Women's gymnastics power rankings: Week 5 gives each event, all-around a new look as the postseason approaches

NCAA gymnastics is just about at the halfway mark of the season, and the postseason picture is starting to come into focus. Gymnasts that started the season more slowly are coming into their own, and others are putting injuries and COVID issues in the rearview mirror. However, the official rankings are still being calculated based on average score. One missed routine can send someone far down the rankings while gymnasts with one great hit and no other competitive routines can sit at the top.

In an effort to normalize the events, these power rankings take a look at how things stand now based not necessarily on the scores themselves but on how the actual routines look in comparison to each other at this point in the season. They may not be the top competitors overall or the ones expected to win national titles come April, but they are standouts from the previous week’s competitions. Let’s get to it.

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All-Around

1. Jade Carey, Oregon State
2. Trinity Thomas, Florida
3. Sunisa Lee, Auburn
4. Natalie Wojcik, Michigan
5. Raena Worley, Kentucky
6. Lexy Ramler, Minnesota

Carey continued her dominant start to the 2022 season, posting four more 9.9-plus scores to extend her streak, as well as notching her first perfect 10 on bars. Plus, she upped her own program record in the all-around by a quarter-tenth to 39.825. Thomas entered the season as the clear favorite to stand atop the all-around podium come nationals in April, and while it took her five weeks to compete in all four events at the same meet, she showed she didn’t miss a beat, recording a 39.750 in her first time out. Olympic all-around champ Lee set a program record for Auburn, tallying a 39.825 of her own and scoring a 10 on her pet event, bars, in the process. Speaking of records, Wojcik tied Michigan’s in the all-around with yet another 39.825 after taking the past two meets off from competing in all four. Worley and Ramler round out the top six with the former extending her streak of SEC Gymnast of the Week awards.

Vault

1. Haleigh Bryant, LSU
2. Abby Heiskell, Michigan
3. Ona Loper, Minnesota
4. Natalie Wojcik, Michigan
5. Trinity Thomas, Florida
6. Reyna Guggino, Michigan

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Michigan put on a clinic on vault Friday with three-straight perfect 10s and a program-record 49.875, so it’s only natural that so many Wolverines made the top six of this week’s power rankings. However, the No. 1 spot belongs to Bryant, who most gymnastics fans agree has the best performed front handspring pike half ever done in gymnastics, let alone in college. She earned a well-deserved 10 for her effort this weekend. Heiskell leads Michigan in the power rankings, hitting 9.9-plus for the fourth time in four tries this season with her 10 this weekend. She’s joined in the top six by teammates Wojcik and Guggino who were also perfect in Piscataway in their tri meet against Rutgers and Alaska. Loper and Thomas also make the list for their sticking prowess and perfect form week in and week out.

Bars

1. Jade Carey, Oregon State
2. Audrey Davis, Oklahoma
3. Natalie Wojcik, Michigan
4. Emily Muhlenhaupt, Boise State
5. Leanne Wong, Florida
6. Emily Lopez, Boise State

To address the elephant in the room, no, it’s not a mistake that Grace McCallum and Olympic bars bronze medalist Lee aren’t on the bars power rankings this week. Despite the duo both earning perfect 10s on the event, they had a somewhat rocky journey to get to that point, and the six listed above have been, if possible, more perfect thus far. Carey is making a name for herself on bars, despite it being her “weakest” event in elite gymnastics. However, as some predicted, it was the first event in which she achieved perfection in college. Davis, Wojcik and Muhlenhaupt continue to chug along as well, and Wong remains on the list after notching another strong 9.950 to follow up her 10 from last week. Finally, in perhaps a twist to the final ranking position, Lopez enters the rankings after starting her 2022 season with two 9.9-plus scores. Boise State is known for its bars, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise to see two Broncos in the top six.

Beam

1. Trinity Thomas, Florida
2. Lexy Ramler, Minnesota
3. Maile O’Keefe, Utah
4. Ragan Smith, Oklahoma
5. Natalie Wojcik, Michigan
6. Baleigh Garcia, Michigan State

Thomas may have had her struggles on beam in 2021, but that’s so last year. So far in 2022, she’s hit 9.950, 10.000 and 9.975, making it pretty clear why she ranks No. 1 on the event in this week’s power rankings. She’s followed by the usual suspects in Ramler, O’Keefe and Wojcik—with O’Keefe impressing in Westwood this weekend, notching the 9.975 needed to clinch Utah’s win over rival UCLA before the Bruins’ last competitor even took the floor. Smith, known for her beam work, earned her own first perfect 10 of her career on the event in the Sooners’ Sunday meet against Texas Woman’s. Garcia rounds out the top six after hitting 9.9-plus for the fifth meet in a row.

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Floor

1. Gabby Wilson, Michigan
2. Nya Reed, Florida
3. Kiya Johnson, LSU
4. Derrian Gobourne, Auburn
5. Jordan Chiles, UCLA
6. Trinity Thomas, Florida

This week’s floor ranking is essentially a who’s who of perfect routines from 2022, with Gobourne being the only gymnast on the list with a lower season high so far. Wilson earned her first career 10 at Michigan’s record-breaking meet at Rutgers on Friday, contributing to the Wolverines’ 198.525 for the sixth-best score in NCAA history. Reed took a break on the floor this week but still holds onto her impressive streak of 9.9-plus scores, helping her maintain her position in the top six. Johnson made her 2022 floor debut after sitting out the event to start the season to protect her Achilles. She notched a 10 in her first attempt. Chiles was also perfect this weekend and is well on her way to going viral, with her routine already amassing more than a million views on social media with celebs like Lizzo having shared the video. Thomas rounds out the top six after returning to the floor lineup for just the second time this season, scoring a 9.950 to go with her 10 from week two.