FORT WORTH, Texas – Freshman Ava Piedrahita earned NCAA postseason Second Team All-America honors on vault at the 2023 Women's National Collegiate Gymnastics Championships on Thursday night.
Piedrahita posted a 9.875 on the vault in the first semifinal session of the National Championships on Thursday afternoon, finishing sixth in the session to earn her first career All-America designation.
"Ava has worked so hard for this," said head coach Sarah Brown. "She bought into our training program and trusted the process all season. I couldn't be more proud of her!"
The Nittany Lion freshman became Penn State's 97th All-American, its 23rd on the vault, and its first postseason honoree since Sharaya Musser earned the prestigious status in the all-around and the balance beam in 2013. Piedrahita is also the Nittany Lions' first freshman to earn postseason All-American status since Musser in 2010 when she did so on the vault, beam, and floor, as well as the all-around. The last time the Nittany Lions earned regular season All-American honors was in 2018 when Lauren Bridgens (bars) and Briannah Tsang (floor) both earned the recognition.
Each year, postseason All-American status is determined by taking the top four scores, with ties, on each event and the all-around from each session at the NCAA national championships for the first team and Nos. 5-8 for the second team.
THE PIEDRAHITA FILE
- Earned Second Team All-American status on vault following the 2023 Women's National Collegiate Gymnastics Championships, becoming Penn State's 97th All-American and its first postseason honoree since Sharaya Musser in 2013.
- Her 9.875 at the national meet is tied for fifth all-time for a Nittany Lion on the vault in NCAA Championships history.
- Helped Penn State to a No. 25 final standing in the RoadToNationals rankings at the end of the team portion of its 2023 season, a 15-spot jump from last season's final poll.
- Her 9.9 on vault at the Pittsburgh Regional is tied for fifth all-time in Penn State history in regional competition and was the best vault score at regionals for the Nittany Lions since Lauren Bridgens in 2018.
- She also scored a 9.9 on bars and floor in Pittsburgh, tying the fourth and fifth-best marks in Penn State history in regional competition on those events, respectively.
- Additionally, her 39.525 all-around total at regionals is Penn State's No. 2 mark all-time in regional competition and is the best all-around score for a Nittany Lion in any competition since Bridgens posted a 39.525 on Feb. 26, 2022.
- Tied the No. 9 vault score in Penn State history with a 9.95 on Feb. 24 at the Big Five meet.
- Earned four scores of 9.925+ on vault in 2023, and only recorded two scores below 9.825 on the apparatus during her first collegiate season.
- Was named to the All-Big Ten Second Team, collecting the first conference honor of her career.
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