Women's Gymnasts of the Week – Feb. 6-8, 2020
Gymnast of the Week awards are given by conference offices. More will be added throughout the week as they become available.
Big Ten Conference
Gymnast of the Week
Natalie Wojcik - Michigan
- Recorded top-five finishes on all four events and the all-around, highlighted by a pair of season bests, in the Wolverines’ win against Ohio State
- Claimed the outright title on beam (9.950) and in the all-around (39.625), while tying for first on bars (9.925), third on vault (9.850) and fourth on floor (9.900)
- Matched her career high to win beam, while recording season bests on bars and in the all-around
- Earns her seventh career Big Ten Gymnast of the Week award and second of the season
Ivy Lu - Minnesota
- Won both of her events with scores of 9.875 or better in Minnesota’s victory against Iowa
- Recorded her first event title of the season on beam with a score of 9.925
- Tied for first on bars, posting a score of 9.875
- The two-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree collects her ninth career Big Ten Event Specialist of the Week honor and second in as many weeks
Sierra Brooks - Michigan
- Recorded four top-five finishes, highlighted by her first career bars title, in the Wolverines’ dual meet victory against Ohio State
- Won the outright vault title (9.975), tied for first on bars (9.925), took second in the all-around (39.475), tied for fourth on floor (9.900) and tied for ninth on beam (9.675)
- Tied for the third highest score in the NCAA this season on vault with a 9.975, her first career vault win
- Earns her fourth career Freshman of the Week honor and fourth in as many weeks
Big 12 Conference
Gymnast of the Week
Lynnzee Brown - Denver
Brown’s first Gymnast of the Week award of the season comes after her strongest performance, delivering the top all-around score (39.700) in the Conference, in a tri-meet at No. 2 Florida and against No. 18 Iowa State. The junior set a career mark on vault with a 9.975 and followed that with her second career high of the weekend on the beam, posting a 9.900. All four of Brown’s scores contributed to Denver’s 197.250 team total, matching the highest road score of the season for the Pioneers and the fourth-best total in program history.
Specialist of the Week
Natalia Ros Vaquer - Iowa State
Ros Vaquer earned her first Event Specialist of the Week title of the season after tying the school record on bars with a 9.950 while also setting a career high on the event. She is the sixth Cyclone to achieve the feat, and first since 2014. Ros Vaquer earned a share of the event title on bars and anchored the Cyclones to their best team bars score since 2007 with a 49.375.
Newcomer of the Week
Andrea Maldonado - Iowa State
Maldonado was named the Newcomer of the Week for the first time in her career. She matched her career high of 9.950 on the floor, becoming the first Cyclone since 2004 to have a pair of 9.950s or better on floor in the same season. In addition, Maldonado registered a 9.850 in her collegiate debut on vault.
East Atlantic Gymnastics League
Gymnast of the Week
Michaela Burton - Pittsburgh
Senior Michaela Burton (Downers Grove, Ill.) from Pittsburgh was voted EAGL Gymnast of the Week on February 11th after placing first on Bars (9.850). Burton added a third-place finish on Beam (9.875) and a second-place finish on Floor (9.875). This is Pittsburgh's second week in a row with a score of over 195, (195.350), in their close loss against EAGL opponent NC State (196.025).
Specialist of the Week
Khazia Hislop - North Carolina
Senior Khazia Hislop (Concord, Mass.) of UNC earned EAGL Specialist of the Week honors on February 11th. Hislop did not score below a 9.800 on any of her three events this weekend, placing first on vault (9.900) and floor (9.825). Khazia also added an excellent finish on beam (9.800) to finish in third-place. The Tar Heels narrowly lost to EAGL opponent Towson this past weekend, 194.325-194.225.
Rookie of the Week
Chloe Negrete - NC State
Freshman Chloe Negrete (Frisco, Texas) of NC State was named as EAGL Rookie of the Week on February 11th. Negrete achieved her first career score of 9.900 or higher on beam (9.925), placing second in the event. Chloe also tied career-high scores on floor (9.875) and vault (9.800). Negrete helped the Wolfpack defeat EAGL opponent Pittsburgh, 196.025-195.350, enough for the second best score put up by NC State this year.
Eastern College Athletic Conference – Division I
Gymnast of the Week
Jazmyn Estrella – Temple
Jazmyn Estrella had a standout meet for the Owls on Sunday afternoon, as she competed on three events and was pivotal in propelling Temple to a win over Penn. The senior captain scored a a 9.575 on beam and a season-high 9.7 on vault. Estrella was spectacular on bars, as her routine earned her a 9.9 and the event title. Her mark ties Temple’s program record on the event and she is just the fourth Owl in history to earn a 9.9 on bars.
Specialist of the Week
Lindsay Chia – Yale
Lindsay was able to achieve a season high score on balance beam, as well as a career and season high score on bars. On bars Lindsay got a 9.825, which tied her for second place and helped us to achieve a season high score on the event. She also won the balance beam with another 9.825.
Rookie of the Week
McCaleigh Marr– Penn
Freshman, McCaleigh Marr continues to exceed her expectations as she scored a career high on beam with a 9.850 to help Penn score a season high on the event with a 48.675. McCaleigh also posted a 9.775 on the uneven bars. She finished in second place on both events! McCaleigh's contribution help the Quakers post the highest team score of the season with a 193.325.
Coaches' Choice
Lauren Lazaro – Brown
Lauren earned career highs on both beam and floor this weekend, at the end of a challenging two days of back-to-back meets. She has been a rock for the Bears all season and plays key roles in our line-ups as first-up on beam and anchor on floor.
Eastern College Athletic Conference – Division II
Gymnast of the Week
Jessica Meakim – West Chester
Jessica had one of her strongest performances of the season. She was 2nd on vault with a 9.6, 2nd on bars with her career high of 9.725, 3rd on the beam with a 9.675, and 1st on Floor with her season high of 9.875. She won the all-around with a 38.875 and currently sits in 1st place in the all-around in the ECAC II conference.
Specialist of the Week
Yoli Nodarse – West Chester
Yoli had her season best meet. She was first on the uneven parallel bars with her season best of 9.775 and was tied for 2nd on the balance beam tying her season high of a 9.75.
Rookie of the Week
Kiah Johnson – West Chester
Kiah had her best performance of the year. She won vault with a 9.65 and had her career high on the floor of a 9.775 helping her team break the 49 mark for the 1st time this season.
Coaches' Choice
McKenna Kissinger – West Chester
McKenna improved her handspring double full and this week was her best performance. She place 3rd with a 9.575. On floor she had her career best for a 9.825 finishing 3rd on that event also.
Mid American Conference
Gymnast of the Week
Denelle Pedrick - Central Michigan
Senior Denelle Pedrick placed first in the all-around with the score of 39.525 at Southern Utah. She tied for first on vault (9.900) and floor (9.925), placed second on beam with a 9.900 and finished fifth on bars with a 9.800. Pedrick matched her career highs on beam, floor and in the all-around.
Specialist of the Week
Mia Lord - Northern Illinois
Junior Mia Lord, the defending MAC balance beam champion, added a second event to her repertoire and came up with season and career best scores on both events in Friday’s win over Eastern Michigan, helping NIU to a school record in the process. In the leadoff spot for the Huskies on vault, Lord scored a career high 9.800 to help NIU to its fourth-highest team vault score in school history, and highest in two seasons, as the Huskies posted a 49.000 on vault. Lord then closed out the meet for NIU on balance beam with a 9.900, the highest score on any event for NIU all season, to tie for first on that event. Her score tied her career best and helped NIU break the school record for highest team beam score with a 49.325. The Huskies’ overall score of 196.125 ranks second all-time.
Midwest Independent Conference
Gymnast of the Week
Anna Kaziska - Southeast Missouri State
Kaziska won a pair of event titles this past Friday as Southeast Missouri women's gymnastics registered a season-high team score of 193.925 to overcome MIC rival Lindenwood in a dual meet at Houck Field House. In the third rotation, Kaziska notched her third 9.875 in 2020 and fifth career-best mark for the beam title. She also captured the all-around crown with her fourth career total of 39.00 or higher (39.150). Kaziska finished as the runner-up on floor, with a 9.850 in the anchor position. She also added a 9.700 on vault and a 9.725 on bars.
Performance of the Week
Isabel Goyco - Texas Woman's
A sophomore from San Antonio, Goyco was one of six Pioneer gymnasts to set personal records in TWU's dual meet with top-ranked Oklahoma. Goyco put up a stellar 9.900 on the floor to set a new personal best in that event, finishing second. The score eclipsed her previous personal record of 9.875 - set two days earlier at Centenary.
Newcomer of the Week
Gayla Griswold - Lindenwood
Griswold set a career-high on the floor against Southeast Missouri State with a score of 9.875. She also tied career-highs in the other two events she competed in, with a 9.800 on the beam and a 9.825 on the vault.
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
Gymnast of the Week
Darian Burns - Seattle Pacific
Seattle Pacific senior Darian Burns (Atlanta, GA) took the floor (9.875), vault (9.90), and all-around (39.375) titles, tied for third-place on balance beam (9.80), and took third outright on uneven bars (9.80) for a record book night in the Falcons’ tri-meet win at Air Force (Feb. 8). Burns’ vault tied for fifth-best in MPSF history and tied the all-time SPU record. Her all-around tied for eighth in the conference record book and was second-best in SPU history. Burns is SPU’s first MPSF Gymnast of the Week in two years, when she herself earned the honor (Feb. 27, 2018). Overall, this is Burns’ third career weekly award.
Specialist of the Week
Anna Salamone - Air Force
Air Force senior Anna Salamone (Bayport, NY) posted a 9.925 on the uneven parallel bars, finishing in first-place in a tri-meet with Seattle Pacific and Illinois State (Feb. 8). Already an all-time MPSF uneven bars record- holder, Salamone’s 9.925 tied for sixth in conference history. Salamone’s score helped the Falcons to a season-high 48.500 in the event. It was her second 9.9-plus this season. She also led the Falcons on the vault where she scored a 9.800 for a second-place tie, before posting a 9.65 on floor in her final event. This is the ninth career weekly award for Salamone.
Freshman of the Week
Jada Mazury - San Jose State
San Jose State freshman Jada Mazury (Calgary, AB, Canada) scored career-highs on all three of her events in the dual meet at UC Davis (Feb. 7). She won her first collegiate title with a 9.80 on uneven bars, followed by a share of the balance beam title with a 9.875, the second-best score in the event in school history. Mazury’s score also led a 49.175 Spartan total on beam, second-best all-time for the program. She finished her night with a 9.85 on floor to place second. This is the second career MPSF weekly award for Mazury (Jan. 20).
Mountain Rim Gymnastics Championship
Co-Gymnasts of the Week
Karley McClain - Southern Utah
McClain set a new career-high in the all-around with a 39.475, beating her previous high of 39.450 set last season at Utah State. She scored a 9.850 on vault, 9.825 on bars, 9.875 on beam, and a 9.925 on floor to give her the combined score of 39.475. She is now ranked third in the MRGC in the all-around with an average score of 39.150. This is the first time a gymnast from SUU has been named Gymnast of the Week since Danielle Ramirez won the award twice in 2017.
Shannon Evans - BYU
Evans recorded a 39.475 in her 2020 all-around debut on Saturday against Sacramento State to share this week's top honor with Southern Utah University sophomore Karley McClain. Since coming off injury, All-American Evans competed on the uneven bars for the first time this season, achieving a team-high of 9.925 on Saturday. Her scores aided the team to a 196.625-193.000 win.
Specialists of the Week
Vault - Madison McBride - Southern Utah
Uneven Bars - Shylen Murakami - Southern Utah
Balance Beam - Hannah Nipp - Southern Utah
Co-Floor Exercise - Molly Jozwiakowski - Southern Utah
Co-Floor Exercise - Karly McClain - Southern Utah
Co-Floor Exercise - Autumn DeHarde - Utah State
National Collegiate Gymnastics Association East
Gymnast of the Week
Cameryn Nichols - Ithaca
Nichols posted a fantastic performance this past Sunday in a tri-meet hosted at Springfield College. The Ithaca rookie gymnast returned to the all-around after taking a one-week break on beam last Saturday and the results could not have been better. Nichols bested her previous career high by over half a point, scoring a 37.975 that ranks third-best in the country this season and first among NCGA East All-Arounders. Included in that total were excellent routines on balance beam and floor where she set a new high mark on beam (9.725) and equaled her best on floor (9.700). Nichols also posted a strong vault of 9.450 that ranked in a tie for fifth at the meet, while she also scored a solid 9.100 on bars.
Specialist of the Week
Emma Schulz - Cortland
Schulz won balance beam, tied for fourth on floor exercise and was fifth on vault in Cortland’s dual meet at Division II West Chester. Her winning beam score of 9.80 ties her season high and is just 0.025 short of matching the school record, which she already holds a share of. She also matched her season high with a 9.775 on floor and posted a 9.45 on vault. Schulz’ effort on beam helped Cortland posted a team score of 48.025 on the event, the fifth-best in school history.
Pac-12 Conference
Gymnast of the Week
Kyana George - California
- Won the all-around with a score of 39.550 against No. 3 Utah.
- Took first place on floor (9.925) and second place on beam (9.90).
- Helped the Golden Bears match a season-high team total of 197.325.
Adrienne Randall - Utah
- Claimed first place on beam with a career-high score of 9.95 in Utah's victory over No. 12 California.
- Helped the undefeated Utes to their season-high 49.625 total beam score.
- Matched a season-high floor score for the third-straight meet (9.875).
Nevaeh DeSouza - California
- Secured second place in the all-around with a career-high score of 39.475.
- Posted career-high scores on vault (9.875), bars (9.90) and beam (9.85).
- Took second place on vault and bars against No. 3 Utah.
Maya Bordas - California
- Despite having the flu all week, Bordas rose to the occasion and claimed third place in the all-around (39.450) against No. 3 Utah.
- Earned career-high scores in the all-around (39.450) and on floor (9.90).
- Took second place on bars (9.90) and third place on floor (9.90).
Southeastern Conference
Gymnast of the Week
Trinity Thomas - Florida
Florida’s Trinity Thomas, a sophomore from York, Pa., turned in the nation’s leading total for the weekend of 39.775 to claim her fourth all-around win of the season as the Gators defeated No. 4 Denver and No. 18 Iowa State. Thomas recorded a 10.0 on balance beam, making her the only gymnast in 2020 with a perfect mark of multiple events.
Co-Specialists of the Week
Sophia Carter - Arkansas
Arkansas’ Sophia Carter, a junior from Blue Springs, Mo., earned her ninth career beam title with a 9.925 to help the Gymbacks to a season-high 49.275 in the event, en route to their win over No. 10 Georgia. The final score of 196.950 marked the 13th highest team score in program history and ninth highest at Barnhill. Carter also tied for fourth on floor (9.875) as the Razorbacks finished with a 49.400, giving Arkansas a combined score of 148+ on bars, beam and floor for the fourth time in program history
Sabrina Vegas - Georgia
Georgia’s Sabrina Vega, a senior from Carmel, N.Y., scored her fourth 9.950 of the season on floor and took home the event title at No. 15 Arkansas. Vega shared the event title on beam after scoring a 9.925. Both scores matched her season-high marks as the GymDogs tallied their highest road score of the season (196.750).
Freshman of the Week
Kiya Johnson - LSU
LSU’s Kiya Johnson, a freshman from Dallas, Texas, won three event titles, including the all-around with a score of 39.575. Johnson earned wins in vault and bars titles at No. 22 Oregon State and vs. Arizona State on the road. She also secured a third-place finish on floor with a 9.90 and fourth place on beam with a 9.875.
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (NCGA West)
All-Around
Blaise Wilson - UW-Whitewater
Wilson scored above a 9.500 in each of her four events on her way to a career-best 38.350, the 20th-highest score in program history, and a first-place finish in the all-around to help the Warhawks defeat UW-Oshkosh and Gustavus Adolphus at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee on Feb. 7. She upgraded her vault for the meet and scored a personal-record 9.600 after successfully executing her Yurchenko Full, and placed fourth in the event. Wilson added a fourth-place finish on uneven bars with a 9.525, a seventh-place finish on beam with a career-best 9.625 and a runner-up finish on floor exercise with a 9.600. She helped UW-Whitewater post a season-high team score of 188.925, including a season-best 46.050 on bars.
Specialist
Karina Sabol - UW-Whitewater
Sabol placed among the top three in a pair of individual events to help the Warhawks defeat UW-Oshkosh and Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) and post a season-high team score of 188.925 on Feb. 7. She won the floor exercise with a 9.725, more than one-tenth higher than the runner-up. Her score was her second-highest of the season. Sabol added a career-best 9.700 on balance beam, five-tenths higher than her previous best and good for a tie for third place. She had scored below a 9.000 on beam in each of her previous two meets.