Before I begin this article, I want you, the reader, to stand up. Now I want you to try and touch your toes. Now, while you’re standing, and if your knees can take it, do a tuck jump. That is, jump and bring your knees to your chest, not your feet to your bum, and land standing straight up. Harder than you thought, yeah?
Now that you understand the difficulty involved in those basic movements, look up to the headline photo of this article. How do you feel seeing sophomore Konnor McClain of Louisiana State University (LSU) throwing herself 14 feet off the ground? That move is called a "Church.” It’s when the athlete starts in a handstand on top of the tallest of two uneven bars, does a pike (brings her toes to her fingers mid-air), and then circles the bar before launching herself higher up in that same folded position, only to straighten her body at just the right moment to catch the same bar and continue on with her routine.
Konnor McClain for LSU on Beam (right). Aleah Finnegan for LSU on Beam (left).
Last week I traveled to Penn State University's campus for the 2025 NCAA Gymnastics Regionals, where nine teams competed over the course of four days for two tickets to the Texas championships. My love for gymnastics runs bone deep… or ligament deep, since that’s where I still feel the sport the most. I competed until injuries stopped my career at the ripe age of 11. In my 20s, I coached young gymnasts. These days, I religiously watch college gymnastics on television. And, wow, was it another experience altogether to see gymnasts like McClain up close as I set out to photograph my stars in person.
When most people think of gymnastics, they think of the Olympics-level game. College gymnastics is almost like a different sport. It emphasizes perfection over difficulty, unlike elite gymnastics, which judges “execution” in tandem with an open-ended “difficulty” score that fluctuates depending on the number of challenging moves performed. The focus on precision means their splits are over 180 degrees; their landings out of high flying tumbling passes are fully controlled, just one or no steps completed with chest upright.
Nikki Smith for MSU on bars (left). Maddie Komoroski for the University of Maryland on beam (middle). Haleigh Bryant for LSU on bars (right).
The biggest difference between elite and NCAA gymnastics, however, is the team atmosphere. In college, the sport is about encouraging your peers to be their best and to have fun. The stakes are still high, but there’s a spirit that radiates out of the athletes in a way that has only slowly begun to shown up within elite gymnastics culture.
Jillian Procasky for Kentucky on Bars (left). Creslyn Brose for Kentucky on Floor (middle). Delaynee Rodriguez for Kentucky on Floor (right).
This is why college gymnastics so perfectly captures the fundamental art of the sport. On one hand, the athletes represent an almost alien limitlessness. On the other, when watching live we see not only glamorous perfection, but also the full range of emotion that goes into preparing such swift acts of choreography. Nerves, enthusiasm, and intensity are all seen on the faces of teammates, coaches, and people in the bleachers.
That was the case when star freshman Kailin Chio pulled a Layout Yurchenko 1.5 on vault, twisting her body 540 degrees following a back handspring onto the vault, prompting looks of concern, prayer and excitement from her teammates over the course of seven potentially devastatingly dangerous seconds. Chio finished the move with too much power, adding an extra hop on her landing. The whole arena — not as packed as I’d argue it should have been — erupted unanimously in cheers.
Kailin Chio's LSU teammates go through a full range of emotion as they watch their teammate gear up for less than seven seconds of skill that can be devastatingly dangerous.
To have too much power on your skills as a freshman is a remarkable feat; the Chinese Olympic team could only dream of building the power this 18-year-old packs into her vaulting. That’s the other thing about women's college gymnastics; an average student athlete is older and stronger than what the world has come to see as the “perfect gymnast.” They are more developed in body and self. Such individuals are starting to redefine the scene; the world’s best women gymnasts (hey, Simone Biles!) are increasingly older, competing into their late 20s instead of ending their career in their teens.
Even as I witnessed these peak moments of success and celebration, I was equally pulled towards everything happening off the floor. The feel good camaraderie and serious support offered between teammates is something you only see briefly on live broadcasts as transitional moments. In person, it becomes clear that the athletes’ support for one another, of female artists holding one another up, is the foundation of the whole operation.
I spent the week working to manage a broken arm while I photographed from the floor. I was inspired watching athletes icing their legs and tending to the kinds of chronic injuries they must always patiently push through in order to hone their own crafts. I was enamored with the courage it takes to go out in front of everyone, shaking their bums and making weird faces, all to put on a "show" as they accomplish some of the most hardcore physical feats known to man.
KJ Johnson, a 5th year athlete for LSU, only competes on vault.
When I watch gymnastics, I am witnessing art in action. The power, the grace, the fluidity of these athletes is incomparable to anything else. The chance to freeze frame their skills was also an opportunity to zoom in on all of the emotion that this sport elicits in its onlookers and participants. Such sporting events may seem predicated on acute judgements; but the more involved you get as a viewer, the more moved you become by the grit and vulnerability that underlies it all.
So, who won and what happens next? You need more gymnastics now right? In the end, defending National Champions LSU and, for the first time since 1988, Michigan State University (MSU) made it out of the Regional bracket to compete in Fort Worth. There will be three more D1 meets this season that you can watch. The Elite 8 on April 17th at 4:30 pm and 9 pm ET will air on ESPN. And The Final Four on April 19th at 4 pm will air on ABC. But if you’re in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, you should absolutely do yourself a favor and get tickets for a two-in-one show of art and athleticism.
You don’t have to wait until the 2028 Olympic games to watch more gymnastics. The sport is so much more than the Elite circuit. Go to Youtube and watch a full meet. While the 2025 NCAA season is coming to an end, the next season will start anew in January 2026. Plus, the 2025 elite season is just warming up and NBC Sports will likely air some of their upcoming meets.
