MyKayla Skinner is the NCAA Floor Champion

Freshman phenom MyKayla Skinner because only the third gymnast in school history to win the NCAA floor championship, joining Lisa Mitzel (1985) and Missy Marlowe (1992). She scored a 9.9625 on the event at the Semifinal I of the NCAA Championship yesterday. Floor, the event she is ranked No. 1 in the nation on, is her signature event where she does a double-double (two flips and two twists in the air). She also becomes only the fifth Utah freshman to become an NCAA event champion along with Elaine Alfano (vault, 1982), Summer Reid (beam, 1996), Theresa Kulikowski (all-around and beam, 1999), and Kristina Baskett (bars, 2006).

Skinner, with a 39.6125, finished second in the all-around. With Ashley Postell (2006-08) and Baskett (2009), Utah had four years in a row with gymnasts placing second in the all-around, the best finish in the event for a Utah gymnast since Skinner this year. Skinner defeated several other top all-arounders including Maggie Nichols (No. 1) and Chayse Capps (No. 3) of Oklahoma, Madison Kocian (No. 5T) of UCLA, and teammate Baely Rowe (No. 5T) in the meet yesterday. Skinner also placed fifth on vault (9.90) and eighth on beam (9.9125). She is a four-time regular season All-American as a freshman.