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 โฆ Qualified to the NCAA Championships after scoring 9.9 on vault at the Regional second round โฆ Finalist for the AAI Award, honoring the most outstanding senior gymnast โฆ Earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors on vault and floor and honorable mention on bars โฆ Tied for the team lead with 17 scores of 9.9 or higher โฆ Recorded 12 individual victories, including four each on vault and floor โฆ Ranked 24th nationally on vault with a NQS of 9.913 โฆ Scored 9.9 or higher on vault in her last six team competitions, with three 9.925s โฆ 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 โฆ Won beam on Feb. 10 against BYU with a 9.900 โฆ Scored 9.9 or higher on floor six times, with highs of 9.950 the first two meets of the season โฆ Won all-around in her first all-around attempt in over two years, scoring a career-high 39.475 against BYU โฆ 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 โฆ 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 โฆ Appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Today Show, Access Hollywood, and was featured along with Margzetta Frazier on Soul of a Nation โฆ Earned UCLA's Rose Gilbert Courage and Character Award.
2020
Earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors on vault and floorย โฆ Finished the year nationally-ranked No. 18 on floor โฆ Won floor in two of her last three meets of the season โฆ 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 โฆ Tied for first on floor against Cal with a 9.95 and earned a 10 from one of the two judges โฆ Recorded a second-place finish on floor at Oregon State with a 9.925, her fifth-straight Top 3 finish on the event โฆ Won her first floor title of the season against Utah โฆ Captured her third vault title with a 9.9 at Arizona State and also tied for second on floor with a 9.9 โฆ Tied for third on vault (9.85) and floor (9.875) against Arizona โฆ Tied for first on vault with a 9.9 and tied for second on floor with a season-best 9.95 against Washingtonโฆ 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 โฆ Placed second on vault for the second-straight meet at BYU, scoring 9.85 โฆ Second on vault with a 9.875 and fourth on floor with a 9.925 against Boise State โฆ 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 โฆ Earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors on vault โฆ Ranked 23rd nationally on vault with a NQS of 9.890 โฆ After switching her vault to the Yurchenko layout full in week three, she averaged 9.874, including six scores of 9.9 or higher โฆ Placed in the Top 3 in seven of the last 13 meets โฆ Earned a perfect score of 9.95 against Arizona State on Jan. 21 โฆ 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 โฆ Earned a leadoff 9.9 on bars against Arizona on Feb. 16 โฆ 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 โฆ Came in as a late sub on beam at the NCAA Regional Semifinal and scored 9.85 โฆ Competed all-around against Arizona State, scoring 38.850 โฆ Averaged 9.819 on floor, with four scores of 9.9 or higher.
2018
Second-team All-Pac-12 on bars โฆ Scored 9.8 or higher on both vault and bars on both days of the NCAA Championships โฆ Leadoff score of 9.9 on bars was good for second place and led UCLA to a 49.5 at NCAA Regionals โฆ Led off vault with a 9.875 vs. San Jose State to lead UCLA to a season-high 49.625 team score โฆ Tied for second on vault with a 9.9 leadoff at Stanford and also scored 9.9 on floor โฆ Scored career-high 9.975 on floor vs. Oregon State after changing her opening tumbling pass to a piked full-in โฆ Placed second on floor and bars (9.9 in the leadoff spot) vs. Oregon State โฆ 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 โฆ Placed second in the all-around with a career-high 39.425 and third on bars with a career-best 9.9 at Cal โฆ Also recorded a new career-high on beam at Cal with a 9.875 โฆ Set new career-bests with a 9.925 on vault and 9.875 on floor vs. Oklahoma โฆ Sixth in the all-around at Elevate the Stage with 39.225 โฆ 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 2013-15ย โฆ Competed Level 10 in 2017 and won the all-around at Level 10 Nationals โฆ At the senior level, she placed ninth in the all-around and tied for fourth on beam at the 2015 P&G Championships โฆ Competed only on uneven bars at the 2016 P&Gs while recovering from an injury and placed eighth โฆ 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 โฆ Placed seventh all-around at the 2012 P&Gs โฆ Representing the USA junior teams, she placed second in the all-around and won team gold at the 2014 Pacific Rim Championships โฆ Silver medalist in the all-around and won team gold at the 2013 City of Jesolo Trophy โฆ Won gold on uneven bars and silver in the all-around at the 2014 Secret U.S. Classic โฆ Gold medalist on vault and silver medalist on floor at the 2013 Secret U.S. Classic โฆ Trained at Legacy Elite Gymnastics.
Personal
Admires Kobe Bryant and Sydney McLaughlin โฆ Enjoys blasting Chris Brown while cooking โฆ Favorite apparatus is vault โฆ Parents: Casey and Deetra Dennis โฆ Has a sister, Mya โฆ Full name is Nia Camille Dennis โฆ Born in Columbus, Ohio โฆ Sociology major who is seeking a career as a stunt double.
