams starting when she was just eight years old and realized her passion for serving the community and the power that gymnastics had to connect individuals from diverse backgrounds.

She has also spent time at U-M volunteering at Mott Children’s Hospital and at local community elementary schools with Athletes through Community Transformation (ACT). Wojcik also volunteered in after-school programs modeling team-building activities and serving as a mentor. In the past three years, Wojcik and the rest of the Wolverine women’s gymnastics team started a pen pal program with a local fourth-grade classroom.

Wojcik and the Wolverines will be bidding for a repeat national title this week at the NCAA Championships in Fort Worth, Texas, starting with their semifinal Thursday (April 14) at 5 p.m. CDT on ESPN2. The top two teams in each semifinal will qualify for the team finals that will take place Saturday (April 16) at noon CDT with ABC televising.