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Claire Billman and Brandis Heffner | College Gym News | March 7, 2023

Women's gymnastics rankings: The top 6 teams and individuals for Week 9

Gymnastics midseason update with College Gym News' Emily Minehart

What a long, strange trip this week has been… Week 9 was marked by an onslaught of injuries, illnesses, controversies, inclement weather and structural issues (we’re looking at you, Stegeman Coliseum). It also saw its fair share of unforgettable and emotional moments, as numerous underdogs had breakout performances and teams across the country honored their seniors.  

With only one week left before the conference championships, things are tighter than ever in both the team and individual rankings: Oklahoma remains the undisputed team to beat heading into the postseason, but it showed signs of vulnerability for the first time this season. Meanwhile, Auburn’s Sunisa Lee did not compete after a crunched floor landing last week. While she’s expected to compete this week in her final home meet as an Auburn gymnast, time will tell whether she’s at her best.  

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Note: For the purpose of these rankings, we define competitive weeks as Monday through Sunday. Gymnasts who compete after Sunday will be considered in the following week’s power rankings. 

Women's gymnastics team rankings

  1. Oklahoma, 197.950 (1)
  2. Utah, 197.925 (3)
  3. Michigan, 198.275 (5) 
  4. Florida, 197.700 (2) 
  5. UCLA, 198.175 (4)
  6. LSU, 197.700 (6)

Oklahoma hosted Florida in what was billed as the most anticipated meet of the regular season. To say it failed to live up to the hype is an understatement, as the Gators opted to use this as a depth meet (resulting in their lowest floor score in years) while the Sooners lacked their trademark precision on beam and floor. Despite the missteps, Oklahoma remains on top while Florida killed a bit of its own momentum by failing to capitalize on the Sooners’ mistakes. 

Click or tap here for the latest NC women's gymnastics rankings

Utah and Michigan are about as evenly matched as two programs can be: Michigan’s highs are typically higher, but its lows are also significantly lower. Because of this, Utah gets the edge for now with improved consistency in response to losing its superstar Grace McCallum. Both teams are trending in the right direction with the postseason rapidly approaching, though they’ll need to be sharper than they have been in recent weeks to threaten Oklahoma. 

In that vein, Utah, Michigan and especially Florida are in very real danger of getting passed by the surging Bruins. The dynamic all-around duo of Jordan Chiles and Selena Harris continues to propel UCLA up the rankings. The team looks to be a lock for nationals after missing out the last two years.

The old saying “can’t win for trying” doesn’t seem to apply to LSU. The Tigers headed into the P&G Challenge quad meet without star all-arounder Aleah Finnegan (due to illness), lost yet another key contributor, senior Kai Rivers, to an Achilles injury suffered in warm-ups, and still inexplicably came out on top, narrowly beating California for the win.  

On the move: Michigan State joined the 198 club in spectacular fashion Sunday afternoon. Its 198.225 shattered the program’s previous program high of 197.675 and was the highest score posted by any team this weekend. Denver also secured its first 198 score in school history with a pair of 10s propelling it to a top-three score across the country for Week 9.


Women's gymnastics vault rankings

  1. Haleigh Bryant, LSU, 9.975
  2. Olivia Trautman, Oklahoma, 10.000
  3. Chae Campbell, UCLA, 9.950 
  4. Jade Carey, Oregon State, 9.875
  5. Kat Levasseur, Oklahoma, 9.900  
  6. Jordan Chiles, UCLA, 9.925

2021 NCAA champion Bryant missed the chance to defend her national title last season after losing the individual qualification tie-breaker to teammate Kiya Johnson at regionals, but she is doing everything in her power to remedy that situation. At this point, the 2023 NCAA vault title is hers to lose. 

Right on cue, fifth-year Trautman has entered the chat. Only vaulting in March or later since 2021, the postseason specialist followed up her 9.975 season debut with her fourth career 10 on vault. 

Campbell stuck her Yurchenko full cold, earning a perfect 9.950 for the fourth time in her career. Whatever her vault lacks in difficulty, she more than makes up for in amplitude and control. Fellow Bruin Chiles has also been dialing in the landings on her Yurchenko double full, leading the way for her recent climb in the all-around standings.

That said, it’s a shame that stuck landings are so heavily rewarded in the current Code of Points because even with a sizable bounce back on the landing, this was easily one of Carey’s biggest and cleanest vaults of the season. Similarly, a small hop forward was the only deduction on LeVasseur’s Yurchenko one and a half, even in slo-mo.  

Honorable mention: Only debuting her Yurchenko one and a half midway through the season, Chase Brock has played a major part in keeping LSU relevant despite its rash of injuries and illness. Her repeat 9.975s the last two weeks have helped the Tigers’ vault lineup claim its two highest scores of the season.

Freshman to watch: Nikki Smith’s perfect 10 was the catalyst for Michigan State’s historic performance. She and the Spartans earned a program record 49.575 on vault, besting the 49.525 they set two weeks ago. 


Women's gymnastics bars rankings

  1. Jordan Chiles, UCLA, 10.000
  2. Trinity Thomas, Florida, 9.975
  3. Audrey Davis, Oklahoma, 9.950
  4. Leanne Wong, Florida, 9.900 
  5. Jade Carey, Oregon State, 9.975 
  6. Andi Li, California, 9.950 

There’s a strong likelihood that Chiles would have overtaken the top spot even if Sunisa Lee had been in contention for this week’s power rankings: The UCLA sophomore has turned in virtually identical bar routines week after week, and she was finally rewarded with her first bars 10 of the season. 

Likewise, Thomas has been consistently excellent and notched her third consecutive 9.975—her sixth of the season—to edge out Oklahoma bars queen Davis for the event title. Wong’s routine was as technically brilliant as ever, save for a college stick on the dismount. 

Carey followed up her 10 from last week with another excellent routine to make her formal debut in the bars rankings. A swim on the landing of her dismount was the only thing separating her from perfection.

Rounding out the Pac-12’s bars dominance this week, Li reclaimed the sixth spot from teammate Maddie Williams with her third consecutive 9.950.     

Honorable mention: Bars was one of three events where Michigan State set a new program high in Week 9, led by senior Jori Jackard’s well-deserved perfect 10 (the first ever bars 10 for the Spartans). 

Freshman to watch: LIU’s Syd Morris is a gymternet favorite thanks to their exciting difficulty on beam, but they turned in a 9.950 on bars to secure their career high on the event and help the Sharks break 196.000 for the first time.


Women's gymnastics beam rankings 

  1. Maile O’Keefe, Utah, 9.900
  2. Kara Eaker, Utah, 9.955 NQS
  3. Luisa Blanco, Alabama, 10.000
  4. Jade Carey, Oregon State, 10.000
  5. Mia Takekawa, Illinois, 9.975
  6. Jordan Chiles, UCLA, 9.975

As Utah beam continues to rock the highest NQS in the nation on any event, its star duo stays atop the power rankings, even with Eaker resting this weekend. In her place, teammate Cristal Isa stepped up with the Red Rocks’ weekly beam 10 as the lineup showed off its immense depth.

While the Crimson Tide’s hot streak cooled off a bit after an upset loss at Missouri, Blanco remained on fire on beam with her second perfect routine in as many weeks and third on the season. She edges out Carey and her newly perfected beam set, though hats off to the Olympic gold medalist for becoming just the 13th gymnast in NCAA history to complete a Gym Slam.

RELATED: Jade Carey becomes the 13th college gymnast to record the gym slam

Takekawa reenters the beam rankings thanks to back-to-back 9.975s. She has two career beam 10s to her name and a third seems imminent. 

Newcomer Chiles’ career high is the culmination of major offseason improvements that have seen her score 9.900 or higher since the start of February. She seems poised to follow up Carey’s Gym Slam with her own. 

Honorable mention: After earning the first 10 of her career on floor last month, Denver’s Jessica Hutchinson reached perfection again—this time on beam. Her superlative lines and toe point were on display as she led the Pioneers to a season high beam score. 

Freshman to watch: The newest member of the Utes’ renowned beam lineup, Makenna Smith, has had no problem filling the gap left by the injured McCallum: She’s scored 9.800 or better each time, including a pair of 9.925s.


Women's gymnastics floor rankings 

  1. Jade Carey, Oregon State, 9.950
  2. Jordan Chiles, UCLA, 9.975
  3. Chae Campbell, UCLA, 9.950 
  4. Mya Hooten, Minnesota, 10.000 
  5. Faith Torrez, Oklahoma, 9.950 
  6. Leanne Wong, Florida, 9.950

Opening slightly too early on her opening tucked full-in cost Carey a third consecutive perfect score on floor, but her 9.950-plus streak lives on as the rest of her routine was issue-free.

Chiles has occasionally struggled with the chest position on her landings this season but capped off a career night with a nearly flawless routine against Stanford. Teammate and floor anchor Campbell punctuated the Bruins’ victory with an unequivocal stick on her final double tuck. 

Like Thomas and Wong on bars and O’Keefe and Eaker on beam, Chiles and Campbell are college gymnastics’ quintessential one-two punch on floor. However, Hooten and teammate Halle Remlinger are giving the duo a run for their money: They posted back-to-back perfect 10s to secure a season high 197.600 for the rebuilding Gophers.  

Freshman Torrez redeemed herself after an uncharacteristic fall on beam with her fourth 9.950 in a row on floor, tying Wong for the individual title. The latter was back in fine form after resting last week and stumbling on her opening pass in Week 7. Wong had no problems on her extraordinarily difficult piked double Arabian to stag jump this time around!

Honorable mention: Denver’s Lynnzee Brown is arguably one of the best floor workers in NCAA history despite suffering two season-ending Achilles ruptures during her six-year college career. She closed out her final (for real this time) regular season home meet in style with her first 10 since 2021. 

Freshman to watch: The future is bright in Berkley, as eMjae Frazier earned California’s first 10 on floor in school history. Her gigantic tumbling had earned a near-perfect score earlier this season, but a flawlessly stuck final pass finally sealed the deal this weekend. 

🍿👀 WATCH: Cal's eMjae Frazier scores first perfect 10 on floor in program history

Women's gymnastics all-around rankings

  1. Jade Carey, Oregon State, 39.800
  2. Jordan Chiles, UCLA, 39.875
  3. Haleigh Bryant, LSU, 39.700
  4. Trinity Thomas, Florida, 39.720 NQS
  5. Selena Harris, UCLA, 39.625
  6. Leanne Wong, Florida, 39.675

In addition to completing her Gym Slam, Carey turned in her fourth consecutive all-around score of 39.800 or better. However, her Olympic teammate and Pac-12 rival Chiles notched the top score of the weekend, posting a career high 39.875 and tying Carey for the highest score of the season. It’s also worth noting this is the first time since Week 6 that someone has bested Carey in the all-around. 

Bryant continues to be a stabilizing force for the battered Tigers. Her consistent 9.9-plus scores highlight the end of every lineup and keep LSU afloat as its roster of healthy gymnasts continues to shrink.

Wong made the most of being the Gators’ sole all-arounder this week with her fourth all-around title of the season despite stiff competition from Oklahoma’s Jordan Bowers and Audrey Davis. Thomas—who rested on floor—had a comparatively off week, scoring two sub-9.9 scores in the same meet for the first time since 2021.  

Freshman sensation Harris continues to dazzle as she added floor back to her repertoire this weekend and promptly earned another 39.6-plus total. Her ability to score so well so consistently puts her among the best in the country.

Honorable mention: Six seasons in, Denver’s Lynnzee Brown proved that she’s still one of the best all-arounders in the country with a 39.725. That’s her best all-around score since the 2021 postseason.

Freshman to watch: The race for Freshman of the Year just got significantly tighter, as Spartan Nikki Smith now owns the top rookie all-around total. Her 39.775 bests both Harris and Florida’s Kayla DiCello, who’ve maxed out at 39.725 and 39.750, respectively. The trio of former five-star recruits are certainly living up to the hype. 
 

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