It’s finally time for the NCAA national championships once again! We know our eight teams, our four all arounders and our 15 individual event specialists. Today we’re tackling the individuals and taking a look at the most likely contenders for the all around and event titles.
Four all arounders and 15 individual event specialists qualified to compete in Fort Worth. They will be split up into the two semifinal sessions with national champions determined at the end of the night.
For a more in-depth explanation on the postseason format, check out our NCAA postseason guide.
| Session One | ||||
| Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor | |
| Rotation One | OKLAHOMA
Jade Carey (OSU) |
ALABAMA
Sarah Shaffer (Ark.) |
MINNESOTA
Sirena Linton (Ariz.) |
UTAH
Kennedy Hambrick (Ark.) |
| Rotation Two | UTAH
Kennedy Hambrick (Ark.) |
OKLAHOMA
Jade Carey (OSU) |
ALABAMA
Skyla Schulte (MSU) |
MINNESOTA
Jaye Mack (Ill. St.) |
| Rotation Three | MINNESOTA
Mia Townes (UIUC) |
UTAH
Kennedy Hambrick (Ark.) |
OKLAHOMA
Jade Carey (OSU) |
ALABAMA
Kyla Bryant (Stan.) |
| Rotation Four | ALABAMA
Gayla Griswold (LU) |
MINNESOTA
Mia Takekawa (UIUC) |
UTAH
Kennedy Hambrick (Ark.) |
OKLAHOMA
Jade Carey (OSU) |
| Session Two | ||||
| Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor | |
| Rotation One | FLORIDA
Raena Worley (UK) |
MISSOURI
Jordan Chiles (UCLA) |
AUBURN
Adeline Kenlin (Iowa) |
MICHIGAN
Norah Flatley (UCLA) |
| Rotation Two | MICHIGAN
Norah Flatley (UCLA) |
FLORIDA
Raena Worley (UK) |
MISSOURI
Abbie Thompson (DU) |
AUBURN
Hailey Davis (UK) |
| Rotation Three | AUBURN
Kiya Johnson (LSU) |
MICHIGAN
Norah Flatley (UCLA) |
FLORIDA
Raena Worley (UK) |
MISSOURI
Jordan Chiles (UCLA) |
| Rotation Four | MISSOURI
Elexis Edwards (tOSU) |
AUBURN
Cally Nixon (UK) |
MICHIGAN
Norah Flatley (UCLA) |
FLORIDA
Raena Worley (UK) |
All Around
| Rank | Gymnast (School) | NQS | Average | High Score |
| 1 | Jade Carey (Oregon State) | 39.790 | 39.760 | 39.850 |
| 2 | Sunisa Lee (Auburn) | 39.750 | 39.642 |
39.825
|
| 3 | Sierra Brooks (Michigan) | 39.685 | 39.562 | 39.725 |
| 4 | Raena Worley (Kentucky) | 39.680 | 39.647 | 39.750 |
| 5 | Lexy Ramler (Minnesota) | 39.665 | 39.640 | 39.825 |
| 6 | Grace McCallum (Utah) | 39.650 | 39.436 | 39.775 |
| 7 | Ona Loper (Minnestoa) | 39.645 | 39.467 | 39.750 |
| 8 | Megan Skaggs (Florida) | 39.575 | 39.547 | 39.725 |
| 9 | Leanne Wong (Florida) | 39.555 | 39.561 | 39.875 |
| 10 | Abby Heiskell (Michigan) | 39.550 | 39.455 | 39.700 |
The Contenders
There is one very important name missing from the above list: Trinity Thomas. She doesn’t have an all-around NQS because she competed all-around events too few times after resting floor in a number of meets, but she owns the highest number in the country and third-highest all time with a 39.900 at the Raleigh regional final. Thomas is without question the favorite going in, but she won’t have an easy road. Her Gator teammate Leanne Wong owns the second-best number of the year with a 39.875 also in the regional final. Olympians Jade Carey and Sunisa Lee are also massive threats, with high marks just a pace behind the Gators’. Lee is known to shine under pressure, and Carey has been remarkably consistent all year. The field is stacked, with Natalie Wojcik, who had some misses and is just outside the top 10 by NQS, also having eclipsed 39.800. Perennial favorite Lexy Ramler is right there with her as well.
The Dark Horses
Consistency rules the day for the peloton. Sierra Brooks, Raena Worley and Ona Loper have all been strong across all four all year. Their highs are a pace behind the leading group, but they each absolutely pose a threat. Grace McCallum, who wasn’t in the Utes’ beam lineup at regionals, is also in this group if she’s on all four. These gymnasts are just a stuck landing away from the top; it’ll come down to precision.
What If…
This conversation wouldn’t be complete without Norah Flatley. She’s competing in Fort Worth as an individual, but she absolutely has the ability to keep pace with the field. Her 39.750 at Cal in March is among the best in the nation. She did sit out of some events due to mental health in the regional final, but if she’s prepared, she can make a run at the title.
Vault
| Rank | Gymnast (School) | NQS | Average | High Score |
| 1 | Jordan Bowers (OKlahoma) | 9.965 | 9.831 | 10.000 |
| Trinity Thomas (Florida) | 9.965 | 9.930 | 10.000 | |
| 3 | Haleigh Bryant (LSU)* | 9.960 | 9.855 | 10.000 |
| 4 | Sierra Brooks (Michigan) | 9.955 | 9.845 | 10.000 |
| Ona Loper (Minnesota) | 9.955 | 9.863 | 10.000 | |
| 6 | Jade Carey (Oregon State) | 9.945 | 9.930 | 9.975 |
| 7 | Jocelyn Moore (Missouri) | 9.940 | 9.897 | 9.950 |
| 8 | Katherine Levasseur (Oklahoma) | 9.935 | 9.902 | 10.000 |
| Naomi Morrison (Michigan) | 9.935 | 9.893 |
9.975
|
|
| 10 | Natalie Wojcik (Michigan) | 9.930 | 9.845 | 10.000 |
*Did not qualify to nationals on vault.
The Contenders
Claiming both the top regular season ranking and a 10 for her most recent vault, Trinity Thomas enters as the slight favorite in a deep field with a trio of perfect vaults under her belt. Ona Loper earned a pair of 10s on vault this season to enter herself in the conversation, as has the entirely of Michigan’s impressively difficult vault lineup.
The Dark Horses
Of the Wolverines, Gabby Wilson stuck her Yurchenko one and a half at the regional final to earn a perfect score and come into semifinals hot. Florida’s Nya Reed sits ranked just outside of this top 10 after setting up Thomas with big scores of her own all season long. She is certainly one to keep an eye on along with teammate Leanne Wong, who hit perfection for the first time on this event at regionals for her unique Podkopayeva.
What If…
Coming after a full lineup of 10.0 start values from Alabama, individual qualifier Gayla Griswold could be set up to make some waves with a stuck Yurchenko one and a half of her own despite being from a Division II school. She stuck her vault in the team final at USAG nationals just a few days ago, so the potential is there.
Bars
| Rank | Gymnast (School) | NQS | Average | High Score |
| 1 | Sunisa Lee (Auburn) | 9.970 | 9.929 | 10.000 |
| 2 | Audrey Davis (Oklahoma) | 9.955 | 9.933 | 9.975 |
| Grace McCallum (Utah) | 9.955 | 9.813 | 10.000 | |
| Jade Carey (Oregon State) | 9.955 | 9.955 | 10.000 | |
| 5 | Trinity Thomas (Florida) | 9.950 | 9.909 | 9.975 |
| 6 | Leanne Wong (Florida) | 9.945 | 9.877 | 10.000 |
| Emily Muhlenhaupt (Boise State)* | 9.945 | 9.931 | 9.975 | |
| 8 | Natalie Wojcik (Michigan) | 9.940 | 9.831 | 9.950 |
| Mara Titarsolej (LIU)* | 9.940 | 9.877 | 10.000 | |
| Luisa Blanco (Alabama) | 9.940 | 9.930 | 9.975 |
*Did not qualify to nationals on bars.
The Contenders
So many gymnasts are capable of perfection on bars that it’s hard to narrow down the list to the few who could run away with the title. Lee is the easy favorite, but Carey and Audrey Davis will not go down easily. Luisa Blanco, who competed only bars at regionals due to injury, also poses a serious threat.
The Dark Horses
McCallum has had a love-hate relationship with bars this season, including a miss in the regional semifinal. At her best, though, she’s perfect. If she’s on her game on Thursday, she could top the field. All of Wong, Jordan Chiles, Sage Thompson and Maile O’Keefe have also been perfect. Counting Ramler out on one of her best events would also be shortsighted.
What If…
We’ve seen an incredible and improbable number of 9.975s on bars this year. One of them belongs to Cally Nixon, who is competing as an individual. She rotates with Auburn, so she’ll go up after Lee. A tough act to follow to be sure, but Nixon has one of the smoothest swings in collegiate gymnastics. Don’t write her off.
Beam
| Rank | Gymnast (School) | NQS | Average | High Score |
| 1 | Ragan Smith (Oklahoma) | 9.980 | 9.783 | 10.000 |
| Sunisa Lee (Auburn) | 9.980 | 9.846 | 10.000 | |
| 3 | Maile O’Keefe (Utah) | 9.970 | 9.846 | 10.000 |
| Trinity Thomas (Florida) | 9.970 | 9.934 | 10.000 | |
| 5 | Cristal Isa (Utah) | 9.960 | 9.796 | 10.000 |
| Lexy Ramler (Minnesota) | 9.960 | 9.945 | 10.000 | |
| 7 | Sophia Groth (Auburn) | 9.950 | 9.923 | 9.950 |
| 8 | Natalie Wojcik (Michigan) | 9.945 | 9.914 | 9.975 |
| 9 | Luisa Blanco (Alabama) | 9.940 | 9.841 | 9.975 |
| Carly Woodard (Oklahoma) | 9.940 | 9.862 | 10.000 |
The Contenders
Once again, the field is stacked with 10.0s and incredible gymnastics. It’s no secret that Wojcik is chasing another beam title, and she’s certainly in the mix. Ramler has the best average in the county, followed closely by O’Keefe and Thomas. O’Keefe stands out especially after her calm walk-off 10.0 under incredible pressure at the Seattle regional final. Ragan Smith, with two 10.0s and five 9.975s on the year, is easily a top contender despite a slightly lower average after some misses.
The Dark Horses
Sophia Groth has been an incredible asset to the Auburn beam lineup in her freshman season. She’s topped out a 9.950, but her average is a whopping 9.923. She’s been below 9.900 only once, in January, and scored eight 9.950s. Similarly, Sienna Schreiber hasn’t been below 9.875 all year and has five 9.975s or 9.950s. Both could walk away with the title with a normal hit.
What If…
It seems wild to put someone who has scored a 10.0 in the “what if” section, but that is the landscape in 2022. Cristal Isa has had a few misses but owns a 10.0 and a smattering of 9.975s as well. Her numbers in March are: 9.975, 9.975, 9.950, 9.950, 9.975.
Floor
| Rank | Gymnast (School) | NQS | Average | High Score |
| 1 | Trinity Thomas (Florida) | 9.980 | 9.983 | 10.000 |
| 2 | Mya Hooten (Minnesota) | 9.970 | 9.966 | 10.000 |
| 3 | Nya Reed (Florida) | 9.965 | 9.952 | 10.000 |
| Jade Carey (Oregon State) | 9.965 | 9.955 | 10.000 | |
| Gabby Wilson (Michigan) | 9.965 | 9.956 | 10.000 | |
| 6 | Sydney Soloski (Utah) | 9.960 | 9.923 | 9.975 |
| 7 | Derrian Gobourne (Auburn) | 9.955 | 9.931 | 10.000 |
| Sierra Brooks (Michigan) | 9.955 | 9.943 | 9.975 | |
| 8 | Sunisa Lee (Auburn) | 9.950 | 9.923 | 9.975 |
| Lauren Guerin (Iowa)* | 9.950 | 9.931 | 9.975 | |
| Raena Worley (Kentucky) | 9.950 | 9.940 | 9.975 |
*Did not qualify to nationals on floor.
The Contenders
Floor is maybe the deepest event in this incredibly deep year, but Thomas, Mya Hooten, Carey, Wilson and Reed stand out among the rest. All have multiple 10.0s. All are incredibly consistent. All have high-flying E passes. It’s going to come down to landing precision and dealing with the pressure of the moment. Or, of course, all will score 10.0s and we’ll have a five-way tie. It is 2022. It’s worth noting that Carey closes out the first session as the last competitor of the afternoon on floor.
The Dark Horses
Sydney Soloski is still searching for her elusive 10.0. It could finally be her time. She brings all of the other pieces the top group shares—she’s just missing that magic number. Derrian Gobourne is also perennially in the top floor workers conversation. She is consistently excellent and scored a 9.975 in the Auburn regional final. She also stands out with performance quality, something that becomes especially important when the group is bunched this tightly.
What If…
Chiles has been a little inconsistent on floor, but she has also been perfect twice. While it’s hard to be extremely successful as an individual competitor, Chiles certainly has her elite experience on her side. Someone with her background and ability to hit under pressure can’t be ruled out.
READ THIS NEXT: Data Deep Dive: Simulating 2022 Nationals
Article by Brandis Heffner and Emily Minehart
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I’m sure it was just an accident, but wanted to point out that under “The Dark Horses” for Beam Sienna Schreiber was referred to as an individual, but as we all know she will be there with her Missouri Tigers team! 🙂
Fixed!
The ultimate dark horse Kara Eaker who (due to injury) almost no one has mentioned all year comes out of the clouds to win the NCAA Beam title.
Not the way to bet, but she is coming off a 10.0 at regionals which testifies to her being fit, it could happen. 🙂
This is why there needs to be more individual gymnasts added to Nationals. No reason not to add another 8 additional slots.
Haleigh Bryant LSU, Mara Titarsolej LIU, Lauren Guerin IOWA, Emily Muhlenhaupt BSU all deserve to compete on their respective events based on their scores and consistency all year.
Then add 4 additional AAers based on NQS a chance that didn’t qualify with their teams.
(12th) Audrey Barber MARY, (13th) Hannah Scharf ASU, (16th) Sadie Miner-Van Tassell BYU, (18th) Andi Lee CAL all could be added. They are all amongst the top 20 anyway.
It’s crazy to me that Cal, ranked 9th by NQS doesn’t have a single competitor at nationals, but then you have Lindenwood and Illinois State with individual athletes, and Kentucky with 3. Winning a spot to Nationals via regionals win is more luck than anything else. Gayla Griswold is 60th NQS on VT, Edwards 69th. Mack is 56th, Davis 38th on floor. On beam, Linton (42nd) and Thompson (no NQS). These athletes are representative of that luck.
Each team now has an all arounder competing with them and one individual. The all arounder goes 7th. The one event where there is a specialist, that gymnast goes 8th up. So each rotation is 7 gymnasts with one of those rotations one additional.
Yeah, let’s just give the titles to the top ranked ladies, and blow off Regionals and Finals competition altogether! While we’re at it, let’s revoke the NY Jets’ 1969 Superbowl win, the USA’s 1980 hockey gold medal, NC State’s 1983 basketball championship, Buster Douglas’ 1990 heavyweight title, etc. etc. No more underdogs and Cinderellas, because that’s just not right!
You CLEARLY have reading comprehension issues or just enjoy over exaggerating.
I never said anything about simply giving the titles to the top ranked ladies, simply that the season and NQS SHOULD matter for individuals as well.
There is nothing you can say that is valid reasoning that Haleigh Bryant should not be at Nationals to defend her vault title.
Once NCAA changed to this regional format, they cut the individual qualifiers by half as well. There should be more individuals that get to compete at Nationals, especially after being ranked so high all year long.
Get some help bro!
It isn’t just luck. With any postseason format it is always about having your best performance when it matters most (for individual titles this is the regional semi-finals and national semi-finals rather than the finals). Out of the ones you listed Muhlenhaupt was the only one I was yelling at my computer screen about the judging. The ones who are there hit when they needed to do so in order to advance, it is that simple.
It definitely IS about luck.
You are better off competing in the afternoon session when score rise and you are better off rotating with a strong top tier team.
It is also about being lucky to be in a particular region as well.
Speaking of the sheer amount of talent at nationals, I wonder if Helen Hu could put a full beam routine together for the first time this season? She always seems to have either a wobble or foot movement on the landing. If she puts it together she certainly has the historical potential to win beam.