Looking Back at the Best Hairstyles of the 2025 Season

One of the best parts of college gymnastics is the freedom of self-expression gymnasts get to enjoy. From expressive choreography to big celebrations in competition, seeing gymnasts’ personalities shine through is a joy every gymnastics season. One key way in which gymnasts express themselves on the mats is through their hair, and the 2025 season showed that creativity in hairstyles keeps increasing, with some truly iconic styles.

Amari Celestine – Bow Puffs

CGN’s love of Amari Celestine’s hairstyles is well-documented, and has already featured on the site. This hairstyle was a particular highlight of the 2025 season. The gold bows really pop out against the two puffs, the middle part is perfect, and the style is signature Celestine. It shows off her creativity, and it celebrates her natural hair.

Ella Aird – Tuscaloosa Regional Ponytail

Ella Aird knows how to make her curls pop, and this regionals look is no exception. The high ponytail with a big ribbon has a great playfulness about it, and looks great in motion. The side bangs, which perfectly frame the face, perfectly complete the easy, effortless look of this hairstyle.

Delanie Harkness – Slickback

With braids becoming so ubiquitous to college gymnastics, there’s something refreshing about Harkness’ clean slickback. Here, rather than pulling her hair back into a tight bun or a low ponytail as one might expect, Harkness has gone for a messy bun, adding a certain carefree vibe to the hairstyle while still ensuring that not a strand is out of place in her part or edges. The slickback is a signature look for Harkness, and during the 2025 season it was absolutely perfect.

KJ Johnson – Regionals braided bun

Known for her iconic “murder doll” hairstyle, Johnson showed off a more streamlined version of the hairstyle at regionals. Each element of the style is well-thought through and deliberate, from the loose strands framing the face to the central placement of the perfectly matched hair ribbon to the signature messy bun. What makes this hair pop is how Johnson took advantage of the blond highlights with the braids. Not only do they stand out, they even tie in to LSU’s purple and gold colors.

Kyen Mayhew – “Cal” braids

A style that went instantly viral on the gymternet, Mayhew’s hair (done by teammate Miki Aderinto) took “school spirit” to a whole new level. Braided hair has been a favorite of NCAA gymnasts for the past few years, and Mayhew elevated the braided style to spell out “Cal” and “Bears.” It made for a great television spot as Mayhew pointed out the words to the camera, and showed that you don’t necessarily need ribbons to send a message through your hair – the braids themselves can tell a story.

Nyla Aquino – Low bun

Some hairstyles are so exquisitely done you don’t want to look away. This hair from Aquino is one of them. The braids are sharp, and the parts are sharper. The hair is simple, while also feeling distinctive and unique. The hairstyle frames her face perfectly and the low bun is perfectly balanced against the rest of the style. 

Sierra Ballard – Side Bangs

This is an easy, breezy hairstyle and is nowhere near as complex as most of the others on this list. What makes it stand out is more how Ballard herself carried the hairstyle. When she debuted her new side bangs at the start of the 2025 season, fans were immediately impressed by Ballard’s effortless gymnastics with hair falling into her eyes. The moment where she casually blew her bangs away from her face before launching into her first tumbling pass was a particular standout.

READ THIS NEXT: NCAA Gymnast YouTube Channels Ranked

---

Article by Naomi Stephenson