FORT WORTH, Texas – Stanford senior gymnast Chloe Widner competes as an individual all-around competitor at the NCAA Championships Thursday, April 13, in semifinals session one scheduled to start at 12 p.m. PT.
Widner is the second consecutive Cardinal gymnast to qualify for the NCAA Championships, following Kyla Bryant's appearance as an individual floor specialist at the 2022 national championship meet. Led by scores of 9.925 on vault and beam at the 2023 NCAA Regionals Second Round in Los Angeles, Calif., the Frisco, Texas native recorded a 39.550 all-around total to earn her spot as an individual national qualifier. Her effort was the third-best finish in the all-around competition at the meet behind UCLA's Jordan Chiles and Selena Harris and tied with Utah's Maile O'Keefe.
Widner continues a legacy of Stanford gymnasts to qualify for the NCAA Championships as an individual, including current head coach Tabitha Yim and NCAA Individual Champions Elizabeth Price and Carly Janiga. Widner is the first Stanford student-athlete to qualify as an all-around competitor for the national championship meet since Price did in her 2018 senior season.
"I am extremely grateful and excited for the opportunity to represent Stanford at the NCAA Championships," noted Widner. "I am really proud of the way the team and I competed this season and I feel like being able to finish my senior campaign in my hometown is just the cherry on top!"
Widner's 2023 season was the best of her collegiate career, setting new career-best efforts on all four apparatuses and in the all-around competition. The All-Pac-12 First Team bars team member holds collegiate-best scores of 9.925 on vault, 9.975 on bars and beam, and 9.950 on floor. The senior recently announced her plans to return to The Farm for a fifth-year season.
"We are excited for Chloe to represent Stanford at the NCAA Championships," said head coach Yim. "She strives for excellence in every arena and it has been incredible to see her growth and perseverance over the past four years. We are thrilled for her to close out her senior season in front of her hometown. We know she will rep the "S" with pride and set up what will surely be an incredible fifth year with her on The Farm!"
The NCAA semifinals session one features No. 3 Florida, No. 4 California, No. 6 LSU and No. 8 Denver. Widner will rotate with LSU, starting on beam, then heading to floor and vault before finishing on bars. The meet will be broadcasted on ESPN2, with Bart Conner and Kathy Johnson Clarke on the call. Sam Peszek will be the on-site reporter. Individual apparatus streams can be found on ESPN+ and a live scoring feed can be found here. Live scoring updates will be provided on the Stanford Women's Gymnastics twitter account.
