With no NCAA track record, incoming freshmen always add an element of mystery when predicting future stars. Some will emerge as unexpected standouts. However, some athletes show fantastic potential on their events that make them highly anticipated by their team’s fanbase and are listed below.
We included ten level 10s and five elite gymnasts on each event by considering past scores and performances, as well as their potential to shine at the NCAA level. In an effort to balance the names across all NCAA programs, we limited each list to two gymnasts per school. Today, we’re finishing out the series by looking at the all-around.
Level 10s
Shyla Bhatia, Denver
Denver underwent a changeover of nearly its entire coaching staff and lost several of its star gymnasts, including Madison Ulrich, Rylie Mundell, Rosie Casali, and Bella Mabanta. They will be glad to have regional all-around runner-up Shyla Bhatia as they enter their new era. Having trained at the same gym that produced Georgia star Lily Smith, Bhatia is most known for her vault and floor, but recent improvements on beam could see her in that lineup with improvements to her consistency. On bars, the state champion will also hope to see lineup time.
Jasmine Cawley, Alabama
2025 Nastia Liukin Cup runner-up and two-time national all-around bronze medallist, Cawley has long been considered one of the top gymnasts in this class. Alabama is losing one of its top all-arounders in Lilly Hudson, and Cawley has the potential to be an exceptional replacement. Like Hudson, if Cawley were to have a weak event, it would be bars, but she was regional runner-up on the event, and it has not hindered her all-around success in her level ten career. Her best event is arguably floor, where she scored a 10.0 this season to be state champion.
Allison Cucci, Arkansas
Cucci is a true all-arounder who could be one of the faces of the Arkansas team in the coming years. At nationals, she placed in the top three on vault, bars, beam, and the all-around, breaking the 39 mark. While floor is her weakest event (she placed 20th at nationals), she is state and regional champion on the event and still has a good chance to be a regular in that lineup for the Razorbacks. She has scored a 10.0 on vault and was beam national champion this year.
Mackenzie Estep, Oklahoma
Nastia Liukin Cup champion and top-rated recruit in this class, Estep is joining the team with the strongest recent champion legacy. As a result, it is difficult to say with complete certainty that Estep will be consistently seen in the all-around due to the existing talent on the Oklahoma team. However, freshmen Addison Fatta and Lily Pederson saw considerable time in the all-around last year, so there does not seem to be a hesitation in allowing freshmen lineup time. Estep was national vault and bars champion, but her other events are also exceptional.
Emerson Fisk, NC State
Last year, NC State did not have a single all-arounder, but that could change this year with Fisk. At nationals, she managed a third-place finish with a 9.900 for her Yurchenko one and a half on vault. She placed in the top three on bars at both state and regional championships, and in the top five on beam and floor at the same competitions. The loss of Chloe Negrete will surely present a challenge, but Fisk could end up having just as big of an impact on the program.
Arianna Ostrum, Minnesota
With an absolutely spectacular nationals, Ostrum not only managed to be one of very few to earn a 10.0 in the competition with her stuck Yurchenko one and a half on vault, but also managed to have the highest all-around score of all competitors. Ostrum committed to Minnesota when she was rated 48 points, the minimum threshold to be a three-star recruit, and the Golden Gophers evidently correctly predicted her potential. While lineups are looking competitive this year, especially on beam, that is arguably Ostrum’s best event, which bodes well for her chances of being able to contribute in the all-around.
Kamila Pawlak, Oklahoma
Pawlak unfortunately struggled with injury for the 2025 season, limiting her to only one all-around competition, but she ended 2024 on such a spectacular note that she could not be excluded here. In her most recent state, regional, and national championships, she managed to not only win the all-around title each time, but also hit the 39 mark, an incredible score. If she is fully healthy, Oklahoma may look to both Estep and Pawlak, the top two rated recruits, to be their new freshmen all-around duo.
Sophie Schriever, Iowa
Hitting 39 in both of her first two meets of the season, Schriever began 2025 on a spectacular note and kept the momentum going, earning a fourth-place finish at the Nastia Liukin Cup and becoming state all-around champion later in the season. Her standout events are vault and bars, and she could possibly find herself in the anchor position of those lineups at Iowa. While she has had some small consistency issues on beam, she was still state champion on the event and remains a strong option for that lineup. Floor, her weakest event, is her biggest lineup question mark, but expect last year’s regional champion to contend there as well.
Sydney Seabrooks, North Carolina
Last year, JoJo Valahovic made a tremendous impact as a freshman for the Tar Heels, and this year, similar hopes are pinned on Sydney Seabrooks. At regionals, Seabrooks placed in the top five on bars, beam, floor, and the all-around. While this may point to vault as her weak spot, she competes a clean Yurchenko full that will be a contender for a Tar Heel lineup as well.
Scarlett Sonnenberg, BYU
National all-around champion and bars and beam runner-up, BYU will look for Sonnenberg to make an immediate impact. Sonnenberg is a strong contender for the latter halves of the bars and beam lineups with her strong competitive history, and of the vault lineup as well with her Yurchenko one and a half that won her the state title with a 9.925. Like Schriever, Sonnenberg’s weakest event is arguably floor, but she was state champion on the event this year and is still likely to see time in that BYU lineup as well, making her a likely all-around force.
Elites
Ana Bărbosu, Stanford
Bărbosu is one of the main faces of the Romanian gymnastics resurgence, and her exceptional pedigree spans across events. While on vault, she has sometimes needed to sacrifice execution for difficulty, a likely downgrade option for her would be a laid-out Tsukahara full, which would present another excellent 10.0 vault option for Stanford. At the European Championships this year, she managed to achieve a podium finish on all three other events as well as the all-around, an incredible accomplishment. Stanford fans are certainly hoping this pattern of success will continue into her collegiate career.
Charlotte Booth, Auburn
Booth, unfortunately, injured her Achilles while representing Great Britain in international competition. Like Cawley, Booth trains out of renowned gym Brandy Johnson’s, but switched away from being an American elite a couple of years ago. While the time at which she will be fully recovered and able to compete is unknown, she may be all-around ready at some point during season, which would be very anticipated indeed. The Olympic alternate is most known for her bars, where she competes a unique single-bar release move that includes a half twist, but her Yurchenko one and a half on vault is also very strong, and her other events are solid as well.
Tonya Paulsson, California
The Cal gymnastics team underwent substantial changes in the off-season, including losing its longtime head coaches and several committed gymnasts. Paulsson, one of only two committed gymnasts who stayed, has fortunately had a fantastic recent season. Switching from representing Sweden to representing Chinese Taipei, Paulsson had a strong performance at the Asian Championships, setting a career-high score on beam, and went on to do well at the World University Games, where she won bronze in the all-around. She did not compete vault for 2024, which may explain why her 2025 scores on that event have been less strong, but with more time to build back up, she should contend for all lineups.
Tegan Shaver, Nebraska
With the departure of Canadian Nebraska star Emma Spence comes a new Canadian arrival, Tegan Shaver. On vault, Shaver competes both a Tsukahara full, which has a 10.0 start value in college, and a Yurchenko full, which leaves her with options. At the Cairo World Cup this year, she qualified to vault, bars, and floor finals. While beam has been a weak point for her in elite, the collegiate focus on execution rather than difficulty could be to her benefit.
Tiana Sumanasekera, UCLA
Sumanasekera entered the American elite scene as a junior in 2021 and has been a fixture ever since. The 2024 Olympic alternate is primarily known for her strong vault, beam, and floor, but with the ability to downgrade her bar routine without consequence in college, she could be an all-around option for UCLA. The Bruins have lost a very strong senior class that included Filipina Olympian Emma Malabuyo, Canadian Olympian Brooklyn Moors, and top American elite Emily Lee. This assuredly leaves big shoes to fill, but Sumanasekera has the potential to make a big impact of her own.
Honorable Mentions
- Madi Bell, Pittsburgh
- Makenzie Grant, Pittsburgh
- Natasha Lopez, Bowling Green
- Sophie Patterson, San Jose State
- Brooke Pierson, Georgia
- Alexandra Reddick, Central Michigan
- Kayla Smith, West Virginia
- Bailey Stroud, Utah
- Ashlee Sullivan, UCLA
- Gabby van Frayen, Kentucky
READ THIS NEXT: Data Deep Dive: All-Arounders
Article by Gemma Selby, with additional reporting from Brynn Robbins
