Gabby Wilson Floor Music

[Zee Palmer]

In her 90 seconds on the mat, Wilson dives into themes of race that would have been taboo to speak of, much less present in competition, as recently as a decade ago. And, all the while, she throws in powerful dance moves and athletically impressive tumbling passes which only serve to emphasize the overarching message of Black power that she seeks to convey.

The sophomore describes her sharp movements during the second song of her routine, which is, appropriately, an instrumental from the Black Panther soundtrack, as showing how much more work Black Americans have to do to be at the same point as white people, and people in general. She then furthers her statement as the music transitions to an excerpt from the Us soundtrack, another movie which focuses on racial themes.

The moment Wilson makes her powerful closing statement is in and of itself a notable signal of progress in the wider world of sports, but it exists amid a long and checkered history of race in gymnastics.

In stepping onto the mat in Barcelona, the pair began a demographic shift that brought with it household names like Simone Biles and Gabby Douglas, as well as a number of collegiate gymnasts of color, but has not made as grand of an impact in percentages as the success of those like Biles and Douglas would suggest. Social structures of inertia have thus far kept gymnastics a predominantly white sport, and signs of change are only just starting to appear, as the percentage of Black collegiate gymnasts has increased from 4.5% to slightly under 10% in the last decade.

Wilson raises the Black Power fist at the end of her floor routine because she is an advocate, through and through. And while she would be quick to point out that she is one in a growing line of Black women carving out their place in gymnastics, she goes to extraordinary lengths, both on and off the mat, to see that place expand.

In 2020, Gabby Wilson was one of just 102 Black female gymnasts among a total of 1,087 competitors, but she delivers a message true to herself in hopes of inspiring other women of color to feel confident in expressing themselves through gymnastics.

Ian: Jessica Hutchinson at Denver started to dive into this last year by using SHUM by Go_A as her floor music, but the concept of Eurovision floor music is one that, in my opinion, needs to be built on. Just looking at songs from this year, I would love to see floor routines to Fulenn by Alvan & Ahez and SloMo by Chanel.

Ian: I alluded to it before, but I cannot get through this roundtable without mentioning Geneva Thompson. Unlike a majority of routines that get a lot of praise, her super-senior season routine this year was choreographed by her and her teammates, and you can tell how much she loves the choreography through her performance.

Katherine: Kennedy Baker had some awesome routines during her time as a Gator, especially her senior year mashup of Anaconda and Lip Gloss. They were the perfect combination of enthusiasm, poise and excellent dance moves. There was also her jaw-dropping Dos Santos, which truly made the routine stand out.

Ian: After only getting to see her once on floor this season, I am looking forward to what Kara Eaker can do with more time to evolve as a collegiate performer. Watching GAGE gymnasts break out of their choreographic shells is always a process and the seeds were there with her routine this season to blossom into an amazing performer.

College Gym News was founded in 2015. Since then, the site has transformed into a one-stop-shop for college gymnastics news, from recruiting analysis to meet coverage at the NCAA national championships thanks to the hard work of 30-plus contributors.

A new season-high team score. Six routines earning a perfect 10. The continued dominance of a slightly unexpected team and the resurgence of another on its signature event. Week 5 of the NCAA gymnastics season truly had it all.

Not to mention, a blockbuster showdown between the nation's two top-ranked teams: No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 2 California. On Friday night, the two squads met in a tri-meet hosted by Arizona State in Tempe, and the event more than lived up to the hype. The Sooners recorded a new program record of 49.825 on bars, which ties the NCAA record, and earned their best score of the season (198.375) to remain undefeated. Jordan Bowers earned a 10.0 on bars (more on that below) and also won the all-around title, and Faith Torrez earned a nearly perfect 9.975 on beam to help secure the win on the final event of the night.

Despite finishing second to Oklahoma, Cal still matched its season-high score of 197.950. eMjae Frazier and Mya Lauzon each scored a 9.90 or better on three events and Gabby Perea earned a 9.975 on bars.

"I thought the atmosphere was great," Sun Devils head coach Jay Santos said after the meet. "The crowd was great. I think all three teams did a fantastic job. I think it was just a really exciting competition tonight."

After losing to Missouri in Week 4, LSU responded in a huge way on Friday with a dominant showing over Arkansas. In front of a raucous home crowd, the Tigers earned a monster 198.475. Not only was it the highest score in program history, but it's also the best score of 2024 by any team in the country and the 14th highest score of all-time. So, yeah, it was a pretty good day for LSU.

Haleigh Bryant and Kiya Johnson finished 1-2 in the all-around and both earned a 9.90 or better on all four events, and Konnor McClain scored a 9.975 on both beam and floor. The Tigers were particularly impressive on beam, setting a new season high (49.625) and matching the program's sixth-highest score on the event.

"Well, we got better. That's what this week was about," head coach Jay Clark said. "The focus and the main goal was to get a good performance, a complete performance. I know everyone wants to talk about the score tonight and that's great.

Another week, another six more entries into the 2024 Perfect 10 club. While two of these gymnasts are new to this season's list, four of the gymnasts below had already scored a 10.0 this year. All six of these need to be viewed at your earliest convenience:

Jordan Bowers, Oklahoma: Considering the season the Sooners have already had, it might sound surprising that no one on the team had yet to record a 10.0, but Bowers changed that with her flawless performance on bars. It was the second of her career on the event and fourth overall.

Gabby Wilson, Michigan: The Wolverines tied the program record on floor during Sunday's meet against Michigan State at home -- and Wilson was a big reason why. Competing in the anchor spot during a tightly-contested afternoon, her jam-packed floor routine --filled with an equal parts precision, power, poise and fun -- had the crowd on its feet and earned her the third perfect score of her career on floor and first of the season.

Sage Kellerman, Michigan State: While Wilson's heroics helped the team come close, the Wolverines couldn't eke out the win over their in-state rivals and, led in part by Kellerman, the Spartans got the victory. The sophomore earned her second perfect score of the season on vault with her front handspring front pike half -- and became the first gymnast in the country to earn two 10.0s on the event.

Raena Worley, Kentucky: Entering Week 4 of the NCAA gymnastics season, Worley was one of the most decorated NCAA gymnasts competing who had never recorded a 10. But now, the senior has earned not one, but two perfect scores this season. Last week Worley finally broke through on floor -- and she followed it up this week by doing it again on the event. And not just that, but she did it in the not-so-friendly confines of Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa. More on that shortly, but for now just appreciate Worley's clutch performance below.

Maile O'Keefe, Utah: There have been four perfect scores on beam this season. O'Keefe has been the recipient of three of them. And with the mark, the Red Rocks' fifth-year senior is now tied for the most 10.0 scores in program history, at 14. It's honestly hard to know what else to say about O'Keefe on the event, but she is simply magic.

Haleigh Bryant, LSU: Bryant's perfect-scoring floor routine was the exclamation point for the team on the final event of the meet. She already owned the school record for 10.0 scores -- and this puts her at 12, further expanding her lead in the history books.

While some teams are loaded with recognizable stars and others have dominated the titles and conversation in recent years, there's another program that quietly has emerged as a contender this year: Kentucky.

Throughout the season, the Wildcats have defeated the likes of Michigan and Auburn, and on Friday the team recorded its biggest win of the year with the program's first-ever victory over Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Kentucky scored a 197.600 on the night and Worley, who scored 9.95 on bars and beam in addition to her 10.0 on floor, won the 24th all-around title of her career.

The team now sits at No. 5 in the national standings -- slightly falling from No. 3 after Week 4 -- and is the top-ranked school in the country on vault. Makenzie Wilson, who scored a 10.0 last week and recorded a 9.95 on Friday, is a large reason for the team's prowess on the event:

UCLA has long been considered the gold standard when it comes to NCAA floor routines, and while Nya Reed went viral before the season even began with her routine, the Bruins haven't quite had the collective success they've become known for during the first few weeks of the season.

During a Pride meet in front of a home crowd at Pauley Pavilion, the Bruins defeated Arizona with a season-high 198.075 and season-best marks on bars and beam. But it was what the team did on floor -- notching another season-high score of 49.750 -- that understandably got the most attention. It was the sixth-highest score on the event in program history and the best mark since 2022. Emma Malabuyo, Emma Andres, Katelyn Rosen, Selena Harris and Reed all earned a 9.925 or better. Harris and Reed both were close to perfect with 9.975 scores.

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