Ross Selected as Finalist for AAU James E. Sullivan Award
March 23, 2020 | Gymnastics
UCLA gymnast and Olympic, World and NCAA champion Kyla Ross has advanced as a finalist for the 90th annual AAU James E. Sullivan Award presented by Eastbay, which has been awarded annually since 1930 to the most outstanding amateur athlete in the United States.
Representatives from the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) created the Sullivan Award with the intent to recognize contributions and achievements from amateur athletes across the country. Voting for the award is open to the public at https://aausports.wyng.com/AAUSullivanFinalists through 11:59pm ET/8:59pm PT on Monday, Mar. 30. Tweets using the hashtags #VoteForKyla #AAUSullivanAward will also count in voting.
Ross has long been one of the United States' top amateur athletes, having won Olympic gold in 2012 as a member of the Fierce Five, as well as World Championship gold in 2014. She chose to retain her amateur status in order to compete collegiately and enrolled at UCLA in 2016-17. Ross made history on day one with her Bruin teammate Madison Kocian, becoming the first Olympic gold medalists ever to compete in NCAA Gymnastics. Later that year, she became the first female gymnast in NCAA history to win NCAA, World and Olympic championships, taking home the 2017 NCAA uneven bars and balance beam titles.
In 2019, Ross set numerous national and school records. She became the first gymnast in NCAA history to record two Gym Slams in the same season, recording at least two perfect 10s on each event. She totaled 14 perfect 10s in 2019, a new NCAA single-season record. Ross also holds NCAA records for consecutive meets with a perfect 10 (10 in 2019) and career 10s on uneven bars (11). She finished her collegiate career with 22 perfect 10s, tied for fourth-most in NCAA history.
Ross won four NCAA individual championships and one team championship and is one of just two gymnasts in NCAA history to win an individual title on every apparatus. She won a share of the vault and floor exercise titles in 2019 and was the 2017 NCAA balance beam champion and uneven bars co-champion.
The 2020 AAI Award Finalist and 2019 NCAA West Region and Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year won the Pac-12 all-around championships in 2019 and 2018 and won a total of six Pac-12 individual titles (2019 all-around, uneven bars, floor exercise; 2018 all-around, uneven bars; 2017 balance beam).
This season, Ross went unbeaten in the all-around, winning all eight meets in which she competed all four events. In total, she earned 34 first-place finishes out of a possible 45 and hit all 37 routines during the season. She averaged over 9.9 on every event (9.908 on vault, 9.960 on bars, 9.923 on beam and 9.928 on floor) and 39.713 in the all-around. Ross finished the year ranked first in the nation on uneven bars, second on balance beam, third in the all-around, fourth on floor exercise, and 11th on vault. She scored two perfect 10s on uneven bars and one on vault, along with 10 9.975s. Ross was named the Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week five times this season and 13 times in her career, and she also won two Pac-12 Specialist of the Week awards in 2020.
The 19-time All-American is a standout off the floor as well, receiving Pac-12 All-Academic honors twice in her career and earning Director's Honor Roll distinction every year while studying Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology.
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