Courtesy of LSU Sports
Fly high and stick the landing is Gymnastics 101 and what’s needed to score a perfect 10 on vault. That, and straight legs glued together with pointed toes, of course.
While we have seen many stuck vaults this season, ones with great amplitude, and ones that scored a near-perfect 9.975, vault is the only event that, through eight weeks, we have yet to see a gymnast score a 10 on.
Here are ten gymnasts who I think are on a perfect 10 watch.
Gymnasts who have scored a 9.975 this season:
Faith Torrez (OU)
Courtesy of Faith Torrez (@faith.torrez on Instagram)
Torrez currently ranks first on vault with a National Qualifying Score (NQS) of 9.950. Torrez scored a career-high 9.975 in Week 6, and earned the score again on her Yurchenko 1.5 a week later. Torrez has earned a score of 9.9+ on vault six times this season.
Kailin Chio (LSU)
Courtesy of LSU Gymnastics
Right behind Torrez in the rankings is freshman Kailin Chio. Chio has an NQS of 9.940 and has the highest vault average in the nation at 9.922. She has also posted a score of 9.9+ six times this season. If the freshman can nail her Yurchenko 1.5 again, I think her first career perfect 10 will come on this event.
Makenna Smith (Utah)
Courtesy of Utah Gymnastics
Smith tied her career high vault score of 9.950 in Week 4, and topped it in Week 7 with a 9.975. Smith’s vault, an Omelianchik (a Yurchenko half-on front pike), has not scored lower than a 9.85 this season and has counted for all of Utah’s team vault scores. Smith ranks first on vault in the Big 12 with an NQS of 9.900, and she averages a 9.892.
Maddison Reidenbach (Denver)
Courtesy of Brittany Evans Photography
Reidenbach upgraded her vault to a Yurchenko 1.5 this season, won her first career vault title in Week 4, and posted a career-high 9.975 in Week 7. Reidenbach ranks fourth on vault in the Big 12 and has the second-best average in the conference with a 9.859.
Jocelyn Moore (Mizzou)
Courtesy of Missouri Gymnastics
Moore was the first gymnast to score a 9.975 on vault this season when she nailed her Yurchenko 1.5 in Week 3. The senior was the third Missouri gymnast to score a 10 on vault when she did so in 2023. If she can stick the landing again, I think she can easily add to the program’s perfect 10 record book.
Gymnasts who have scored 10s on vault before:
Haleigh Bryant (LSU)
Courtesy of LSU Gymnastics
The queen of vault, and 2021 champion on the event, has returned to the all-around and has now competed on vault three times this season. Her scores? 9.925, 9.950, 9.900. Bryant has been perfect on the event eight times in her career with her front handspring pike 1.5, and it’s only a matter of time before she gets her first 10 on vault this season.
Sage Kellerman (Michigan State)
Courtesy of Becca Gawenda Photography
Kellerman also performs a beautiful front handspring pike 1.5. She has scored a 9.9+ on vault four times this season, and has two perfect 10s on the event. Kellerman scored the first vault 10 last season, and I think if she drills her vault landing again, she can do the same this season!
Nikki Smith (Michigan State)
Courtesy of Michigan State Gymnastics
Smith ranks third in the nation on vault with an NQS of 9.935, has the second-best average in the nation at 9.916, and she ranks first in the Big Ten on the event. Smith has scored a 9.9+ on vault six times this season, including four scores of 9.950. The junior’s Yurchenko 1.5 has earned a perfect score twice.
Jordan Bowers (OU)
Courtesy of Jordan Bowers (@jordansbowers on Instagram)
Bowers, one of Oklahoma’s star seniors, has scored a 10 with her Yurchenko 1.5 twice in her career. This season, Bowers has had five scores of 9.9+ on vault. Her last 10 on the event came in last year’s Big 12 Conference Championship, but if she sticks her vault again, I can see her being perfect again well before the SEC Championship.
Leanne Wong (Florida)
Courtesy of Morgan Hurd, Florida Gators
Wong has scored a 9.9+ in six out of seven meets this season, with her only score lower than that being a 9.875. Wong trained a Cheng in elite last year, and her college vault, a Yurchenko half-on layout half-off, is a full twist shorter. Her elite vault was more difficult, but she gets more height now and is performing vault perhaps at her best in her collegiate career. If she can control the landing, I think she can score her second 10 on the event.
Any one of these gymnasts is capable of scoring a 10 on vault this season, but only one can be first! Use the comment section below if there’s someone else you think could be the first this season.
Edited by Giana Robertaccio