2021 Gymnastics Roster
Roster
Nia Dennis
- Height:
- 5-1
- Class:
- Senior
- High School:
- Metea Valley
- Hometown:
- Columbus, Ohio
Career Highlights
*2021 AAI Award finalist
*2019 First-Team All-American on bars
*2018 NCAA team champion
*Seven-time All-Pac-12 honoree (2021 first-team vault, floor, hon. mention bars; 2020 second-team vault, floor; 2019 second-team vault; 2018 second-team bars)
*Scored career-high 9.975 on beam 2/2/19 and on floor 2/23/20 and 2/25/18
*U.S. National team member from 2013-15
Best Marks
V - 9.950, 2x, last 1/29/19
UB - 9.950, 3/16/19
BB - 9.975, 2/2/19
FX - 9.975, 2x, last 2/23/20
AA - 39.475, 2/10/21
2021
Concluded her career with a Yurchenko double full vault at the NCAA Championships, successfully hitting the most difficult vault done in the competition … Qualified to the NCAA Championships after scoring 9.9 on vault at the Regional second round … Finalist for the AAI Award, honoring the most outstanding senior gymnast … Earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors on vault and floor and honorable mention on bars … Tied for the team lead with 17 scores of 9.9 or higher … Recorded 12 individual victories, including four each on vault and floor … Ranked 24th nationally on vault with a NQS of 9.913 … Scored 9.9 or higher on vault in her last six team competitions, with three 9.925s … Came back from June 2020 shoulder surgery to compete on uneven bars in six meets, winning twice and recording a career-high-tying mark of 9.950 on Feb. 27 … Won beam on Feb. 10 against BYU with a 9.900 … Scored 9.9 or higher on floor six times, with highs of 9.950 the first two meets of the season … Won all-around in her first all-around attempt in over two years, scoring a career-high 39.475 against BYU … Went viral for the second year in a row, this time doing it in week one of the Bruins' season with her floor exercise routine celebrating Black culture … Her routine picked up 11 million views on the viral Tweet alone, which was shared by the likes of Michelle Obama, Missy Elliott and Janet Jackson … Appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Today Show, Access Hollywood, and was featured along with Margzetta Frazier on Soul of a Nation … Earned UCLA's Rose Gilbert Courage and Character Award.
2020
Earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors on vault and floor … Finished the year nationally-ranked No. 18 on floor … Won floor in two of her last three meets of the season … Her meet-winning 9.975 floor routine against Utah went viral with over 20 million views and landed her a guest spot on The Ellen DeGeneres Show … Tied for first on floor against Cal with a 9.95 and earned a 10 from one of the two judges … Recorded a second-place finish on floor at Oregon State with a 9.925, her fifth-straight Top 3 finish on the event … Won her first floor title of the season against Utah … Captured her third vault title with a 9.9 at Arizona State and also tied for second on floor with a 9.9 … Tied for third on vault (9.85) and floor (9.875) against Arizona … Tied for first on vault with a 9.9 and tied for second on floor with a season-best 9.95 against Washington… Won her first event of the season at Stanford, tying for first on vault with a season-high 9.9, and made her season debut on beam, tying for third with a 9.875 … Placed second on vault for the second-straight meet at BYU, scoring 9.85 … Second on vault with a 9.875 and fourth on floor with a 9.925 against Boise State … Competed on vault (9.825 on a stuck Yurchenko full) and floor (9.85) at the Collegiate Challenge.
2019
First-team All-American on uneven bars … Earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors on vault … Ranked 23rd nationally on vault with a NQS of 9.890 … After switching her vault to the Yurchenko layout full in week three, she averaged 9.874, including six scores of 9.9 or higher … Placed in the Top 3 in seven of the last 13 meets … Earned a perfect score of 9.95 against Arizona State on Jan. 21 … Scored 9.9 or better on six of eight uneven bars routines, capturing first place twice and setting a new career-best with a 9.95 against Utah State … Earned a leadoff 9.9 on bars against Arizona on Feb. 16 … Selected the Pac-12 Specialist of the Week for Feb. 5 after scoring a career-high 9.975 on beam, a season-high 9.925 on floor and a 9.925 on vault at Oregon State … Came in as a late sub on beam at the NCAA Regional Semifinal and scored 9.85 … Competed all-around against Arizona State, scoring 38.850 … Averaged 9.819 on floor, with four scores of 9.9 or higher.
2018
Second-team All-Pac-12 on bars … Scored 9.8 or higher on both vault and bars on both days of the NCAA Championships … Leadoff score of 9.9 on bars was good for second place and led UCLA to a 49.5 at NCAA Regionals … Led off vault with a 9.875 vs. San Jose State to lead UCLA to a season-high 49.625 team score … Tied for second on vault with a 9.9 leadoff at Stanford and also scored 9.9 on floor … Scored career-high 9.975 on floor vs. Oregon State after changing her opening tumbling pass to a piked full-in … Placed second on floor and bars (9.9 in the leadoff spot) vs. Oregon State … Won vault and bars while competing in the leadoff spot against Utah, scoring career-highs of 9.95 on vault and 9.925 on bars … Placed second in the all-around with a career-high 39.425 and third on bars with a career-best 9.9 at Cal … Also recorded a new career-high on beam at Cal with a 9.875 … Set new career-bests with a 9.925 on vault and 9.875 on floor vs. Oklahoma … Sixth in the all-around at Elevate the Stage with 39.225 … Second in the all-around in the season opener vs. Ohio State, scoring 39.050, and tied for third on bars with a 9.825.
Club
U.S. National Team member from 2013-15 … Competed Level 10 in 2017 and won the all-around at Level 10 Nationals … At the senior level, she placed ninth in the all-around and tied for fourth on beam at the 2015 P&G Championships … Competed only on uneven bars at the 2016 P&Gs while recovering from an injury and placed eighth … Won the vault and placed second in the all-around at the 2014 P&G Championships and was second on vault and fourth in the all-around at the 2013 Championships … Placed seventh all-around at the 2012 P&Gs … Representing the USA junior teams, she placed second in the all-around and won team gold at the 2014 Pacific Rim Championships … Silver medalist in the all-around and won team gold at the 2013 City of Jesolo Trophy … Won gold on uneven bars and silver in the all-around at the 2014 Secret U.S. Classic … Gold medalist on vault and silver medalist on floor at the 2013 Secret U.S. Classic … Trained at Legacy Elite Gymnastics.
Personal
Admires Kobe Bryant and Sydney McLaughlin … Enjoys blasting Chris Brown while cooking … Favorite apparatus is vault … Parents: Casey and Deetra Dennis … Has a sister, Mya … Full name is Nia Camille Dennis … Born in Columbus, Ohio … Sociology major who is seeking a career as a stunt double.
