Cape Girardeau, Mo. – Centenary sophomore Taylor Ann Wilson made history on Sunday as she claimed the individual bars title at the 2021 USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate National Championship at the Show Me Center.
Wilson (Memphis, Tenn.) scored a stellar 9.875, a new career high mark, to put an exclamation point on her season which can only be described as improbable, or possibly fairy-tale like. Wilson became a national champion just one day after making her collegiate debut in the event. She made history as she becomes the first Centenary gymnast to win an individual title at the USAG National Championships in the division III era (2012-present).
"I still can't believe it all and I am beyond honored to represent the Centenary College Gymnastics out on bars," said Wilson. I was nervous to say the least, but once I could hear my teammates and coaches cheering for me, I knew I could do it. They always have my back no matter what."
"The atmosphere was amazing. Not only was my own team cheering loudly for me, girls and coaches from opposing teams were right there with them. The amount of support I received all around was incredible. With lots of tears shed, it has been a night and competition that I will never forget. I cannot thank Coach Jackie and Coach Wendy for always believing in me as well as my teammates for the continuous support. I am forever grateful and can't wait for next year's season. "
"WOW! That was incredible, what a Cinderella story!," said Centenary head coach Jackie Fain. I can't even describe the feeling when Taylor was doing that routine, and then when she stuck her dismount, there are no words! This athlete had to work so hard to get herself back into doing full routines, and just started adding her dismount only a week ago! It was magical, and we are so excited for her success! I know I can speak for every Lady on the team that they were as excited for Taylor as Taylor was – even though Taylor was the one out there competing for that national championship title, she had EVERY Lady doing it with her and celebrating just as much! "
"This was her first time even competing on bars so that makes this even more impressive; it's simply remarkable what she accomplished."
"She was not even training recently after missing a month due to an illness and she replaced a teammate on bars because of an injury so she obviously made the most of her opportunity and I am very happy for her and proud of her", said Fain.
Wilson made her season debut on Saturday with the Ladies' top score (9.725) on bars to advance to Sunday's finals. Centenary, which earned an impressive team score of 190.875 on Saturday to finish fifth, finished with its second-highest score of the season. Wilson was named a First Team All-American on bars following her historic performance on Sunday.
Juniors Kendall Sanders (Spring Branch, Texas) and Xian Baumgartner (Albuquerque, N.M.) were each earned First Team All-American honors in the all-around Sanders also garnered First Team honors on floor. Senior Sierra Ponder (Stone Mountain, Ga.) earned Second Team All-American honors on bars.
Maddie Griffith of Texas Woman's University placed second on bars behind Wilson with a 9.862. Sanders placed eighth on floor with a 9.787. She earned a new career high 9.825 on Saturday.
Baumgartner competed on floor for the first time in her Ladies' career on Saturday and earned a 9.550. She set a new career high on vault with a 9.525.
A complete of Saturday's action can be found here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/gymnastics/2020-21/releases/2021041129l8zw
Final results of Sunday's events can be found here: https://gosoutheast.com/documents/2021/4/11/2021_USAG_Individual_Event_Final_Results.pdf
Centenary's complete 2021 schedule can be found here: https://www.gocentenary.com/sports/gymnastics/2020-21/schedule.
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