2024 NCAA Round Up – Week 1

2024 NCAA Round Up – Week 2

By Megan Roth

Gymnast of the Week 

Congratulations to LSU senior Haleigh Bryant and Michigan freshman Pierce Wolfgang, Inside Gymnastics Gymnast of the Week for Week 1!

Haleigh Bryant finished first in the All-Around standings after week 1 with a score of 39.675, helping the Tigers defeat Ohio State 196.975-196.775. As always, Bryant’s vault stood out, scoring a 9.950!

On the men’s side, Pierce Wolfgang made his freshman debut in remarkable fashion, posting a 78.200 to win the All-Around title to help lead the Wolverines to their first victory of 2024!

Team Rankings

Women’s NCAA Event Leaders:

All-Around: Haleigh Bryant (LSU) – 39.675

Vault: Sage Kellerman (Michigan State) – 10.00

Bars: Jade Carey (Oregon State), Lily Smith (Georgia), Raena Worley (Kentucky) – 9.975, 

Beam: Maile O’Keefe (Utah) – 10.00

Floor: Gabby Gladieux (Alabama), Jocelyn Moore (Missouri) – 9.975

Men’s NCAA Event Leaders: 

All-Around: Pierce Wolfgang (Michigan) – 78.200

Floor: Zach Connelly (Greenville) – 14.100

Pommel Horse: Kyle Walchuk (Michigan) – 14.300

Rings: Javier Alfonso (Michigan) – 14.700

Vault: Logan Watterson (Greenville) – 14.950

Parallel Bars: Josh Karnes (Penn State) – 14.900

High Bar: Crew Bold (Michigan) – 14.400

Must-Watch! 

Making her anticipated NCAA debut, Georgia freshman Lily Smith did not disappoint, scoring a near perfect 9.975 in her first ever collegiate routine!

Meet of the Week!

Women’s NCAA Gymnastics season kicked off with the Mean Girls Super 16 Championships, headlined by 16 of the nation’s top 30 teams. After all of the weekend’s meets, 10 of the 16 participating teams placed in the top 15! While Denver (196.85), Minnesota (196.85), and Alabama (197.125) each won their session, Oklahoma proved they are coming for their third national title in a row, scoring a massive 197.85, the highest team score of the weekend!

Check out our photo gallery from the Super 16 here! 

10.0 Alert!

Soon after the start of the NCAA season, Maile O’Keefe posted the very first 10.0 of the season, executing a flawless beam routine! Her beautiful, composed beamwork never disappoints! Very soon after, Sage Kellerman stuck her front handspring pike half vault, earning her first-ever 10.0 and the fifth ever 10.0 in Michigan State program history!

Freshmen Debuts!

With the first meets of the season completed, the debuts of many of the top freshmen were successful!

Amari Drayton (LSU) scored 9.925s on vault, sticking her Yurchenko 1.5 while competing it for the first time, and on floor after being put in the lineup as a late addition! In the All-Around, Kentucky’s Delaynee Rodriguez (39.35) and Denver’s Madison Ulrich (39.325) were the highest-scoring freshmen, both helping their teams with their session of the Mean Girls Super 16 Gymnastics Championships.

Other Notable Moments 

• Illinois State won their season opener with a massive 195.950 against Bowling Green (192.975) to put them 18th in the national rankings! In 2023, the Redbirds didn’t post such a score until their conference championship meet! What a start to the season! 
• Lindenwood made a statement, starting the season with a second place finish at the Mizzou Invite with a program record season opening score of 194.000! The program is set to be cut following the 2024 season. 

Picture of Pierce Wolfgang courtesy of Michigan Men’s Gymnastics; all other photos by Lloyd Smith for Inside Gymnastics

Check out the Inside Gymnastics App! Download now on Google Play or the Apple Store!