Individual Regionals Qualifiers Watchlist

It’s time to start thinking about regionals. Yes, really. We have an NQS for nearly every team and individual. (For an explainer on all of your postseason questions, see our post here; there remains confusion around whether we’re calling it a national or regional qualifying score this year. We’re using NQS since that is what is on Road to Nationals as of publishing.) Note that per the NCAA, NQS must be carried out to four decimal places, which we do here.

Keeping track of which teams will qualify to regionals is usually pretty straightforward, but tracking the individuals is much more complicated. This year, we’ve started tracking individual scores in an effort to anticipate the decisive storylines and routines we need to watch in the last few weeks of the season.

A word on methodology: We don’t actually know which teams will qualify to regionals yet! Remember that individual qualifying to regionals applies to teams who finish the regular season outside of the top 28, i.e. those who advance straight to round two and don’t have to compete in a play-in. Since there are still so many moving parts with a month to go until regionals, we’re going to consider individuals from teams currently ranked outside that No. 28 team cutoff. Of course, some of these athletes’ teams will ultimately qualify, so we should all apply common sense and restraint in making predictions at this point.

Bold names indicate the gymnasts who would qualify if the regular season were to end today.

All Around 

2019’s regional qualifying NQS cutoff was 39.1650.

Gymnast School Current NQS Remaining Meets Low score to drop currently counted in NQS
Denelle Pedrick Central Michigan 39.3550 Five, three away 39.275
Hannah Joyner Rutgers 39.1800 Five, three away 39.050
Jovannah East Bowling Green 39.1300 Five, four away 38.675
Leighton Varnadore Utah State 39.1150 Four, two away 39.025
Jada Rondeau Eastern Michigan 39.0650 Four, four away 38.925
Ariana Castrence Temple 39.0000 Five, two away 38.675
Sofi Sullivan Utah State 38.9750 Four, two away 38.325
Elizabeth Culton North Carolina 38.9700 Four, two away 38.750
Anna Kaziska SEMO 38.9150 Five, four away 38.750
Taylor Chan San Jose State 38.8800 Four, three away 38.650
Angelica Labat Illinois State 38.8650 Four, two away 38.625
Julianna Roland Bridgeport 38.8600 Four, four away 38.475

You’ll see some familiar names at the top of this chart, with some regionals mainstays doing what they need to do to compete individually in the postseason once again. Those gymnasts, like Central Michigan’s Denelle Pedrick and Bowling Green’s Jovannah East, are joined this year by strong four-eventers Hannah Joyner (Rutgers), SEMO’s Anna Kaziska and Illinois State’s Angelica Labat. Joyner in particular is an exciting prospect. The freshman has a huge NQS of 9.9100 (!) on beam and puts together strong sets on the other three events. Kaziska is another intriguing potential qualifier, seeing as SEMO is coming off a pretty low year in 2019. The Redhawks sophomore has a handful of high 38s she can improve upon and five opportunities to do so to increase her chances of qualifying to regionals in 2020. The potential is there.

A handful of well-known gymnasts from cult-favorite programs don’t have enough scores yet to have an NQS, including Illinois State’s Gabrielle Cooke, Boise State’s Hope Masiado, Arizona State’s Gracie Reeves, Kent State’s Karlie Franz and Central Michigan’s Hannah DeMers. DeMers in particular is someone to keep an eye on. She was out of the all around for a couple meets and just needs two more four-event performances for an NQS but ideally three more 39-plus totals in five tries to be in contention. Deja Chambliss only recently started competing all around this season; with a 39.275 and a 39.15 so far, she’ll be one to watch if she continues to compete all around in at least four of GW’s remaining five meets.

Kent State’s Rachel Decavitch really hangs in the balance. She has three low scores to drop and four meets to do it. But when she’s on, she’s been stellar for the Golden Flashes and is more than capable of making a late push. Gabby Landess is out of the picture now, but with three low scores to drop, she could move onto the radar with hits in the next few weeks. We’d also like to bring up the idea of Darian Burns. The Falcons senior is the reigning USAG national all around champion and has a huge ceiling despite being somewhat inconsistent. While she only has one 39-plus total as of now, that mark is a huge 39.375 and she still has four more opportunities to really step it up and make a push. 

Gymnast School Current NQS Remaining Meets Low score to drop currently counted in NQS
Rachel Decavitch Kent State 38.8500 Four, two away 38.425
Belle Huang Rutgers 38.8250 Five, three away 38.450
Jessica Meakim West Chester 38.8250 Four, two away 38.725
Juliette Boyer Arizona State 38.7950 Five, four away 38.375
Riley Freehling New Hampshire 38.7800 Four, three away 38.550
Darian Burns Seattle Pacific 38.7650 Four, four away 38.525

For the rest of this article, an asterisk next to a gymnast’s name indicates that she’s currently projected to be an all around qualifier; all arounders do not “take up” an event spot.

Vault

2019’s regional qualifying NQS cutoff was 9.8150. 

Gymnast School Current NQS Remaining Meets Low score to drop currently counted in NQS
Khazia Hislop North Carolina 9.9000 Four, two away 9.900
Hannah Scharf Arizona State 9.8600 Five, three away 9.825
Gabriela Bouza Boise State 9.8450 Four, one away 9.825
Alexsis Rubio Maryland 9.8400 Six, four away 9.800
Denelle Pedrick* Central Michigan 9.8350 Five, three away 9.800
Olivia Aepli Ohio State 9.8350 Four, three away 9.825
Mikayla Robinson North Carolina 9.8300 Four, two away 9.800
Deja Chambliss George Washington 9.8300 Five, four away 9.775
Jovannah East* Bowling Green 9.8250 Five, four away 9.750
Stefanie Schweikert Ball State 9.8250 Five, four away 9.800
Kylie Gorgenyi New Hampshire 9.8200 Four, three away 9.775
Leighton Varnadore* Utah State 9.8200 Four, two away 9.750
Ariana Castrence* Temple 9.8200 Five, two away 9.800
Sydney Jennings Ohio State 9.8150 Four, three away 9.700
Kaitlyn Hall Rutgers 9.8150 Five, three away 9.725
Daisy Woodring Texas Woman’s 9.8150 Four, three away 9.750
Bri Slonim Ball State 9.8150 Five, four away 9.775
Abbie Pierson West Virginia 9.8100 Four, one away 9.725
Gayla Griswold Lindenwood 9.8050 Four, two away 9.750
Cydney Crasa George Washington 9.8000 Five, four away 9.750

There are some stellar vaulters in this group, and the field is competitive. A handful of the lower-ranked members of the list have the potential to shoot up with one more solid number. Jovannah East is a great example: Her 9.750 to drop is her only sub-9.800 score currently counting. A 9.900 at her next away meet boosts her to a 9.8500 NQS. Likewise Gayla Griswold, who moves up to a 9.8200 NQS if she matches her season-best 9.825 at Lindenwood’s away contest this weekend. Daisy Woodring stands to jump to a 9.8350 with a season high-matching 9.850 this weekend.

There are a few gymnasts who haven’t competed vault enough to have an NQS yet but should be on our radar. Hannah DeMers missed a few weeks, as mentioned above, and is one home vault total short of being ranked. Her floor, if she matches her season-low 9.800 this weekend, is debuting with a 9.8250 NQS; she could go as high as 9.8450 if she matches her season best 9.900. Cairo Leonard-Baker is another name to watch. Assuming she vaults in Monday’s road meet, she will have an NQS. A season low-matching score would land her a 9.8000 NQS; if she matches her season-high 9.900, she’ll debut at 9.8250.

While those are the big names we’re eyeing, there are always some outside hopefuls who can sneak into a qualifying spot with a strong back half of the season. We’re tracking those gymnasts, too.

Gymnast School Current NQS Remaining Meets Low score to drop currently counted in NQS
Marissa Nychyk Ball State 9.7950 Five, four away 9.750
Arden Hudson Ball State 9.7950 Five, four away 9.750
Hannah Joyner* Rutgers 9.7950 Five, three away 9.750
Alecia Farina Maryland 9.7900 Six, four away 9.750
Alecia Petrikis Pittsburgh 9.7900 Four, four away 9.700
Julianna Roland* Bridgeport 9.7800 Four, four away 9.725
Rachel Decavitch Kent State 9.7500 Four, two away 9.700
Sydney Williams Central Michigan 9.7200 Five, three away 9.650

Bars

2019’s regional qualifying NQS cutoff was 9.8350.

Gymnast School Current NQS Remaining Meets Low score to drop currently counted in NQS
Emily Muhlenhaupt Boise State 9.9400 Four, one away 9.925
Denelle Pedrick* Central Michigan 9.8450 Five, three away 9.800
Maddi Nilson Boise State 9.8450 Four, one away 9.825
Sofia Iribarren Illinois State 9.8450 Four, two away 9.800
Michaela Burton Pittsburgh 9.8450 Four, four away 9.825
Tiara Wright Maryland 9.8400 Six, four away 9.825
Colby Miller Ohio State 9.8400 Four, three away 9.750
Gabriela Bouza Boise State 9.8350 Four, one away 9.800
Shannon Farrell Rutgers 9.8300 Five, three away 9.775
Cortney Bezold Eastern Michigan 9.8250 Four, four away 9.800
Elizabeth Culton* North Carolina 9.8250 Four, two away 9.800
Angelica Labat* Illinois State 9.8250 Four, two away 9.775
Jenna Swartzentruber Ohio State 9.8200 Four, three away 9.750
Jada Rondeau* Eastern Michigan 9.8200 Four, four away 9.750
Kianna Yancey West Virginia 9.8200 Four, one away 9.800
Grace Rojas Utah State 9.8200 Four, two away 9.800
Anna Salamone Air Force 9.8150 Four, three away 9.700
Amelia Mohler Western Michigan 9.8100 Four, two away 9.775
Tatum Bruden Boise State 9.8050 Four, one away 9.750
Nevin Adamski Ohio State 9.8050 Four, three away 9.750
Courtney Mitchell Lindenwood 9.8050 Four, two away 9.775

On bars, we already have eight gymnasts at or above the cut-off NQS from last year. Emily Muhlenhaupt is leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of the field and is guaranteed to qualify to regionals, assuming Boise State finds itself outside of the top 28, but beyond that it is quite a race for regionals spots. Nilson, Iribarren and Burton should feel safe at 9.845, but beyond that the gymnasts should be aiming to replace their lowest counting scores as soon as possible.

Tiara Wright is in a great position to drop a string of 9.825s with a total of six meets remaining, including four on the road. Cortney Bezold also has four away meets left to drop a pair of 9.800s that are holding her back from a higher ranking. Meanwhile, Nevin Adamski, currently outside of our projected qualifiers due to losing a tiebreaker, only has three road meets remaining to drop two 9.750 scores that are currently counting toward her NQS.

Several gymnasts can potentially join this group if they are able to drop low scores currently being counted toward their NQS. Olivia Aepli is counting a 9.125 road score to go along with four other 9.875-plus marks—if she has a clean routine at Missouri this weekend, she will move near the top of this list. Juliette Boyer is a beautiful bar worker but is currently counting road scores of 9.550 and 9.175. With four away meets in March, she’ll have plenty of opportunities to move up these rankings.

Cairo Leonard-Baker has four scores of at least 9.875 on bars so far, but she has not yet competed in enough road meets to have an NQS. She’ll be a favorite to join this list after this coming weekend when Arizona State competes at Stanford. Another without an NQS yet is Mei Li Costa—with a 9.800 this weekend she’ll enter the field with a 9.8150 NQS and plenty of opportunity to grow over the last month of the season.

Gymnast School Current NQS Remaining Meets Low score to drop currently counted in NQS
Aleka Tsiknias Maryland 9.8000 Six, four away 9.750
Rachel Decavitch Kent State 9.8000 Four, two away 9.750
Kathryn Doran  Bridgeport 9.7950 Five, four away 9.725
Morgan Hooper Northern Illinois 9.7950 Five, three away 9.750
Kylie Gorgenyi New Hampshire 9.7950 Four, three away 9.775
Sofi Sullivan* Utah State 9.7950 Four, two away 9.750
Zoe Schweitzer Ohio State 9.7950 Four, three away 9.725

Beam 

2019’s regional qualifying NQS cutoff was 9.8350.

Gymnast School Current NQS Remaining Meets Low score to drop currently counted in NQS
Hannah Joyner* Rutgers 9.9100 Five, three away 9.900
Autumn DeHarde Utah State 9.8950 Four, two away 9.875
Sofi Sullivan* Utah State 9.8750 Four, two away 9.825
Anna Kaziska* SEMO 9.8450 Five, four away 9.775
Morgan Tong Central Michigan 9.8450 Five, three away 9.800
Alyssa Worthington New Hampshire 9.8450 Four, three away 9.800
Michaela Burton Pittsburgh 9.8400 Four, four away 9.725
Amelia Mohler Western Michigan 9.8350 Four, two away 9.825
Denelle Pedrick* Central Michigan 9.8300 Five, four away 9.750
Tiara Wright Maryland 9.8250 Six, four away 9.800
Alyssa Ito UC Davis 9.8250 Four, two away 9.750
Hailey Lui New Hampshire 9.8250 Four, three away 9.825
Isabella Amado Boise State 9.8150 Four, one away 9.700
Amber Koeth Sacramento State 9.8150 Four, two away 9.775
Emma Milne San Jose State 9.8100 Four, three away 9.775
Jada Rondeau* Eastern Michigan 9.8100 Four, four away 9.750
Khazia Hislop North Carolina 9.8100 Four, two away 9.800
Jovannah East* Bowling Green 9.8100 Five, four away 9.775
Delaney Garin Temple 9.8050 Five, two away 9.750
Emili Dobronics Eastern Michigan 9.8050 Four, four away 9.750
Hope Masiado Boise State 9.8050 Four, one away 9.750
Julianna Roland* Bridgeport 9.8000 Four, four away 9.750
Amanda Gruber Western Michigan 9.7950 Four, two away 9.775
Arden Hudson Ball State 9.7950 Five, four away 9.750

We’re predicting the field for this event to be slightly less competitive than last year with less individuals with strong qualifying scores in contention as of now. There is a strong group at the top of gymnasts whose teams are seeing marked improvements in 2020, including Utah State’s Autumn DeHarde and Sofi Sullivan and SEMO’s Anna Kaziska, as well as CMU’s Morgan Tong, New Hampshire’s Alyssa Worthington and Pittsburgh’s Michaela Burton. All of these gymnasts are already in a good position to compete as individuals should their teams finish outside the top 28.

In the second tier, a number of gymnasts are in good shape to drop single scores holding them back. Eastern Michigan’s Caitlin Satler is still holding onto a 9.200. If she scores 9.8000 in her upcoming contest, her NQS will jump to 9.8350, and if she matches her season high of 9.900, her qualifying score will move all the way to 9.8550, putting her in solid contention to compete at regionals. Bowling Green’s Taylor Worthington is in a similar situation. While she sits with a rather low 9.6500 NQS currently, that number still includes both a 9.150 and a road 9.650. If she can get rid of those two sub-par scores by replacing them with 9.800s, her NQS will jump to 9.8200.

There are a number of strong beamers who do not yet have an NQS yet, including Southern Connecticut’s Bianca Leon, who joined the team in January but has since hit a high of 9.900. Her other scores aren’t stellar, but she has a number of other opportunities to toss out the bad and bring her qualifying score up to regional contention standards. George Washington’s Hannah Cohen has four 9.825-plus scores in her calculation and just needs one more for an NQS. If she hits her season low of 9.775 this weekend, she’ll enter the ranks with a solid 9.8200. Others with too few scores that will be looking to start NQS strong are Kent State’s Riley Danielson and Penn’s McCaleigh Marr.

Those aren’t the only contenders. The following gymnasts have an outside shot at making regionals, either with good hits in their remaining meets or a lower overall qualification cutoff score in 2020. Keep your eye on those with more than a couple away scores left on the calendar, as they will have more opportunities to toss bad numbers and jump in the standings.

Gymnast School Current NQS Remaining Meets Low score to drop currently counted in NQS
Robyn Kelley New Hampshire 9.7900 Four, three away 9.750
Elizabeth Culton* North Carolina 9.7900 Four, two away 9.675
Megan Thompson Arizona State 9.7900 Five, four away 9.750
Maya Reimers Bridgeport 9.7850 Four, four away 9.675
Hannah Nam North Carolina 9.7850 Four, two away 9.725
Gracie Reeves Arizona State 9.7850 Five, four away 9.750

Floor

2019’s regional qualifying NQS cutoff was 9.8700.

Gymnast School Current NQS Remaining Meets Low score to drop currently counted in NQS
Claire Gagliardi Ohio State 9.8950 Four, three away 9.875
Taylor Chan* San Jose State 9.8950 Four, three away 9.875
Maya Reimers Bridgeport 9.8900 Four, four away 9.850
Khazia Hislop North Carolina 9.8850 Four, two away 9.850
Autumn DeHarde Utah State 9.8750 Four, two away 9.850
Denelle Pedrick* Central Michigan 9.8700 Five, three away 9.850
Emma Winer New Hampshire 9.8700 Four, three away 9.825
Claudia Goyco Ball State 9.8700 Five, four away 9.825
Leighton Varnadore* Utah State 9.8550 Four, two away 9.800
Sabriyya Rouse Maryland 9.8550 Six, four away 9.825
Jovannah East* Bowling Green 9.8500 Five, four away 9.825
Olivia Aepli Ohio State 9.8500 Four, three away 9.775
Mikayla Robinson North Carolina 9.8450 Four, two away 9.825
Jessica Ginn Arizona State 9.8450 Five, four away 9.825
Reese McClure Maryland 9.8450 Six, four away 9.800
Belle Huang Rutgers 9.8450 Five, three away 9.825
Anna Kaziska* SEMO 9.8350 Five, four away 9.800
Emili Dobronics Eastern Michigan 9.8350 Four, four away 9.800
Hailey Lui New Hampshire 9.8350 Four, three away 9.775
Cydney Crasa George Washington 9.8350 Five, four away 9.800
Ronni Binstock Western Michigan 9.8350 Four, two away 9.825

Take a deep breath as you scan down this list: The numbers top floor gymnasts are producing this year are truly astounding. Eight gymnasts from teams outside of the top 28 have already met last year’s qualifying cutoff, so expect the battle on this event to be immense. 

Ohio State’s Claire Gagliardi has emerged as a force on her only event and debuts with a NQS only a hair short of 9.9000. Right behind her are senior powerhouses Taylor Chan, Maya Reimers and Khazia Hislop. These four all do floor routines that are unusually difficult, stylish and—critically in a close qualifying race—devastatingly consistent. They’re the only ones we feel very confident will qualify at this point.

For the next tier, you can do the math: If the cutoff indeed ends up higher than last year’s 9.8700, gymnasts looking to advance will in all likelihood need multiple 9.900-plus scores. That means that athletes like Maryland freshman Reese McClure, who scored 9.900 both of her last two outings on floor, have a distinct advantage over the likes of Belle Huang, who has topped out at 9.875 thus far. That also means we shouldn’t take our eyes off Seattle Pacific’s Darian Burns and Kent State’s Jade Brown, both of whom have a higher score range than some others on the list but topped out at 9.925.

On the wildcard front, keep an eye on Temple’s Faith Leary, who was in a strong position on this event for a few weeks before going AWOL. We don’t know her status, but if she returns, she could easily become a factor. Others with high peak scores but much lower scores still to drop include Alexis Hankins and Stacie Harrison. 

School Current NQS Remaining Meets Low score to drop currently counted in NQS
Bria Northrop Texas Woman’s 9.8300 Four, three away 9.775
Tara Kofmehl Northern Illinois 9.8250 Five, three away 9.750
Darian Burns Seattle Pacific 9.8250 Four, four away 9.725
Jade Brown  Kent State 9.8250 Four, two away 9.800
Isabel Goyco Texas Woman’s 9.8200 Four, three away 9.725
Kendra Combs West Virginia 9.8200 Four, one away 9.775
Hannah Scharf Arizona State 9.8200 Five, four away 9.775
Elizabeth Culton* North Carolina 9.8200 Four, two away 9.800
Tatum Bruden Boise State 9.8200 Four, one away 9.800

Teams on the Cusp

So far we’ve only listed gymnasts on teams ranked outside of the top 28, but it is a realistic possibility that these team rankings will change before the end of the postseason. Let’s take a look at gymnasts on teams ranked between 25 and 28 that could qualify as individuals should their teams find themselves ranked lower come postseason.

Name School Event Current NQS
Lea Mitchell Michigan State All Around 39.2950
Lea Mitchell Michigan State Vault 9.8000
Lea Mitchell Michigan State Bars 9.8200
Lea Mitchell Michigan State Floor 9.8850
Nyah Smith Michigan State All Around 38.8550
Nyah Smith Michigan State Vault 9.8200
Gabriella Douglas Michigan State Vault 9.8100
Gabriella Douglas Michigan State Beam 9.8750
Gabriella Douglas Michigan State Floor 9.8050
Jori Jackard Michigan State Bars 9.8600
Ashley Hofelich Michigan State Floor 9.8650
Kyla Bryant Stanford All Around 39.1850
Kyla Bryant Stanford Vault 9.8100
Kyla Bryant Stanford Bars 9.8300
Kyla Bryant Stanford Beam 9.8300
Kyla Bryant Stanford Floor 9.9000
Chloe Widner Stanford Vault 9.8150
Chloe Widner Stanford Beam 9.8250
Taylor Lawson Stanford Beam 9.8250
Taylor Lawson Stanford Floor 9.8250
Wesley Stephenson Stanford Beam 9.7950
Morgan Hoang Stanford Floor 9.8350
Lauren Kent N.C. State All Around 39.0250
Laurent Kent N.C. State Bars 9.8300
Drew Grantham N.C. State All Around 38.8750
Drew Grantham N.C. State Bars 9.7950
Drew Grantham N.C. State Beam 9.8300
Drew Grantham N.C. State Floor 9.8950
Emily Shepard N.C. State Vault 9.8550
Emily Shepard N.C. State Bars 9.8250
Chloe Negrete N.C. State Vault 9.7950
Chloe Negrete N.C. State Beam 9.8150
Katelyn Cox N.C. State Bars 9.8000
Alexis Beucler N.C. State Floor 9.8350
Lauren Guerin Iowa Vault 9.8350
Lauren Guerin Iowa Floor 9.9050
Bridget Killian Iowa Vault 9.8150
Bridget Killian Iowa Beam 9.7950
Bridget Killian Iowa Floor 9.8250
Allyson Steffensmeier Iowa Bars 9.8200

Article by Rebecca Scally, Emily Minehart, Elizabeth Grimsley and Jenna King

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3 comments

  1. Do only 16 athletes attend per individual event? If so, what is the tie-breaker? If an athlete has a NQS, but then unfortunately has an injury late in the season, do they still keep the spot?

    1. The tie breaker for regionals takes the highest score not being used in the gymnast’s NQS. There are no alternates named after regional qualifiers are announced.

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