Women's gymnastics power rankings: Week 6 sees shuffling one week before switch to national qualifying scores

The switch from ranking by average to ranking by national qualifying score is next week, and the push to drop lower early season numbers and add strong away marks is more important now than ever.

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.

All-Around

1. Jade Carey, Oregon State
2. Lexy Ramler, Minnesota
3. Ona Loper, Minnesota
4. Trinity Thomas, Florida
5. Sunisa Lee, Auburn
6. Andi Li, California

Carey’s streak of 9.9-plus scores was broken when she received a 9.875 on beam at Oregon State’s meet against Washington. However, she followed up the sub-par performance — by her standards — with a perfect 10 on floor, keeping her not only at the top of the standings by average but at the top of the power rankings as well.

Both Ramler and Loper competed twice, each putting up strong performances. Loper beat her teammate’s score in both performances, en route to a new career high 39.750. Thomas slides down a touch after a low beam score held her total back, but she still managed 9.9-plus on the other three events to keep her in the top six of this week’s power rankings. Lee and Li round out the list, with the latter making her power ranking debut after a strong performance in the Golden Bears’ upset over Utah.

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Vault

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

The vault rankings this week are pretty status quo, with a bit of shuffling the main difference from weeks past. Wojcik and Thomas especially continue to be sticking machines while Loper’s and Bryant’s forms throughout their vaults are unmatched in the NCAA. Reed returns to the list after returning to the 9.9s on Friday.

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Bars

1. Jade Carey, Oregon State
2. Lexy Ramler, Minnesota
3. Emily Muhlenhaupt, Boise State
4. Audrey Davis, Oklahoma
5. Jordan Chiles, UCLA
6. Alexis Stokes, Boise State

Carey continues to excel on bars to the surprise of only those not paying close enough attention. She has yet to score below 9.950 on the event in five meets and added a 9.975 to her perfect 10 from last week.

Ramler also returned to her normal on the event in her double meet weekend, adding her own 9.975 to her stats sheet after a 9.925 on Saturday. She’s still searching for a perfect 10 of her own in her fifth and final season with Minnesota.

Muhlenhaupt and Davis keep chugging along on their pet event while Chiles added a perfect 10 to her floor 10 from last week, making her and Carey the only freshman Olympians with two so far.

Stokes rounds out the top six, subbing in for teammate Emily Lopez from last week’s power rankings after matching Boise State’s program record 9.975. The senior has been out with injuries the past two seasons, finally rejoining this year and not looking like she missed a beat.

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Beam

1. Ragan Smith, Oklahoma
2. Maile O’Keefe, Utah
3. Kennedy Hambrick, Arkansas
4. Jessica Hutchinson, Denver
5. Jacey Vore, Minnesota
6. Leah Clapper, Florida

Beam saw a number of the usual standbys have issues this week, which paved the way for a bit of a mixup in the power rankings. However, Smith’s second perfect 10 in a row sees her move into the top position.

O’Keefe was one of the highlights of the Utes’ beam rotation, which struggled in its upset loss to conference foe California. The junior hit a 9.925 after a fall from her teammate in the No. 5 spot. While Hambrick has had some ups and downs across the four events so far in 2022, beam has been a bright spot, and on Friday she took the next step, tying the program record with a near-perfect 9.975.

Hutchinson returned to the beam lineup after sitting out the first half of the season due to a mixture of COVID protocols and minor injuries. She added a 9.950 to her 9.900 from her season debut last week. The success helps numb the pain of losing senior leader Lynnzee Brown to injury a few weeks prior.

Vore filled in for the Wolverines on beam and immediately made an impact, notching a 9.925 in her collegiate debut on the event and giving head coach Bev Plocki a tough decision next week for her ideal top six.

Finally, Clapper is often overlooked for her work on beam, but she needed a big hit in a close meet with LSU after Trinity Thomas turned in just a 9.700. Her 9.950 righted the ship and set Florida up to take the win in the final rotation.

Floor

1. Jade Carey, Oregon State
2. Nya Reed, Florida
3. Trinity Thomas, Florida
4. Mya Hooten, Minnesota
5. Kyla Bryant, Stanford
6. JerQuavia Henderson, Iowa

The Olympic floor champ finally has her 10 on her pet event. Carey wrapped up yet another strong all-around performance with her second career 10 and first on floor. With an average over 9.950 currently, she’s set up well once things switch to NQS.

Florida’s one-two punch of Thomas and Reed is one of the best in the NCAA, with the duo going 9.975 and 10.000, respectively this week. It’s Reed’s second perfect 10 of the season.

Hooten and Bryant each posted 9.975s, with Hooten’s coming on a routine that many of her fellow competitors thought should have been a 10 and Bryant’s coming to clinch the Cardinal’s upset over UCLA — the team’s first dual win over the Bruins in program history.

Henderson rounds out the power rankings after a strong showing for Iowa that earned a 9.950.