Nate’s NCAA News + Notes Week 7!

Nate’s NCAA News + Notes Week 7!

By Nate Salsman

Gymnast of the Week

Congratulations to Florida’s Leanne Wong on being Inside Gymnastics Gymnast of the Week for Week 7! Wong was booming this week! She earned a 9.975 on bars and notched her first perfect 10.0 of the season on beam! She scored an All-Around total of 39.750, which helped the Gators get the win over Auburn 197.625-196.825. Florida earned this score while counting a fall on bars! Wong is off to the races in her senior season, and we cannot wait to see what else she accomplishes!

Congratulations to Nebraska’s Taylor Christopulos on being Inside Gymnastics Gymnast of the Week for Week 6! With a 14.200 on pommel horse and a 13.150 on high bar, Christopulos led the Huskers to victory over Greenville 322.700-309.350!

Note: Rankings take a slight shift with the introduction of NQS this week. NQS takes a team’s top six scores—at least three must be from away meets—drops the highest, and averages the remaining five. This helps balance out early-season struggles and accounts for home vs. away scoring differences.

Women’s NCAA Event Leaders 

All-Around: Jade Carey (Oregon State) – 39.675

Vault: Kailin Chio (LSU) & Faith Torrez (Oklahoma) – 9.930

Bars: Audrey Davis (Oklahoma) – 9.945

Beam: Jade Carey (Oregon State) – 9.960 

Floor: Jordan Chiles (UCLA) – 9.955

Men’s NCAA Event Leaders (3-score average) 

All-Around: Ian Sandoval (Illinois) – 79.133

Floor: Charlie Larson (Michigan) – 14.233

Pommel Horse: Patrick Hoopes (Air Force) – 14.817

Rings: Asher Hong (Stanford) – 14.500

Vault: Kameron Nelson (Ohio State) – 14.483

Parallel Bars: Logan McKeown (Michigan) – 14.283

High Bar: Frederick Richard (Michigan) – 14.283

Team Rankings

Routines of the Week! 

Utah’s Grace McCallum was PERFECT on her bar routine this week! She executes a very challenging four skill combination and rounds the routine out with a stuck dismount! Both judges agreed that this routine was worthy of a 10.0!

Benas is Back! Oklahoma’s Fuzzy Benas returned to competition this week in his signature style! He stuck his incredible Kaz 1.5 for a 14.350! He just got cleared to train on Monday!

The Super Bowl!!

Friday night saw the matchup between No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 2 LSU, and it was one to watch! LSU took the win 198.050-197.675, but both teams got to showcase their greatness! Kailin Chio won the All-Around with a 39.725, including a 9.950 on vault and floor. LSU also earned a massive 49.700 on floor. Oklahoma also shined on floor, bagging a 49.575. Faith Torrez brought in a massive 9.975 on vault, which led the Sooners to a 49.425 on the event. The Tigers may have won this battle, but Oklahoma will have a rematch at the SEC Championships next month!

#Skillz of the Week! 

Kara Eaker’s beautiful switch leap mount sequence on beam is always one to watch! 

Emre Dodanli opened his 14.250 scoring floor routine with a stuck double-double layout!

10.0 Alert!!

There was a huge bump in 10.0 scores over the weekend! 

• The Mizzou to the Lou quad meet saw brilliance on floor! Alabama’s Lily Hudson was perfect on the event – her routine included a back 2.5 twist stuck cold! Missouri’s Kennedy Griffin performed her high-energy floor routine to music by Beyoncé and was also awarded a 10.0! Her team has dubbed her as Keyoncé! Griffin’s 10 also helped lead the Tigers to a program high 49.725 on floor!
• Florida’s Sloane Blakely also leaped her way to a 10.0 on floor! Her performance quality is top notch, and we love the confidence she’s showing this season! 

Almost 10.0!!

While there were more perfect scores given this week, there were also many near perfect 9.975s! 

• UCLA knocked on perfection’s door on bars! Frida Esparza and Jordan Chiles both scored 9.975s! 
• The Florida Gators also flittered sublimity on bars! Selena Harris-Miranda and Leanne Wong were rewarded with 9.975s after each athlete nailed their double layout dismount! 
• Florida’s Victoria Nguyen was BRILLIANT this week on beam. Her unique and beautiful gymnastics led her to a career high 9.975.   
• Denver’s Maddison Reidenbach also earned a 9.975 on vault!

News + Noteworthy

• Oregon State’s Jade Carey continues to bring in huge scores! This week, she earned a massive 39.725 in the All-Around, which has her in the Number 1 spot in the national rankings! She also brought in another 9.975 on beam, where she also ranks first!

• Illinois’s Chloe Cho had a weekend! The freshman standout competed on Friday and Sunday and was excellent both days! On Friday, she scored 39.550 in the All-Around, which included a 9.950 on bars and a 9.925 on beam. On Sunday, she continued to be a 9.9 machine! Earning a 9.900 on vault and 9.925 on floor!

• UCLA gymnastics is improving with each week! This week they recorded a 197.675! This number helped them jump to number two in the national rankings! 

• UCLA gymnast Frida Esparza performed the national anthem on the electric guitar prior to the UCLA vs Penn State meet! Check it out!

• Iowa gymnastics was sublime on floor exercise! They also competed on Friday and Sunday this week! On Friday, Emily Erb achieved a 9.925, and on Sunday, she improved it to a 9.975! On Friday, the team bagged a 49.275, and on Sunday, they were elevated to a 49.375!

• Minnesota’s Mya Hooten was fantastic in the dual meet against Ohio State! She scored a 9.950 on vault, 9.900 on bars and 9.925 on floor! This led Minnesota to a season best score of 197.375 (on the road)!

• Nebraska men’s gymnastics showcased their depth this weekend! In their dual meet against Greenville, five different athletes took home the six event titles. Chase Mondi won floor, Taylor Christopulos won pommel horse, James Friedman won rings, Nathan York won vault and parallel bars and Max Odden won high bar. 

• Oklahoma men’s gymnastics is continuing their strong season! They took down Michigan and Simpson with a 327.700! 

• Despite the loss, Michigan men’s gymnastics was solid! Charlie Larson won the floor title with a 14.300. Paul Juda won rings scoring a 14.250. Frederick Richard won parallel bars with a massive 14.450!

So Far This Season

Women’s Inside Gymnastics Gymnast of the Week: 

Week 1: Aleah Finnegan (LSU)

Week 2: Jordan Bowers (Oklahoma)

Week 3: Jade Carey (Oregon State)

Week 4: Selena Harris-Miranda (Florida)

Week 5: Kailin Chio (LSU)

Week 6: Mya Lauzon (California)

Week 7: Leanne Wong (Florida)

Routine of the Week:

Week 1: Brooklyn Moors/UCLA (9.900 Floor) and Nikki Smith/Michigan State (9.950 Vault) 

Week 2: Jordan Chiles/UCLA (9.975 Floor)

Week 3: Helen Hu/Mizzou (10.0 Beam) 

Week 4: Marissa Neal/Auburn   (9.975 Beam) 

Week 5: Kara Eaker/Georgia (Beam 9.925) and Jordan Chiles/UCLA (10.0 Floor)

Week 6: Morgan Price/Fisk (Bars 10.0)

Week 7: Grace McCallum/Utah (Bars 10.0)

Men’s Inside Gymnastics Gymnast of the Week:

Week 1: Kameron Nelson (Ohio State)

Week 2: Colt Walker (Stanford) and Sam Phillips (Illinois)

Week 3: Taylor Burkhart (Stanford)

Week 4: Ian Sandoval (Illinois)

Week 5: Emre Dodanli (Oklahoma)

Week 6: Taylor Christopulos (Nebraska)

Routine of the Week:

Week 1: Ignacio Yockers/Oklahoma (14.450), Patty Hoopes/Air Force (14.350) and Parker Thackston/Ohio State (14.500) (Pommel Horse) 

Week 2: Brandon Dang/Illinois (14.700 Pommel Horse) 

Week 3: Charlie Larson/Michigan (14.050 Floor) 

Week 4: Aidan Li/Cal (14.650 Pommel Horse)

Week 5: Frederick Richard/Michigan (14.700 High Bar)

Week 6: Fuzzy Benas/Oklahoma (14.350)

Look for Nate’s NCAA Notes each week and stay tuned to InsideGym.com and Inside Gymnastics magazine for spotlight features and interviews throughout the 2025 season!

Nate Salsman, Della Fowler, Megan Roth and Christy Sandmaier provide NCAA coverage for Inside Gymnastics.

Photos by Lloyd Smith for Inside Gymnastics magazine.

FOR MORE! 

Fueled By Faith

Inside the Matchup February 7

Artistry In Motion, Aurelie Tran

How Katelyn Jong Fits Right In

Inside the Matchup January 31!

Helen Hu, Behind the 10

Brooklyn Moors Shines Early In Her Senior Season

In His Own Words: Nikolai Kolesnikov

eMjae Frazier: Ready For More

Sam Phillips: His Own Take

Breaking Down the Men’s Code of Points

Men’s NCAA Coaches Address Changes

For our Men’s NCAA Preview Part 1, Click Here

For our Men’s NCAA Preview Part 2, Click Here!

For the 2025 NCAA Season Schedule, Click Here!

For our 2025 NCAA Women’s Preview, Click Here!

For the 2025 WCGA Coaches Poll, Click Here!

For our feature on Utah’s Jaylene Gilstrap, Click Here!

For our feature on Lily Smith and the Georgia GymDogs, Click Here!

For our look at Mizzou, Click Here!

Why Paul Juda Is Ready for 2025!

Brody Malone to Compete in 2025!

Four Up, Four Count. John Roethlisberger’s Take!

Missing the Olympics? NCAA Gymnastics Could Be Your Fix!

Stay tuned to InsideGym.com and follow us @InsideGym for all the latest!

For our look at the Class of 2026, Click Here!

Photos by Lloyd Smith for Inside Gymnastics