Mission: accomplished for Morgan Price, who will end her first and final season of NCAA gymnastics at the national championships after dominating the sport at the NAIA level in her three years at Fisk.
“Competing in the SEC, it’s the best of the best. That’s why I wanted to come here,” explained Price after helping Arkansas qualify for the NCAA championships for the first time since 2024. “I wanted to give myself a challenge cause I knew I was worth it. I knew I could do it. So to be able to be here, going to nationals, it’s just everything I could imagine.”
A former five-star recruit, Price made headlines prior to her collegiate career, decommitting from the Razorbacks after Fisk announced it would launch the first HBCU women’s gymnastics program in the sport’s history. Joining the history-making squad led to legendary status, as Price went on to win six WCGNIC national titles, including sweeping every individual title in 2024, and notching the first perfect 10 from an HBCU gymnast with a flawless set on bars.
But with accomplishments abounding at the NAIA level, and Fisk announcing its gymnastics program would come to an unfortunate end at the conclusion of the 2026 season, Price sought a change and set fresh goals before finishing out her collegiate career.
“I was so excited when I got that text last summer,” remarked Arkansas Head Coach Jordyn Wieber about Price reaching back out. “I’m so proud of her first three years and all that she was able to accomplish for that program, making history there. I was excited to welcome her back and not only to have Frankie [Price] and Morgan back together, but to add her talents and character—she has made the team better in so many different ways.”
With just one season at the Division I level to leave her mark, Morgan Price did exactly that to fulfill her full-circle career. On a booming and stuck Yurchenko one and a half on vault in February, she earned the first 10.0 in Arkansas’ history, making herself the first gymnast to earn two programs’ first perfect scores. Before notching a trio of 9.9s in the Kentucky regional final to clinch the Razorbacks’ bid to NCAAs, Price already guaranteed herself a career finale in Fort Worth with the highest all-around total of the pair of semifinals.
“This year’s been awesome, having transferred here and having such a star-filled year,” said Morgan Price following Arkansas’ regional semifinal. “Being in the NCAA versus the NAIA is very different, but I knew what I was locking myself into.”
That she did, with roommate, Razorback fan favorite, and older sister Frankie around to guide her.
“Both of our journeys have been different, but that’s what also makes us sisters. We both work super hard in the gym, and the whole team just works super hard in the gym, so we are more than prepared for this moment to get to nationals,” said Frankie, following the Razorbacks securing a qualifying spot to nationals behind Oklahoma.
While Morgan’s success has translated to team success, it’s the individual goals that originally drove her to the Division I level and to compete to the best of her abilities. Current Southern Connecticut Head Coach Corrinne Tarver, Morgan’s coach while at Fisk, saw Price compete at regionals with the Owls’ Abby Royer qualifying as an individual, and relished seeing her flourish in her final season.
“I told her she has done so much for black and brown gymnastics and black and brown gymnasts, and so for her to be able to do this for herself is…” said Tarver before being ambushed from behind with a hug from Morgan mid-sentence.
“You always put everyone else first. You talked about doing it for our ancestors. You talked about doing it for the future. For me, watching her here is watching her do it for her.”
Sitting ranked sixth in NQS heading into national semifinals, the Razorbacks have a great opportunity to match or surpass the program’s best-ever finish at fifth this weekend. That can be accomplished without a trip to the Four on the Floor final, but with Morgan Price’s history-making abilities behind her, Arkansas is eyeing the upset.
READ THIS NEXT: Royer, Southern Connecticut Leap Over Divisional Barrier
Article by Brandis Heffner
