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Big 12 gymnastics: Can Cougars follow Denver’s blueprint as it makes jump to Power Five league?

Jordan Christiansen
·7 min read
BYU gymnasts react after a teammate finishes floor routine against Utah State during 2023 season.
BYU gymnasts react after a teammate finishes floor routine against Utah State during 2023 season. | Brooklynn Kelson, BYU Photo

Editor’s note: Ninth in a series of articles examining how each BYU program will stack up against its new conference foes. Today’s program: gymnastics.

BYU women’s gymnastics head coach Guard Young knows a thing or two about Big 12 country.

A two-time national champion gymnast at BYU, Young went on to win a team silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games as a member of the U.S. national team. He also was an assistant coach for the University of Oklahoma men’s gymnastics team for 10 seasons, helping the Sooners win four NCAA championships and finishing with national runner-up teams five times before leaving to take the head women’s job at BYU.

Entering his ninth season, Young has brought the Cougars back to consistent NCAA postseason appearances and Top 25 rankings, including a No. 16 final rank in 2020. After competing as an independent for many years, BYU joined the Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference and claimed conference titles in 2020 and 2021.

Now Young takes his first home to his second home as BYU will compete against defending national champion Oklahoma and the rest of the Big 12 when the new season starts in January 2024. The Cougars will be led in their inaugural year by a handful of fifth-year seniors taking advantage of their extra year of eligibility thanks to COVID-19: Anyssa Alvarado, Lindsey Hunter, Allix Mason and Elease Rollins.

Rollins is an All-American on balance beam and a two-time MRGC Beam Specialist of the Year. Alvarado has multiple all-conference honors on uneven bars while Hunter (bars) and Mason (vault, bars, beam) also have four years of expertise.

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Others returning contributors include junior Sydney Benson, the top vaulter in the MRGC in 2023, and fellow juniors Sophie Dudley and Anna Bramblett. Kylie Eaquinto, the conference Freshman of the Year in 2023, competed on vault and bars in every meet last year and also returns.

The Cougars welcome three freshmen, all of whom will instantly contribute in 2023. They include Alpine native Mya Kirkham, Orem native Brynlee Andersen and four-star recruit Ava Jorgensen of Gilbert, Arizona.

Big 12 women’s gymnastics

Winners of six national titles in the last nine seasons and only one finish below third at the NCAA championships since 2010, Oklahoma is the team to beat in all of women’s gymnastics. The Sooners are coming off their second straight national title in 2023, posting a nation-leading 10 team scores of at least 198, tied for the most in a season in NCAA history.

Oklahoma has also won 10 of the last 11 conference titles; the other title belongs to Denver, a gymnastics-only member of the conference that has seen great success since joining the conference in 2016. The Pioneers snuck in one Big 12 crown in 2021.

The only other two Big 12 teams to sponsor women’s gymnastics are Iowa State and West Virginia. Iowa State last won the Big 12 in 2006 (when current Oklahoma head coach K.J. Kindler was the head coach of the Cyclones) and West Virginia’s top Big 12 finish was a distant second out of three teams in 2015.

Despite the dominance by the Sooners, the Cyclones, Mountaineers and Pioneers each have 25 or more appearances at the NCAA Tournament. Iowa State and West Virginia are always lingering around the bottom of the top 25 while Denver has been a consistent top 15 program.

How will BYU fare?

BYU’s 2024 nonconference slate will be highlighted by a meet against the Big Ten’s Ohio State; the Buckeyes will visit Provo a year after finishing No. 13 in the nation. The Cougars will go on the road for two conference meets and host two conference foes before competing in the Big 12 championships in Norman, Oklahoma.

So how will BYU match up in the Big 12? Following Denver’s blueprint would be a good start. The Pioneers competed with the Cougars in the MRGC before joining the Big 12 in time for the 2016 season. In Denver’s eight previous seasons before joining the Big 12, the Pioneers ranked in the top 15 three times with an average rank of 17.3. In eight years of Big 12 membership since then, however, the Pioneers have been ranked in the top 15 every season with an average ranking of 10.1.

Maybe Denver joined the Big 12 right as the program was ready to take a leap — it had been a mainstay in the Top 25 for decades before joining the conference. But perhaps it’s no coincidence that the top five finishes in school history have all come as members of the Big 12. Not only does increased competition help with recruiting, but with the way gymnastics is judged, the better your competition looks, the better you tend to look, and the higher your scores tend to rise as well. As ranking and NCAA qualification are based off a formula of team scores, every tenth of a point helps.

In sum, defeating Oklahoma and probably Denver is likely too much to ask of the Cougars in the first year, but BYU should probably top Iowa State and West Virginia. As the Cougars program gets acclimated to the Big 12, I can easily see scores climbing higher and higher each year and conference trophies coming within reach.

Big 12 teams at a glance

Here’s a look at the Cougars’ conference competition listed in my predicted order of finish:

Oklahoma

Overview: Eight different Sooners earned All-America honors last year; 10-time All-American Olivia Trautman and All-American vault specialist Allie Stern completed their eligibility, but the rest of the team is back, along with the usual collection of top-tier freshmen, including USA National Team member Addison Fatta. The Sooners will be in the mix for yet another NCAA crown in 2024.

Last season finish: No. 1 nationally, 1st in Big 12.

Top gymnasts: Jordan Bowers (Jr., All-American, Big 12 all-around and floor champion), Ragan Smith (Sr., All-American, Big 12 bars, beam and floor champion), Audrey Davis (Sr., All-American, Big 12 bars champion), Danielle Sievers (Jr., All-American, Big 12 vault champion), Faith Torrez (So., All-American, Big 12 Newcomer of the Year).

Conference titles: 19 (1984-’86, ’91, ’93, ’04, ’08-10, ’12-19, ’22-’23).

NCAA appearances: 39 (1982-’95, ’98-’23).

BYU and Oklahoma history: Oklahoma leads, 9-7. OU won the last meeting in 2021 by a score of 197.800-196.900.

Denver

Overview: As long as Jessica Hutchinson is on the roster, the Pioneers will be contenders. Hutchinson is a two-time Big 12 Gymnast of the Year with multiple All-America honors entering her fifth season. Denver does lose two-time AAI Award finalist Lynnzee Brown but returns a loaded roster and welcomes incoming freshman Madison Ulrich, the Level 10 Nationals bars champion.

Last season finish: No. 8 nationally, 2nd in Big 12.

Top gymnasts: Jessica Hutchinson (Sr., All-American, Two-time Big 12 Gymnast of the Year), Rylie Mundell (Sr., Big 12 vault and bars champion), Rosie Casali (Sr., All-Big 12 bars).

Conference titles: 4 (2002, ’12, ’14, ’21).

NCAA appearances: 27 (1994, ’96-’97, ’99-’23).

BYU and Denver history: Denver leads the series, 34-21. The two teams last competed in 2021, with the Pioneers taking a tight 197.375-197.300 victory.

Iowa State

Overview: The Cyclones made a coaching change this offseason and will be led by Ashley Miles Greig, a four-time NCAA champion as a gymnast at Alabama from 2003-’06 but who has no collegiate coaching experience. Iowa State missed the NCAAs last year for only the second time since 1996, but College Gym News ranks Iowa State’s incoming recruiting class 12th in the nation.

Last season finish: No. 44 nationally, 4th in Big 12.

Top gymnasts: Maddie Diab (Sr., Big 12 floor champion), Hannah Loyim (Jr.).

Conference titles: 3 (1977, ’00, ’06).

NCAA appearances: 25 (1996-’15, ’17-’22).

BYU and Iowa State history: BYU leads, 7-6-1 with Iowa State winning the last matchup, 195.400-194.450. The Cougars haven’t defeated the Cyclones since 2008.

West Virginia

Overview: The Mountaineers lose three of their top four scoring gymnasts from last season. All-arounder Abbie Pierson is the top returner; the fifth-year senior has scored 9.925 or higher on three events in her career.

Last season finish: No. 30 nationally, 3rd in Big 12.

Top gymnasts: Abbie Pierson (Sr.), Anna Leigh (Jr.).

Conference titles: 11 (1992-’98, ’01, ’04, ’08, ’12).

NCAA appearances: 37 (1984-’02, ’04-’13, ’15-’23).

BYU and West Virginia history: BYU leads 2-0, having won in 1990 and mostly recently in 2019.

BYU gymnasts celebrate during meet against Utah State during the 2023 season. | Brooklynn Kelson, BYU Photo
BYU gymnasts celebrate during meet against Utah State during the 2023 season. | Brooklynn Kelson, BYU Photo