WVU Opens Postseason at 2026 Big 12 Gymnastics Championship
March 20, 2026 02:10 PM | Gymnastics
WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah – The West Virginia University gymnastics team opens postseason competition at the 2026 Big 12 Gymnastics Championship inside the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah, on Saturday, March 21. The conference championship will be held in two sessions, with the Mountaineers competing in Session I with Arizona State, beginning at 2 p.m. ET/12 p.m. MT.
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 five league opponents for the second time this season, after competing against each Big 12 Conference member throughout the year. West Virginia finished seventh at the 2025 Big 12 Championship with a team score of 194.875. 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 12 gymnasts named to the All-Big 12 Championship Team all-time, including a program-best four honorees in 2014. Most recently, Sophia Rice earned All-Big 12 Championship team honors on floor in 2025.
Freshman Kayla Smith is having an impressive rookie season for the Mountaineers, competing on all-around in every meet so far. She was recognized on the 2026 Big 12 All-Freshman and All-Around Teams earlier this week and leads the team with 467.225 points and 18 podium finishes. Her 12 all-around appearances this year mark the most by a freshman since 2014, when Nicolette Swoboda also tallied 12 all-around meets.
Smith is expected to appear in the all-around at the Big 12 Championship, which would give her the most all-around appearances by a freshman since Hall of Famer Janae Cox in 2004. The Richmond, Va., native also is on pace to break 500 points in just one season at WVU, becoming the first freshman to reach the mark in program history.
WVU wrapped up the regular season with a pair of road meets last week, scoring two 195.0+ scores to end the season on a high note. West Virginia opened the weekend scoring a 195.725 at No. 21 NC State on March 13, before scoring a 195.35 in a tri meet at Pitt with Illinois State on March 15. The Mountaineers tallied 13 podium finishes across the two meets, including a pair of first-place all-around performances from Kayla Smith after securing two 39.0+ scores.
In this week's Road to Nationals rankings, West Virginia's vault lineup ranks No. 30 nationally with a 48.923 National Qualifying Score (NQS). The vault lineup owns a season high of 49.125, which it earned at Towson on March 1. Elsewhere, WVU ranks No. 47 overall, No. 46 on bars, No. 54 on beam and No. 41 on floor exercise.
Individually, Kayla Smith ranks No. 6 in the Big 12 Conference and No. 7 in the southeast region with a 39.095 NQS on all-around this year. Sophia Rice ranks No. 12 in the Big 12 Conference and No. 19 in the southeast region with a 9.83 NQS on vault. In the conference rankings, she is followed by Kayla Smith at No. 18 (9.81 NQS). Senior Carlee Nelson and sophomores Karleigh DiCello and Emerson Smith are tied at No. 20 with matching 9.805 NQS totals.
Junior Amber Lowe is No. 14 in the conference and No. 24 in the region on bars with a 9.835 NQS. She also sits at No. 13 in the Big 12 on beam (9.835 NQS). On floor, Emerson Smith ranks No. 10 in the league and No. 22 regionally with a 9.87 NQS. Junior Jurnee Lane also ranks No. 17 in the Big 12 (9.845 NQS).
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUGymnastics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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 five league opponents for the second time this season, after competing against each Big 12 Conference member throughout the year. West Virginia finished seventh at the 2025 Big 12 Championship with a team score of 194.875. 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 12 gymnasts named to the All-Big 12 Championship Team all-time, including a program-best four honorees in 2014. Most recently, Sophia Rice earned All-Big 12 Championship team honors on floor in 2025.
Freshman Kayla Smith is having an impressive rookie season for the Mountaineers, competing on all-around in every meet so far. She was recognized on the 2026 Big 12 All-Freshman and All-Around Teams earlier this week and leads the team with 467.225 points and 18 podium finishes. Her 12 all-around appearances this year mark the most by a freshman since 2014, when Nicolette Swoboda also tallied 12 all-around meets.
Smith is expected to appear in the all-around at the Big 12 Championship, which would give her the most all-around appearances by a freshman since Hall of Famer Janae Cox in 2004. The Richmond, Va., native also is on pace to break 500 points in just one season at WVU, becoming the first freshman to reach the mark in program history.
WVU wrapped up the regular season with a pair of road meets last week, scoring two 195.0+ scores to end the season on a high note. West Virginia opened the weekend scoring a 195.725 at No. 21 NC State on March 13, before scoring a 195.35 in a tri meet at Pitt with Illinois State on March 15. The Mountaineers tallied 13 podium finishes across the two meets, including a pair of first-place all-around performances from Kayla Smith after securing two 39.0+ scores.
In this week's Road to Nationals rankings, West Virginia's vault lineup ranks No. 30 nationally with a 48.923 National Qualifying Score (NQS). The vault lineup owns a season high of 49.125, which it earned at Towson on March 1. Elsewhere, WVU ranks No. 47 overall, No. 46 on bars, No. 54 on beam and No. 41 on floor exercise.
Individually, Kayla Smith ranks No. 6 in the Big 12 Conference and No. 7 in the southeast region with a 39.095 NQS on all-around this year. Sophia Rice ranks No. 12 in the Big 12 Conference and No. 19 in the southeast region with a 9.83 NQS on vault. In the conference rankings, she is followed by Kayla Smith at No. 18 (9.81 NQS). Senior Carlee Nelson and sophomores Karleigh DiCello and Emerson Smith are tied at No. 20 with matching 9.805 NQS totals.
Junior Amber Lowe is No. 14 in the conference and No. 24 in the region on bars with a 9.835 NQS. She also sits at No. 13 in the Big 12 on beam (9.835 NQS). On floor, Emerson Smith ranks No. 10 in the league and No. 22 regionally with a 9.87 NQS. Junior Jurnee Lane also ranks No. 17 in the Big 12 (9.845 NQS).
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUGymnastics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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