COLUMBUS, Ohio - Senior Colt Walker was honored as the 2024 Nissen-Emery Award winner on Thursday night, as announced by the College Gymnastics Association.
Walker is the seventh Nissen-Emery Award recipient in school history, following Brody Malone (2022), Akash Modi (2017), Eddie Penev (2013), Dan Gill (2004), Josh Stein (1995) and Steve Hug (1974). Walker is the fifth honoree mentored by head coach Thom Glielmi, joining Malone, Modi, Penev and Gill.
Recognized as the highest honor in college gymnastics, the Nissen-Emery award is given annually to the top senior gymnast in the nation.
Walker has spent a decorated career on The Farm as a three-time NCAA championship team member and a three-time MPSF conference team champion. Individually, he was the 2022 NCAA parallel bars runner-up and the MPSF individual champion on parallel bars that same year. The senior was also also All-MPSF on pommel horse in 2023.
A member of the U.S. Senior National Team during his time at Stanford, Walker is a two-time USA World Team member (2022-23) and 2023 World Championship team bronze medalist. The Austin, Texas native also won gold with the United States in the 2023 Pan American Games final, and was an individual silver medalist on parallel bars with a 14.366.
Walker carries a 3.45 GPA as a mechanical engineering major and has twice been named a CGA All-America Scholar-Athlete, along with three Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll selections (2021-23) and an MPSF All-Academic Scholar-Athlete honor in 2022.
The original Nissen Award was named in honor of George Nissen, a former NCAA champion, for his contributions to men's gymnastics. The award was re-named the Nissen-Emery Award in 1998 to honor Dr. Robert Emery, a Penn State graduate, who won the Nissen Award in 1969. The Nissen-Emery Award is inscribed with the following motto: "The true champion seeks excellence physically, mentally, socially, and morally."
No. 1 Stanford is attempting to become only the second program in NCAA history to win five consecutive national titles this weekend at the 2024 NCAA Men's Gymnastics National Championships in Columbus, Ohio.
Friday's competition will consist of two qualifying sessions at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. PT, where the top three teams from each session will advance to Saturday's finals, along with the top-three all-around competitors plus the top three individuals on each event not already qualified on a team or as an all-arounder.
Saturday's action is set for 3 p.m. PT and will determine team, all-around, and individual event champions.