Kyla Ross Named Finalist for Honda Sports Award
April 25, 2019 | Gymnastics
After a dominant record-breaking season, UCLA junior Kyla Ross has been named one of four finalists for the Class of 2019 Honda Sport Award for Gymnastics.
Ross, a 2012 Olympic gold medalist, set several NCAA records in 2019, including most perfect 10s in a season (14), most consecutive meets with a perfect 10 (10), and most perfect 10s on uneven bars in a season (6) and in a career (9). She made history by becoming the first gymnast to record two Gym Slams in one season, earning at least two perfect 10s on all four events. Ross also became the first UCLA gymnast and only the second gymnast ever to win NCAA individual titles on all four events in her career when she captured the 2019 vault and floor exercise titles this season. She had previously won the uneven bars and balance beam titles as a freshman in 2017 and also won a team title in 2018.
The vault and floor titles for @kyla_ross96 this year give her 4 career NCAA individual titles, tied for most in UCLA history.
โ UCLA Gymnastics (@uclagymnastics) April 20, 2019
??: https://t.co/Zx6mb7BfDk pic.twitter.com/SobPgnrWa9
The 2019 West Region and Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in the all-around and on vault and uneven bars and was the only gymnast in the nation to rank in the Top 5 on all four events. Her national qualifying score of 9.995 on uneven bars was a NCAA record on that event. Ross dominated in all-around competition with 10 all-around victories during the year, including a second-consecutive victory at the Pac-12 Championships with a championship record score of 39.80. Three times this season she scored a national season-high 39.850 in the all-around. Ross, a 19-time All-American, finished tied for second in the all-around at the NCAA Championships.
This past Saturday, @kyla_ross96 joined @kris_maloney as the only two Bruins to complete the Gym Slam with a perfect ?? on all four events. Kyla accomplished this feat in the last three weeks alone. ?? #kylaboss pic.twitter.com/raO61mxZGh
โ UCLA Gymnastics (@uclagymnastics) March 19, 2019
In the classroom, Ross has earned Pac-12 all-academic honors twice in her career. An honor roll student, she is majoring in Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology.
Ross is nominated for the Honda Sport Award along with Oklahoma's Brenna Dowell and Maggie Nichols and LSU's Sarah Finnegan and is UCLA's second consecutive finalist, joining 2018 winner Christine Peng-Peng Lee.
The Honda Sport Award has been presented annually by the Collegiate Women Sports Award (CWSA) for the past 43 years to the top women athletes in 12 NCAA- sanctioned sports and signifies "the best of the best in collegiate athletics". The winner of the sport award becomes a finalist for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year and the prestigious 2019 Honda Cup which will be presented on a live telecast on CBS Sports Network on Monday, June 24, 2019, in downtown Los Angeles.
The nominees were chosen by a panel of coaches representing the Women's Gymnastics Coaches Association (WGCA). The Honda Sport award winner for Gymnastics will be announced next week after voting by administrators from over 1,000 NCAA member schools. Each NCAA member institution has a vote.
Honda Sport Award winners will be presented with the honor during on-campus presentations throughout the year and all Honda Sport Award winners become a finalist for the prestigious 2019 Honda Cup award presented in June.
The CWSA, celebrating its 43rd year, has honored the nation's top NCAA women athletes for their superior athletic skills, leadership, academic excellence and eagerness to participate in community service. Since commencing its sponsorship in 1986, Honda has provided more than $3.1 million in institutional grants to the universities of the award winners and nominees to support women's athletics programs.
Players Mentioned
