FORT WORTH, Texas – Super senior Kyla Bryant ended her illustrious Stanford career Thursday morning with the best individual floor score in program history at an NCAA Championships event, earning a 9.9375 to finish tied-for-seventh overall.
Not only did her score of 9.9375 mark the program's best-ever floor score at NCAAs but her effort also matched the second-best score ever recorded by a Stanford gymnast on any event at the national-championship meet. Bryant's performance also earned her NCAA First-Team All-America honors, as she finished as one of the top four on her event in the first session.
Acting as the final routine of the third rotation of the event, the Athens, Ga. native stole the spotlight with her final collegiate performance and earned all 9.90+ scores from the six judges, including 9.95s from four judges. Her effort topped current head coach Tabitha Yim's score of 9.925 at the NCAA Championships in 2005 and former Cardinal Elizabeth Price's score of 9.925 at the NCAA Championships in 2018, both of whom previously held the record for best score in program history while at a national-championship event.
"Our hearts are full for Kyla as she closes out this chapter of her story, career, and time with Stanford," noted Yim of Bryant's accomplishments. "She has truly made her mark within our Stanford family as well as the greater gymnastics community. We are so proud of all she has accomplished and were thrilled to see her light up the floor for the final time in Fort Worth."
"Kyla, along with our graduating seniors and super seniors, have been instrumental in flipping the script, making history, and setting the stage for the future of our program."
Thursday's efforts completed the 2022 season for the No. 14 Stanford Women's Gymnastics team. Stanford's 2022 campaign saw the Cardinal earn its first dual meet win over UCLA since 2016, jump 38 spots in the rankings from its previous season, and record two consecutive scores of 197.000+ to close the team's season for the first time since 2015. Stanford welcomes the No. 2 ranked class of recruits to The Farm for the 2023 season, hoping to build upon the script they flipped this year and reach for bigger heights in the campaigns to come.