CEDAR CITY, UT - The Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association presents academic awards every year to individuals and teams who perform just as well in the classroom as they do on the mat. This year our own Flippin Birds Gymnastics team earned one of the top spots in the country in academic performance.
The T-Birds posted an overall team GPA of 3.784 which earned them a spot among the top 5 teams in the nation coming in at #4. Southern Utah is making a return to the top 5 for the first time since 2017 when the Thunderbirds were the top team in the country. Coach Scott Bauman said of the T-Birds return to the top 5 "To see many of the same girls come back from one of our lowest academic years to accomplish a top 5 finish is something really special, they pushed themselves really hard and they took a lot of pride in that."
Coach Bauman attributed much of the program's success to the quality of the athletes we have here at SUU saying "they are some of the best girls in and out of the gym, their work ethic is unmatched." With a return to in person learning this year teams across the country saw a slight dip in the average GPA of student athletes in general but the gymnastics team at Southern Utah saw just the opposite. "A lot of our girls seem to feel more comfortable in the classroom as opposed to online" siad Coach Bauman adding that "as a staff we try to work around the girls schedules as much as possible to help them be the best students they can be."
The mark to qualify for an Academic All-American Award is set at a minimum of a 3.5 GPA for the year or as a cumulative for the reporting institution. With 86% of the Southern Utah team qualifying for the award there were 25 members of the team who met that goal. A record 1,077 student athletes across the country were able to meet the minimum GPA for this award this year. The WCGA honored 228 gymnasts with a 4.0 GPA, 3 of whom came from SUU. 53 teams from across the country maintained an overall GPA of 3.5 or higher.
The Academic All Americans from Southern Utah this Season include:
Brianna Alcantar- Criminal Justice
Morgan Alfaro- Interdisciplinary Studies
Madeline Amundson- Exploratory Studies
Celine Barney- Interdisciplinary Studies
Mayson Bentley- Exercise Science
Aly Coutu- Exercise Science
Taylor Gull- Exercise Science
Anna Hartley- Human Nutrition
Ruby Hernandez- Human Nutrition
Summer Horsley- Exercise Science
Kayla Horton- Exercise Science
Emma Ingrassia- Psychology
Caitlin Kho- Human Nutrition
Karley McClain- Communication
Shylen Murakami- Exercise Science
Isabella Neff- Exercise Science
Hannah Nipp- Sports Conditioning and Performance
Katie Ours- Exploratory Studies
Aubri Schwartze- Biology
Rachel Smith- Economics
Nikki Thomas- Human Nutrition
Madeline Tyau- Communication
Hailey Vultaggio- Communication
Emma Wissman- Exercise Science
Jocelyn Wittwer- Communication
"Academic excellence is always one of our team goals and these girls really took that to heart this year" Said Coach Bauman.
The WCGA is an organization that strives to ensure safe, competitive, and educational opportunities for student-athletes in collegiate women's gymnastics. They are a membership-led, professional association representing the nation's intercollegiate women's gymnastics coaches within Division I, II & III of the NCAA.
