Over the past few days we’ve been exploring the recruits from 2025 and 2026 that had major glow-ups over the last year. These are the recruits who have grown in their club season, and we can tell that they will hit the ground running when they arrive on campus. However, there are many recruits who have massive glow-ups after arriving at college. Whether it’s the new environment, different coaches, new routine composition, or something else, we love seeing gymnasts thrive in the college environment.
In this data deep dive, we’re going to be looking at the biggest freshman glow-ups as compared to our recruit ratings from each class that we rated, going back to the class of 2021. Since a gymnast’s star rating is based on their readiness on multiple events, we chose to focus on all-around and three-event performance in the gymnast’s freshman year to identify our glow-ups. This doesn’t mean there weren’t also massive glow-ups from one- or two-eventers as freshmen; however, we will not be looking at those gymnasts here.
To determine our glow-ups, we took all the rated gymnasts from each class who competed in the all-around or three events enough times to receive an NQS and fit a regression line between the total number of points the recruit had on those events versus their NQS as a freshman. Overall, we found a very strong correlation between freshman NQS and recruit rating points.
The charts below show the trend lines we calculated. Colors represent the number of stars the recruit had.
With this data, we then calculated the difference in the gymnast’s NQS vs the predicted NQS based on the regression line for their class. Then we looked at the 3-star and 4-star recruits with the largest difference from the expectation. We also looked at unrated gymnasts who had an all-around NQS above 39.0 or a three-event NQS above 29.3. We did not include the 5-stars because, even if they outperformed the expectation based on their rating, they were expected to be stars and are not necessarily considered “glow-ups” of their class. If there were more than five in the group, we limited the list to just the top five all around and top five three-event glow-ups of each class.
Class of 2021
All-Arounders
| Name | Team | Star Rating | Total Points | Freshman NQS | Predicted NQS |
| Grace McCallum | Utah | 4 | 76 | 39.650 | 39.318 |
| Julia Knower | North Carolina | 3 | 55 | 39.240 | 39.109 |
| Hallie Copperwheat | Pittsburgh | 3 | 59 | 39.235 | 39.148 |
| Gabrielle Stephen | Michigan State | 3 | 51 | 39.230 | 39.069 |
| Emily Mueller | Arizona | NR | NR | 39.185 | NR |
In the class of 2021, Olympian Grace McCallum had the highest difference between the predicted NQS based on the total points and her actual NQS in her freshman season, beating the projection by over three-tenths. A trio of three stars, Julia Knower, Hallie Copperwheat, and Gabrielle Stephen, also had very successful freshman seasons with NQS scores in the 39.23-39.24 range, over a tenth above the prediction. Finally, we have to mention unrated Emily Mueller, who had a 39.185 AA NQS her freshman season, the highest of any unrated freshman that year.
Three-Eventers
| Name | Team | Star Rating | Three-Event Points | Freshman NQS | Predicted NQS |
| Jordan Bowers | Oklahoma | 4 | 58 | 29.830 | 29.619 |
| Brie Clark | Utah State | 3 | 46 | 29.575 | 29.416 |
| Lauren Letzsch | Oregon State | NR | NR | 29.540 | NR |
| Clara Hong | Towson | NR | NR | 29.540 | NR |
| Megan Ray | UC Davis | 3 | 42 | 29.505 | 29.348 |
Looking back at the current national all-around champion, it should be no surprise that Jordan Bowers had an outstanding freshman year, but based on our recruit ratings, she outperformed our expectations by over two tenths. Brie Clark of Utah State and Megan Ray of UC Davis were two three-star recruits that also made a big splash for their respective teams. Meanwhile, a pair of unrated gymnasts, Lauren Letzsch and Clara Hong, both had massive freshman year glow-ups, ending the year with matching 29.540 NQSs across their three events.
Class of 2022
All-Arounders
| Name | Team | Star Rating | Total Points | Freshman NQS | Predicted NQS |
| eMjae Frazier | California | 4 | 74 | 39.405 | 39.316 |
| Naya Howard | Georgia | 4 | 76 | 39.375 | 39.345 |
| Syd Morris | LIU | 4 | 67 | 39.255 | 39.215 |
In the class of 2022, eMjae Frazier was a big standout with a 39.405 NQS that outperformed her prediction by almost a tenth. Naya Howard and Syd Morris were also standouts of this class with NQS values around a half-tenth above their predictions.
Three-Eventers
| Name | Team | Star Rating | Three Event Points | Freshman NQS | Predicted NQS |
| Claire Dean | Stanford | 4 | 60 | 29.580 | 29.562 |
| Karina Muñoz | Iowa | 4 | 51 | 29.575 | 29.448 |
| Zoe Middleton | Ball State | 3 | 41 | 29.430 | 29.321 |
| Amelia Moneymaker | UC Davis | NR | NR | 29.370 | NR |
| Marissa Lassiter | Pennsylvania | NR | NR | 29.350 | NR |
The class of 2022 brought us Claire Dean and Karina Muñoz as the four-star glow-ups of the class, both nearly reaching the 29.6 NQS mark. From the three-stars we saw Zoe Middleton outperform our expectations by over a tenth, ending the season with a 29.430 NQS. Finally, our last two glow-ups of the class are Amelia Moneymaker and Marissa Lassiter, both crossing the 29.3 NQS mark after entering as unrated gymnasts.
Class of 2023
All-Arounders
| Name | Team | Star Rating | Total Points | Freshman NQS | Predicted NQS |
| Anya Pilgrim | Florida | 4 | 71 | 39.570 | 39.408 |
| Katelyn Rosen | UCLA | 4 | 63 | 39.450 | 39.362 |
| Niya Randolph | Southern Utah | 3 | 59 | 39.355 | 39.338 |
| Maggie Slife | Air Force | 3 | 59 | 39.355 | 39.338 |
Both Anya Pilgrim and Katelyn Rosen outperformed their four-star rating with NQS values of 39.570 and 39.450, respectively. Meanwhile from our three-stars, Niya Randolph and Maggie Slife mirrored each other, both coming in with 59 recruit rating points and ending the season slightly above expectation with a 39.355 NQS.
Three-Eventers
| Name | Team | Star Rating | Three Event Points | Freshman NQS | Predicted NQS |
| Noelle Adams | Iowa State | 4 | 55 | 29.665 | 29.597 |
| MaKayla Tucker | Michigan State | 4 | 50 | 29.605 | 29.535 |
| Natalie Martin | Maryland | 4 | 52 | 29.600 | 29.567 |
| Hailey Klein | Arkansas | 3 | 40 | 29.565 | 29.361 |
| Abigayle Martin | Arizona | 3 | 41 | 29.495 | 29.377 |
At the top of our glow-up list for the class of 2023’s three-eventers is Noelle Adams, who had a standout freshman season with the second highest three-event NQS of all the three-eventers we’re mentioning here. MaKayla Tucker and Natalie Martin were also four-star freshmen who crossed the 29.6 NQS and outperformed our expectations. Finally, for the class of 2023, we have three-stars Hailey Klein and Abigayle Martin both exceeding our expectations by a large margin.
Class of 2024
All-Arounders
| Name | Team | Star Rating | Total Points | Freshman NQS | Predicted NQS |
| Joscelyn Roberson | Arkansas | 4 | 71 | 39.45 | 39.206 |
| Addison Fatta | Oklahoma | 4 | 74 | 39.435 | 39.242 |
| Chloe Cho | Illinois | 4 | 77 | 39.400 | 39.278 |
| Katelyn Jong | Auburn | 4 | 77 | 39.380 | 39.278 |
This past season, we saw four former elites outperform their respective four-star ratings and all score NQS values of 39.38 or higher. Joscelyn Roberson, Addison Fatta, Chloe Cho, and Katelyn Jong all benefited from the lower difficulty performed in the NCAA to become the glow-ups of their class.
Three-Eventers
| Name | Team | Star Rating | Three Event Points | Freshman NQS | Predicted NQS |
| JoJo Valahovic | North Carolina | 4 | 55 | 29.620 | 29.411 |
| Mia Hampton | Southern Utah | 3 | 44 | 29.500 | 29.237 |
| Lola Montevago | George Washington | NR | NR | 29.480 | NR |
| Eden King | Illinois | 3 | 45 | 29.440 | 29.253 |
| Reilan Garvey | Western Michigan | 3 | 39 | 29.365 | 29.158 |
JoJo Valahovic was a standout freshman for North Carolina this past season. Despite her four-star rating, she had a three-event NQS of 29.620. Another standout freshman name this year was Lola Montevago, who caught a lot of attention with a 9.975 season high on bars. She was unrated as a recruit, but finished the season with a 29.480 NQS across her three events. Finally, we had a trio of three-stars who outperformed our expectations. They were Mia Hampton, Eden King, and Reilan Garvey, who all beat our predictions by two-tenths or more.
Who will be the glow-ups of the class of 2025? Check out our recruit database to see where all the incoming freshmen have been rated and decide for yourself who might be the next big star!
READ THIS NEXT: 2025 Recruit Ratings By the Numbers
Article by Claire Harmon
