Story Links WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah – The West Virginia University gymnastics team opens postseason competition at the 2025 Big 12 Gymnastics Championship inside the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah, on Saturday, March 22. The conference championship will be held in two sessions for the first time, as the Mountaineers will compete in […]
WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah – The West Virginia University gymnastics team opens postseason competition at the 2025 Big 12 Gymnastics Championship inside the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah, on Saturday, March 22. The conference championship will be held in two sessions for the first time, as the Mountaineers will compete in Session I with BYU and Iowa State, beginning at 2 p.m. ET.
Saturday’s first session will be streamed live on ESPN+, with Alex Perlman, Kennedy Baker and Lauren Sisler on the call. Live stats for the meet can be found at WVUsports.com.
WVU will face its six league opponents for the second time this season, after competing against each Big 12 Conference member throughout the 2025 regular season. West Virginia finished fifth at the 2024 Big 12 Championship in Norman, Oklahoma, scoring a 195.125.
In 2014, Hope Sloanhoffer became the first Mountaineer gymnast to win a Big 12 title in the all-around. Sloanhoffer’s title is the only individual event title for WVU at Big 12s. West Virginia has had 11 gymnasts named to the All-Big 12 Championship Team all-time, including a program-best four honorees in 2014. Most recently, Kiana Lewis earned All-Big 12 Championship team honors on vault in 2024, the first honor for WVU since 2022.
WVU wrapped up the regular season with a pair of road meets last week, capping the weekend in a quad meet at Ohio State with Kent State and Pitt on March 16. West Virginia finished in third place with a 195.85 team score. OSU took first (196.875), Pitt finished in second (195.925) and Kent State finished in fourth place (195.65). WVU posted scores of 49.225 on vault, 48.75 on uneven bars, 48.725 on balance beam and 49.15 on floor exercise.
The meet was highlighted by freshman Sophia Rice’s career-high 9.975 on vault, as she topped the podium for the second time in her career. Rice was the last gymnast to compete for the Mountaineers in the meet, anchoring the vault lineup in the fourth rotation with a stuck Tsuk full vault. She received a perfect 10.0 from one judge and a 9.95 from the other for an impressive 9.975. Classmate Karleigh DiCello followed her in a tie for second on vault, scoring a career-best 9.9, while she also scored a 9.9 on beam to seal the win on the event. Freshman Emerson Smith tied for second on floor with a 9.9.
In this week’s Road to Nationals rankings, West Virginia jumped into the top 36, ranking No. 34 nationally with a National Qualifying Score (NQS) of 195.855. After posting a trio of 196.0+ scores across the last four meets, WVU’s NQS improved by more than a full point to catapult the Mountaineers into postseason contention. Of note, the top 36 teams in the Road to Nationals rankings qualify for NCAA Regionals. WVU ranks No. 33 on vault, No. 46 on bars, No. 40 on beam and No. 31 on floor.
Leading WVU’s individual rankings is senior Anna Leigh, who ranks No. 35 nationally, No. 4 in the Big 12 and No. 6 in the southeast region on floor exercise with an NQS of 9.905. Leigh’s season high on floor is a 9.95, while she has scored a 9.9+ five times this year. DiCello ranks No. 10 in the Big 12 and No. 13 in the region on vault with a 9.84 NQS, while she also is No. 19 in the league and region on beam (9.825 NQS). Rice also ranks No. 13 in the Big 12 and No. 14 regionally with a 9.835 NQS on vault. On beam, sophomore Julia Brown ranks No. 20 in the conference and No. 21 regionally, boasting a 9.82 NQS.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUGymnastics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
