Data Deep Dive: Highest-Impact Transfers and Freshmen

The 2024 season was one for the record books, underlined by the popularity of the transfer portal and the star-studded freshman class. Among all of the new additions, who were the most impactful on their teams? Our data team looked to answer this through a variety of data points, including routines contributed, events competed, high scores (9.9 or above) contributed, and how their scores stacked up against the rest of their team.

Methodology

We first compiled basic scoring data (highs and averages) for all gymnasts for the 2024 season. We then flagged freshmen and transfers. Our editors then analyzed the data to pick out the transfers and freshmen who contributed top scores to their teams. This yielded the seven transfers we chose to examine more closely in terms of scoring data. We had more than a dozen freshmen who contributed top scores, so we used contextual lenses to examine who may have made a bigger impact. Were they a highly touted freshman coming in, who was already expected to make a large impact? How many events did they compete? Did they put up top scores on lower-ranking teams? Did they outperform upperclassmen on a top team? After some painful decisions, we reviewed the data for the final time and chose seven freshmen to highlight. 

Most Impactful Transfers

Jah’liyah Bedminster

LIU to Pittsburgh

Bedminster achieved the elusive perfect 9.95 on her Yurchenko full against North Carolina last February. She competed in every meet for the Pitt Panthers in 2023, including as an individual floor competitor at regionals. In addition to her 9.95 high on vault, she notched a high of 9.9 on uneven bars at the ACC Championships. Bedminster went 9.9 on floor as well, hitting that score five times throughout the season. She ended 2024 with a top 100 NQS on floor. 

Vault	9.845 NQS
Bars	9.815 NQS
Floor	9.895 NQS

Kaitlyn Hoiland 

Oregon State to Texas Woman’s

Hoiland immediately made an impact on the Texas Woman’s team with her arrival, scoring 9.9+ on all three of her events last season. While she didn’t see much lineup time at Oregon State, she now boasts the highest average of the Texas Woman’s team on every event except floor, which she does not compete. She competed in every meet for the Pioneers, including USAG vault event finals. She boasted the highest total event score on the team of 147.4 total points on vault, and added beam for the last five meets of the season. She held or tied for the highest score on bars and beam, and was second only to Daisy Woodring on vault.

Vault	9.855 NQS
Bars	9.845 NQS
Beam	9.833 AVG

Lauren Rutherford

N.C. State to Clemson

Rutherford competed in all but one regular season lineup for the Clemson Tigers, including routine appearances on bars, vault, and floor. Rutherford notched a 9.95 on floor against N.C. State, which tied for the highest score for Clemson on floor. She scored 9.9 or above twice on the vault, and notched a 9.820 NQS on bars. Her consistency was crucial for the Tigers through their inaugural season, with averages of above 9.85 on vault and floor. Rutherford put up a near-perfect 9.925 on her Yurchenko full, which is Clemson’s second-highest vault score ever! 

Vault	9.845 NQS
Bars	9.820 NQS
Floor	9.885 NQS

Mara Titarsolej

LIU to Missouri

This was one of the most anticipated transfers of the 2024 season, and Titarsolej delivered by notching her first SEC perfect 10 on the uneven bars… at an away meet! Titarsolej competed in every bars lineup for the Tigers, representing them on the event at NCAA regionals and championships. She scored a 9.9 or better on eight routines in 2024, with a top 10 NQS of 9.95. Missouri went from being ranked 18th on uneven bars in 2023 to 11th in 2024. The addition of Titarsolej in the anchor spot was crucial.

Bars

9.950 NQS

Nya Reed

Florida to UCLA

The only things flashier than Reed’s surprise transfer to UCLA were the scores she put up to aid the Bruins through a rocky season. She tied for first on floor at NCAA regionals with a 9.95. She competed on vault and floor for the Bruins, appearing in all but one regular season line up. She scored a season high of 9.95 on her Yurchenko one and a half against Arizona. This isn’t even to mention her prowess on floor, where 11 out of 12 routines scored above 9.9. She averaged a 9.923 on the event, going as high as 9.975 on the season. Her highest two event score was against Arizona, where she totaled a 19.925 with a 9.95 on vault and 9.975 on floor.

Vault	9.835 NQS
Floor	9.940 NQS

Sage Thompson

Utah to Oregon State

Thompson was expected to contribute heavily in the all-around as a complement to Olympian Jade Carey, but stood out individually with a stunning 9.902 average on uneven bars. She competed in all but one meet for the Beavers, including in the all-around for the last six meets of the season. She went 9.9+ on bars 10 times during the season, placing second in a packed regionals field. Her high, average, and NQS on that event were second on the team, only behind Carey. Oregon State excelled with the addition of Thompson, ranking seventh in the country on bars, which was a 14-rank improvement from 2023.

Vault	9.805 NQS
Bars	9.925 NQS
Beam	9.520 NQS
Floor	9.860 NQS

Savannah Schoenherr

Florida to LSU

Another surprise transfer out of Florida, the fans felt the excitement around Schoenherr’s transfer just as much as she did. She became a late-season competitor on beam in a stacked LSU lineup, an event she never routinely competed at Florida. We don’t have to talk about championships. She broke into stacked LSU lineups to compete in all but one meet, putting up the second most bars points on the team over the season (148.275 cumulative points). She went 9.9 or above six times on the event, with a high of 9.95 against North Carolina in March. Even though bars is her signature event, her gorgeous Yurchenko one and a half shone among the talented Tiger vault lineup. She scored 9.9 or above four times on the event, with a high of 9.95. 

Vault	9.890 NQS
Bars	9.905 NQS

Most Impactful Freshmen

Anya Pilgrim

Florida (Hill’s) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Pilgrim is a CGN staff favorite for a reason – picture perfect gymnastics on all four events. Even while competing with the likes of Leanne Wong and Sloane Blakely, she proved herself as one of Florida’s top all-arounders. She put up a massive 39.675 against Kentucky and notched at least one 9.9+ in every regular season meet. Amidst a packed troupe of Gator all-arounders, she competed on all four events in all but one meet. She put up 31 scores of 9.9 or higher, helping to ease the loss of Trinity Thomas and Kayla DiCello. She earned a perfect 10 on floor against Kentucky and was nearly perfect on bars and beam. 

Vault	9.920 NQS
Bars	9.895 NQS
Beam	9.915 NQS
Floor	9.900 NQS

Creslyn Brose

Kentucky (Bull City Gymnastics) ⭐⭐⭐

Brose started the season as a sleeper fantasy pick and ended it as the gymnast everyone wished they had drafted earlier. Her most notable data point? She only scored below a 9.9 on floor ONCE. Brose boasted an NQS of 9.96, tying her for ninth in the country on the event. She never achieved the elusive 10.0, but did hit a 9.975 three times over the season. She was Kentucky’s top floor worker aside from Raena Worley, and she will likely anchor the Wildcats’ signature event in 2025.

Beam	9.820 NQS
Floor	9.960 NQS

Katelyn Rosen

UCLA (Twin City Twisters) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

UCLA lacked on vault in 2023, the only event where it did not rank in the top 5. Enter Rosen. Among the likes of Selena Harris and Chae Campbell, Rosen shined in her first season as a Bruin. She had a high score of 9.9 or higher on every event, including highs of 9.95 on beam and floor. She scored her all-around high of 39.55 at the high-pressure Pac-12 Championships and put up 14 scores of 9.9 or higher to provide crucial depth for the Bruins through a rocky 2024 season. With the departures of floor stars Selena Harris, Nya Reed, and Margzetta Frazier, Rosen’s consistency on the event will be crucial into 2025. 

Vault	9.880 NQS
Bars	9.890 NQS
Beam	9.845 NQS
Floor	9.910 NQS

Maggie Slife

Air Force (Midwest Twisters) ⭐⭐⭐

Coming into the 2024 season, Slife was expected to contribute to Air Force as a late-lineup performer on all four events. She crushed expectations, competing all-around in all but two meets for the Falcons. She notched a high of 39.425 twice during the season, and she had the highest NQS of her team on all but beam. She scored a season high of 9.95 on bars against Sacramento State, the highest score that any Air Force gymnast put up during 2024. We have four words for you: draft her in 2025. 

Vault	9.845 NQS
Bars	9.910 NQS
Beam	9.815 NQS
Floor	9.880 NQS

Niya Randolph

Southern Utah (Gymcats) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Randolph had an explosive freshman season for the Thunderbirds, competing all-around in every single meet for Southern Utah. She went as high as 39.600 against BYU, aided by a season high of 9.95 on the uneven bars. She scored 9.9 or higher eight times during the season, including four times on floor. We would be remiss not to mention her split leg double layout on the event, which she debuted in January against the Iowa Hawkeyes. By the data, Randolph had the best 2024 performance on her team and is poised to continue as a major all-around asset into 2025.

Vault	9.825 NQS
Bars	9.900 NQS
Beam	9.820 NQS
Floor	9.895 NQS

Noelle Adams

Iowa State (Gold Medal Gymnastics) ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Expectations were mixed for the Iowa State Cyclones coming off a coaching switch, but they jumped a whopping 15 ranks from last season, and the cherry on top was a trip to NCAA regionals. Freshman Noelle Adams was crucial to this improvement, competing on vault, beam, and floor in every meet. She had the highest NQS of the team on beam and floor, with 18 scores of 9.900 or higher in her debut season. She excelled most on floor, where she notched a NQS of 9.910, and hit 9.900 or higher eight times over the season.

Vault	9.870 NQS
Beam	9.885 NQS
Floor	9.910 NQS

Konnor McClain 

LSU (WOGA) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Bars	9.895 NQS
Beam	9.975 NQS
Floor	9.910 NQS

We don’t need to say much about McClain. The 9.975 NQS on beam speaks for itself. She was a crucial part of the Tigers’ first championship, only scoring below 9.900 once in the postseason (a horrific 9.875 on the first day of regionals). She scored a 9.900 or higher 28 times during the season, earning a perfect 10 twice on beam and once on bars. Of note, that bars 10 came during only her second meet ever as an LSU Tiger. 

What Lies Ahead

Looking ahead to the 2025 season, 12 out of 14 gymnasts on this list will return to their teams. LSU will lose Schoenherr but will be entering 2025 as the reigning national champions. Oh, and the Tigers have five-star recruits Kailin Chio and Kaliya Lincoln joining their ranks. Speaking of star freshman classes… UCLA loses Nya Reed, but gains five-star recruits Macy McGowan and Sasha Fujisaka to replace depth lost to graduation and transfers. As these high-impact freshmen and transfers settle into their programs, expect great things from them in the 2025 season.

READ THIS NEXT: Data Deep Dive: Do Fifth Years Affect Underclassmen Lineup Appearances?

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Article by Emma Hammerstrom, Bailey Sutton, and Jill Walsh