Kocian Named Pac-12 Gymnastics Scholar-Athlete of Year
March 19, 2020 | Gymnastics
UCLA senior Madison Kocian has been named the Pac-12 Gymnastics Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the Conference office announced today. The award, which is presented in each of the 24 sports the Conference sponsors, was established to honor collegiate student-athletes who are standouts both academically and in their sports discipline.
Kocian is majoring in psychology and currently holds a 3.842 cumulative grade-point average. She is a three-time Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) Scholastic All-American and a Pac-12 All-Academic first-team honoree in 2019 and second-team selection in 2018.
"For Madison, commitment, excellence and effort are the bedrock of her lifelong achievements," said UCLA head coach Chris Waller. "Whether it is thriving in school or winning World, Olympic or NCAA accolades, Madison has been uncompromising in her pursuit of being the very best she can be. Her honor as Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year is truly earned."
The Dallas, Texas native made history her freshman season in 2017 when she became the first Olympic gold medalist to compete in NCAA Gymnastics. She went on to win Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors twice and Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week acclaim once that season and captured 16 individual titles, including the 2017 NCAA Regional uneven bars and floor exercise titles. In 2018, Kocian helped UCLA win the NCAA team title and became just the second female gymnast ever to win NCAA, World and Olympic championships. The seven-time All-American and five-time All-Pac-12 honoree scored two perfect 10s on uneven bars, the event in which she won Olympic silver in 2016 and World gold in 2015.
Kocian was named to UCLA's All-Academic team in each of the last two seasons and has earned Director's Honor Roll distinction every quarter at UCLA. She is seeking a postgraduate career as an orthopedic physicianย assistant.
Kocian is just the third Bruin ever to win the award, joining 2018 winner Christine Peng-Peng Lee and 2009 winner Ariana Berlin.
In order to be eligible for the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year award, student-athletes must be a senior (in athletics eligibility) on track to receive a degree, have a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher, participate in at least 50% of the scheduled contests in the sport and have a minimum of one year in residence at the institution. Each Pac-12 institution may nominate one individual per sport, and the winners are selected by a committee of Pac-12 staff members at the conclusion of each sport's regular season. The athletic accomplishments of the nominees are a consideration in the voting for the award.
A Scholar-Athlete of the Year will be named in each of the Pac-12's 24 sponsored sports: baseball, men's basketball, women's basketball, beach volleyball, men's cross country, women's cross country, football, men's golf, women's golf, women's gymnastics, women's lacrosse, men's rowing, women's rowing, men's soccer, women's soccer, softball, men's swimming & diving, women's swimming & diving, men's tennis, women's tennis, men's track & field, women's track & field, women's volleyball, and wrestling. The award was first established during the 2007-08 academic year.
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