Five Ute gymnasts have been named regular season All-Americans by the Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA).
Leading the Utes with top-10 finishes on two events, senior Kim Tessen earned second-team honors on vault and the uneven bars. Tessen finished the season ranked ninth in the nation on both vault and bars. Tessen anchored both events for the Utes and posted career-highs of a 10.0 on vault and 9.975 on bars, while scoring a 9.90 on at least one event in every meet.
Sophomore Cristal Isa also garnered a pair of second-team selections on beam (No. 9) and bars (No. 16). Isa had a streak of five beam routines scoring a 9.90 or higher, which included three-straight 9.95s, while she went 9.875 or higher on bars in seven-of-nine meets.
Joining Isa as regular season All-Americans on beam were freshmen Abby Paulson and Maile O’Keefe. Paulson finished tied for No. 9 in the nation on beam, while O’Keefe finished the season tied for No. 13. Paulson hit the 9.90-mark on beam in seven-of-nine meets and earned Utah’s first 10.0 on beam since 2008. O’Keefe closed out the season with six-straight scores above 9.90, which included two near-perfect routines that scored 9.975s.
Rounding out Utah’s 2020 regular season All-Americans, Sydney Soloski picked up second-team honors on floor (No. 11). Soloski scored three 9.95s this season and hit the 9.90-mark in six-of-eight floor routines.
The five Red Rocks all earned the first regular season All-America honors of their careers. Including her 2018 NCAA All-America honor, Soloski now holds two total All-America awards on floor.
Student-athletes with the top-8 National Qualifying Scores (NQS) for the regular season (with ties) on each event and in the all-around earned first team All-America honors. Gymnasts that ranked No. 9-16 (with ties) in the NQS earned second team All-America honors. The NQS scores are based on meets that occurred before the season was ended because of COVID-19.
WCGA Regular Season All-Americans
Kim Tessen – VT*, UB*
Cristal Isa – UB*, BB*
Abby Paulson – BB*
Maile O’Keefe – BB*
Sydney Soloski – FX*
* – Second Team