University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Ross Named Semifinalist for AAU James E. Sullivan Award
March 09, 2020 | Gymnastics
UCLA's record-setting gymnast Kyla Ross has been selected as a semifinalist 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 aausullivan,org. The semi-finalist round closes at 11:59pm ET/8:59pm PT on Friday, Mar. 13.
Such an honor to be nominated! Keeping my amateur status as an athlete was a decision I had to make at such a young age. Beyond thankful for the past 4 years I've been competing in collegiate athletics due to that decision! https://t.co/T6rO9PY1QP
โ Kyla Ross (@kyla_ross96) March 9, 2020
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 and counting).
Ross has totaled 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 2019 NCAA West Region and Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year is the two-time defending Pac-12 all-around champion and has 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 is unbeaten in the all-around, winning all eight meets in which she has competed all four events. She currently ranks 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 has scored two perfect 10s on uneven bars and one on vault and leads UCLA with 34 individual titles out of a possible 45. Ross has been named the Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week four times this season and 13 times in her career, and she has 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.
Players Mentioned
