Ashleigh Gnat begins her second season as an assistant coach on the Penn State Women's Gymnastics staff in 2021. She works primarily with the floor lineup. Gnat joined the Penn State Women's Gymnastics program in July 2019 after serving the previous two seasons as a graduate assistant coach at LSU. The Florida native transitioned into a coaching role at LSU after an All-American career as an athlete.
In 2020, the Nittany Lions notched eight dual-meet wins, including four against Big Ten opponents, and a No. 30 ranking in the RoadToNationals standings. Penn State collected five scores above a 196.000, its most since 2015. The Nittany Lions averaged a 196.230 in five home meets, their highest since 2015. The blue and white earned wins over four ranked opponents, including No. 32 Iowa, No. 24 Maryland, No. 31 Michigan State and No. 27 NC State. No postseason events were held after the season was canceled on March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Nittany Lions held a 49.045 National Qualifying Score (NQS) on floor. On the season, Penn State tallied five scores above a 49.000 on floor, including a season-best 49.375 against Iowa. PSU collected six individual scores above a 9.900 on floor, including a 9.950 by Lauren Bridgens, tied for the fifth-best in program history. Bridgens, an All-Big Ten first team selection, ranked 51st in the RoadToNationals rankings.
Bridgens led the team with four event titles on floor, winning in four consecutive meets against Nebraska, Iowa, Rutgers and Illinois. Sophomore Melissa Astarita won the floor title in PSU's Quad Meet vs. NC State, Cornell and Towson.
As a graduate assistant in 2018 and 2019, Gnat assisted with the planning and implementation of practice. She also helped to implement drills and develop routines for beam and floor to improve the composition and difficulty of those routines. Gnat aided in choreographing routines on beam and floor. She helped the Tigers to a 2019 SEC Championship. LSU finished the 2019 season as the NCAA national runner-up.
She also helped with administrative work, including assisting the director of operations, including planning and coordinating recruiting visits and created team building activities. Gnat helped to plan and coach at LSU’s gymnastics camps.
Gnat enjoyed a stellar career as an athlete at LSU. As a senior in 2017, she was the NCAA Floor Exercise Champion and won the AAI Award, given to the nation’s top senior, after leading LSU to an SEC title. A 17-time All-American, including 11 first-team selections, Gnat was twice named the SEC Specialist of the Year. She earned seven All-American selections on floor and five on vault, including four first-team selections in each event. Gnat also collected three first-team All-American honors, two All-American selections in all-around and two Regional Gymnast of the Year awards. She helped the Tigers to two national runner-up finishes and four straight years reaching at least the NCAA semifinals.
She was an SEC Champion on floor in 2016 and 2017. She also won the SEC vault and beam titles in 2017. Gnat earned nine perfect 10.0 scores in her Tiger career, tied for a program record. She ranks among the top 10 all-time at LSU for most vault, beam floor and all-around titles and set a season record with 12 floor titles in 2017. She was also a member of the SEC Community Service team.
The sport administration graduate was a four-year member of the SEC Honor Roll. Gnat earned her master’s degree in kinesiology.
In 2020, the Nittany Lions notched eight dual-meet wins, including four against Big Ten opponents, and a No. 30 ranking in the RoadToNationals standings. Penn State collected five scores above a 196.000, its most since 2015. The Nittany Lions averaged a 196.230 in five home meets, their highest since 2015. The blue and white earned wins over four ranked opponents, including No. 32 Iowa, No. 24 Maryland, No. 31 Michigan State and No. 27 NC State. No postseason events were held after the season was canceled on March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Nittany Lions held a 49.045 National Qualifying Score (NQS) on floor. On the season, Penn State tallied five scores above a 49.000 on floor, including a season-best 49.375 against Iowa. PSU collected six individual scores above a 9.900 on floor, including a 9.950 by Lauren Bridgens, tied for the fifth-best in program history. Bridgens, an All-Big Ten first team selection, ranked 51st in the RoadToNationals rankings.
Bridgens led the team with four event titles on floor, winning in four consecutive meets against Nebraska, Iowa, Rutgers and Illinois. Sophomore Melissa Astarita won the floor title in PSU's Quad Meet vs. NC State, Cornell and Towson.
As a graduate assistant in 2018 and 2019, Gnat assisted with the planning and implementation of practice. She also helped to implement drills and develop routines for beam and floor to improve the composition and difficulty of those routines. Gnat aided in choreographing routines on beam and floor. She helped the Tigers to a 2019 SEC Championship. LSU finished the 2019 season as the NCAA national runner-up.
She also helped with administrative work, including assisting the director of operations, including planning and coordinating recruiting visits and created team building activities. Gnat helped to plan and coach at LSU’s gymnastics camps.
Gnat enjoyed a stellar career as an athlete at LSU. As a senior in 2017, she was the NCAA Floor Exercise Champion and won the AAI Award, given to the nation’s top senior, after leading LSU to an SEC title. A 17-time All-American, including 11 first-team selections, Gnat was twice named the SEC Specialist of the Year. She earned seven All-American selections on floor and five on vault, including four first-team selections in each event. Gnat also collected three first-team All-American honors, two All-American selections in all-around and two Regional Gymnast of the Year awards. She helped the Tigers to two national runner-up finishes and four straight years reaching at least the NCAA semifinals.
She was an SEC Champion on floor in 2016 and 2017. She also won the SEC vault and beam titles in 2017. Gnat earned nine perfect 10.0 scores in her Tiger career, tied for a program record. She ranks among the top 10 all-time at LSU for most vault, beam floor and all-around titles and set a season record with 12 floor titles in 2017. She was also a member of the SEC Community Service team.
The sport administration graduate was a four-year member of the SEC Honor Roll. Gnat earned her master’s degree in kinesiology.