Often referred to as the “Heisman Award” for women’s college gymnastics, the nation’s top senior earns the AAI Award as voted on by head coaches while the Honda Award is given to the top female athlete in every NCAA sport, including gymnastics (making it a more accurate Heisman equivalent). While the winners are often different, many nominees generally overlap, so we compiled a comprehensive list of who’s in contention for each or both of the sport’s top honors.
2024 AAI & Honda Award Winner: Haleigh Bryant, LSU
*Only eligible for the Honda Award
Haleigh Bryant, LSU
No one has ever gone back-to-back for the AAI award; it traditionally goes to a true senior. As recently as 2023, Trinity Thomas repeated as the Honda Award winner, though, so there’s no reason to believe Bryant won’t, at the very least, be a finalist again in 2025. A normal season from her will automatically put her in the conversation. Bryant followed up topping the all-around standings in the regular season by winning the all-around and team titles at the NCAA championships, so every title is hers to lose this season.
Jade Carey, Oregon State
After adding more Olympic gold to her resume over the summer, Carey has committed fully to collegiate gymnastics in 2025—announcing a break from elite—meaning she’s more of a threat than ever for individual awards. A score under 9.9 from Carey is a rarity, and she finished as runner-up to Bryant at the NCAA championship without a team by her side. If her leadership can help push Oregon State to some flashy results, she could find herself a heavy vote-getter for both awards come April.
Leanne Wong, Florida
Now a two-time Olympic alternate, Wong will be extra motivated to top the postseason podium with the Gators. A member of the exclusive Gym Slam club, Wong has the ability to explode for massive totals. Those will be a factor, but preventing a decade-long title drought for Florida could give her the edge in nabbing either of the available awards. Wong finished third in the all-around at last season’s NCAA championships.
Jordan Bowers, Oklahoma
Finishing second to Bryant in the final all-around rankings by NQS and average—while tying her for the best score of the year with a 39.925—Bowers was an AAI Award contender all of 2024 and will undoubtedly be in contention for every honor this season. Bowers’ NCAA championships didn’t go as planned, so expect an extra-motivated Sooner senior in 2025.
Jordan Chiles, UCLA*
Unlike Olympic teammates Wong and Carey, Chiles didn’t compete during the 2024 NCAA season, choosing to focus solely on elite gymnastics. Having to readjust could be a determining factor in as tight a race as the Honda Award can be, but if Chiles can pick up right where she left off in 2023 as NCAA bars and floor champion, her potential is ridiculous.
eMjae Frazier, California*
Frazier’s jump as an all-arounder, from finishing 39th in 2023 to third last season, was vital in elevating the Golden Bears to title contenders and NCAA runners-up. Her continued consistency on her difficult sets will help California maintain its status quo, and elevating her game yet again will make the Honda Award race all the more complicated.
Mya Lauzon, California
Lauzon, the 2024 CGN Breakout Gymnast of the Year, is the only gymnast other than Bryant to be first in the RTN all-around rankings at any point in 2024. She later went on to finish fourth individually at the championships. Her resume alone makes her a contender for the pair of awards this season, and with her remarkable consistency, she undoubtedly hopes to help nab the Golden Bears a title before her time in Berkeley is over. Get ready for another season of Lauzon and Frazier trading off breaking new Cal records.
Mya Hooten, Minnesota
While both awards are generally won by all-arounders—Hooten has only competed five beam routines in her career—the fifth-year’s prowess on the leg events makes her a genuine contender nevertheless. She’s gone viral on floor, won Big Ten and regional titles on vault, reached perfection on both events, and should she start a 10-streak, would legitimately threaten to end the all-arounder trend.
Lily Smith, Georgia*
Coming off a rookie season where she won CGN Freshman of the Year, expectations for Smith are skyrocketing after Georgia hired a new coaching staff in the offseason and the GymDogs projecting to be more relevant as a team in 2025. Smith should find herself atop many a podium—not just bars—this season as she leads the resurgence of the powerhouse program.
Selena Harris-Miranda, Florida*
The would-be frontrunner for transfer of the year, Harris was the 2023 CGN Freshman of the Year at UCLA and looks to be a significant factor in the Gators’ title hopes in 2025. Despite newbie status and the loaded roster in Gainesville, Harris should be a mainstay in all four Florida lineups and reign in just as impressive of scores as she did on the West Coast.
Anya Pilgrim, Florida*
Despite a loaded roster of all-arounders at Florida, Pilgrim was able to shine immediately as a freshman, putting herself in heavy contention for CGN FOTY honors and ranking 15th nationally in NQS. The Gators once again added more talent to their arsenal in the offseason, but Pilgrim still projects to play a starring role and should be in the Honda conversation.
Audrey Davis, Oklahoma
Davis shined in last season’s national semifinal that most Sooners would rather forget, as she finished as the team’s best all-arounder and took home shares of both the NCAA bars and beam titles. Now in her bonus season, she’ll look to top the country on her pet event—bars—yet again to bolster her already-impressive resume and fuel Oklahoma’s revenge season.
Aleah Finnegan, LSU
After representing the Philippines in Paris, the reigning NCAA floor champ heads into 2025 with Olympic momentum. Now that she’s healthy and capable of competing bars—and her signature piked Deltchev—on a weekly basis, Finnegan projects to be a top 15 all-arounder like she was in 2023, upping her stock for postseason honors.
Faith Torrez, Oklahoma*
A roleplayer for the Sooners in 2023, Torrez was an all-around mainstay in 2024 en route to ranking 11th nationally and tying teammate Davis for an NCAA title on beam to finish her season. Expected to take on even more of a starring role for Oklahoma in the coming year, should she continue to get better with experience, Torrez is better than a darkhorse when it comes to the Honda Award race.
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With a brand new 10.0 vault and a much more conducive team dynamic, I don’t think that you can count Grace out of this.