The most anticipated series is back! We looked at data and videos for incoming freshmen on each event to see which gymnasts are at the top of their class across the apparatuses and in the all-around. Today we’re looking at the top bar workers.
We ranked the top 10 level 10s and top five elite gymnasts on each event by considering past scores and performances, but also 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.
The Level 10s
Kailin Chio, LSU
LSU’s Kailin Chio doesn’t have a weak event. At the 2024 level 10 nationals, she won four of five individual events, including a title on uneven bars. Her routine includes a Chow connected to a Pak, keeping her safe from recent rule changes that reduced the connection value of the Maloney to Pak combination. She often ends her routine with a stuck full-twisting double back dismount, something coach Jay Clark will want in his 2025 bar lineup.
Teryn Crump, Minnesota
Crump has a natural swing on bars. She floats in her transition skills and caps off her routine with a huge full-twisting double layout dismount. She has scored a 9.90 in every Texas state championship since 2022, winning the title each time. While her numerous 9.90s are impressive, she has a career-high 9.925 on the event – a score that could easily anchor the Gophers’ lineup this upcoming season.
Jaime Dugan, Stanford
Dugan’s bar routine already looks college ready. In her senior season, she only scored below a 9.80 twice and won the bronze medal at the 2024 level 10 national championships. Dugan makes her floaty Maloney half look easy and finishes her routine with a flared-out double layout dismount. If she picks up where she left off in May, the incoming freshman could see herself as a regular in the Cardinal’s bar lineup.
Sasha Fujisaka, UCLA
Fujisaka should easily break into UCLA’s bar lineup next year, especially with the void left by Selena Harris’ transfer to Florida. She competes a floaty Pak salto, keeping her feet glued together in the air. Her Maloney half and double layout dismount are just as precise, earning her a perfect 10.0 at the 2024 Delta Classic Invitational.
Ryan Fuller, Alabama
Fuller established herself as one of the greatest bar workers from the class of 2024. During her senior season, she went undefeated on bars and never scored below a 9.825 in her six routines. She posted her two lowest scores at the regional and national championships yet still claimed the title at both. Like Fujisaka, Fuller has mastered her Pak and Maloney half bar routine, often punctuated by a stuck double layout dismount.
Olivia Kelly, Missouri
Kelly, the two-time world championships qualifier for Barbados, adds a clean and dynamic bar routine to her strong all-around program. In a routine featuring a straight body cast, Kelly powers through a sky-high Church directly connected to a shootover, keeping her legs glued together throughout. Despite her 54th-place finish on bars at the 2024 level 10 national championships, she dominated the regular season, taking the win on six out of her nine routines and winning the Region 7 title.
Elle Mueller, Oklahoma
Mueller, the reigning Nastia Liukin Cup champion, will be a force on bars for Oklahoma. In the 2024 season–her first competing level 10 in five years–Mueller placed in the top two in eight of her nine competitive bar routines, taking the regional title and placing second at nationals. She competes a Chow directly connected to a Pak – a combination safe from 2025 rule changes. Despite Oklahoma’s extensive depth on all four events, Mueller will challenge for a spot in each lineup.
Avery Neff, Utah
Though bars might be Neff’s weakest event, she is still one of the top incoming freshmen on the event. She’s claimed a top10 finish in all five of her national championships, including taking home the win in 2021. In 2024, she stuck to one of her easier routines, competing a Geinger directly connected to an overshoot and dismounting with a flared double layout. She is capable of competing a variety of skills, including a full-twisting double layout and a straddled Tkatchev, both of which could make appearances in her college routine.
Lily Pederson, Oklahoma
Pederson rarely loses on bars. She went undefeated in 2023 and notched consecutive perfect 10.0s as a high school junior. While she didn’t repeat that feat in 2024, she won bars at every single meet except two. Pederson’s bar routine has looked college ready for years, especially when she sticks her double layout dismount, which she often does. If she brings this same consistency to college she should be a contributor to the Sooners’ bar lineup in 2025.
Paityn Walker, Alabama
Four-star Paityn Walker is known for her exceptional bar work. While the former elite only competed in three meets in 2024, she showed her dominance in 2023 when she went undefeated, capping off the year with a 9.975 routine that won her the national title ahead of standout recruits Camryn Richardson and Nina Ballou. At Alabama, head coach Ashley Johnston will have fun deciding what Walker’s bar routine will be – she’s got a Nabieva to Pak and Maloney to staddled Tkatchev connection to choose from.
The Elites
Chloe Cho, Illinois
Cho should immediately insert herself into the Fighting Illini’s lineup. The senior elite has an impeccable toe point that will ensure big scores at the NCAA level. With elite training behind her, she’s got plenty of skills to pick from – a Ricna to Pak, a straddled jaeger, and a Maloney half – all of which are executed with good form.
Zoe Miller, LSU
Miller decided on an early retirement from elite to focus on her upcoming season at LSU. Bars was Miller’s standout event during her elite career, where she won the silver at the 2022 Pan American Championships. Her routine was filled with inbar skills, which could make an appearance in her college bar routine. Like most of the elites, Miller has a variety of skills to pick from so creating the most consistently high-scoring routine will be the goal.
Frédérique Sgarbossa, Iowa State
Sgarbossa deferred the 2024 season in an effort to make Canada’s 2024 Olympic team. While she fell short, the extra year of training certainly won’t hurt. Sgarbossa has elite-caliber difficulty that sets her apart from her new teammates at Iowa.
Ui Soma, Stanford
A member of the Japanese senior national team, Ui Soma is a standout athlete on all four events. Her stellar bar work is highlighted by floaty and cleanly executed release moves, including a sky-high piked Jaeger. Not only does her gymnastics look college ready, but her international experience should help her at the NCAA level.
Aurélie Tran, Iowa
Tran is fresh off of her Olympic debut in Paris, where she contributed to Team Canada’s fifth-place finish. Iowa could make good use of the first half of her elite bar routine, especially if she ends it with her stickable double layout dismount. Her elite experience will boost her chances at making the Hawkeyes’ bar lineup in 2025.
Honorable Mentions
- Lily Bruce, Florida – Watch her routine
- Sophia Diaz, Michigan – Watch her routine
- Amy Doyle, Michigan State – Watch her routine
- Addison Fatta, Oklahoma – Watch her routine
- Levi Jung-Ruiviar, Stanford – Watch her routine
- Samantha Macasu, San Jose State – Watch her routine
- Molly Peterson, Nebraska – Watch her routine
- Kristina Shchennikova, Boise State – Watch her routine
- Deb Silva, BYU – Watch her routine
- Ava Stewart, Minnesota – Watch her routine
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Article by Aaron Doyle, with additional reporting from Gemma Selby and Brynn Robbins
