Catch up on all the highlights from this past week in NCAA women's gymnastics, including Maggie Nichols' first perfect 10, Kentucky's rise through the rankings and more after the third week of competition.

Perfection, check

It's hard to imagine a better start to a collegiate career than Maggie Nichols' first two weeks of collegiate competition. Oklahoma took to the road on Saturday for the Sooners' first Big 12 test at West Virginia, and Nichols had the best meet of her young career. The freshman scored the first, but certainly not last, 10.0 of her career on her 1 1/2 twisting Yurchenko in the second rotation. She nearly had two more 10s as she notched a pair of 9.975s on floor exercise and balance beam. She added a 9.925 to sweep all four event titles plus the all-around crown with a 39.875 total, which set a new program record.

[tweet url="https://twitter.com/SoonerSportsTV/status/822975271892582401" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]

Nichols wasn't the only one to reach perfection this weekend. Michigan senior Nicole Artz closed out the Wolverines' home opener on floor exercise against Illinois on Sunday. She had great landings on all three tumbling passes, including a big piked full-in to start. It's the first 10.0 of her career and is just the 19th perfect score awarded to a Michigan gymnast. It is also the first 10.0 on floor exercise this season.



Florida junior Alex McMurtry, who unveiled her double-twisting Yurchenko last week, competed her full-twisting Yurchenko on the road at North Carolina on Friday. Her great form and stuck landing earned her a "perfect" 9.950 because of the vault only being out of a 9.950, not a 10.

Watch our full event archives from Florida at UNC

Nearly perfect

While Nichols and Artz nabbed perfection, Utah freshman MyKayla Skinner and Michigan junior transfer Paige Zaziski came agonizingly close to it this weekend. Skinner had not one but two 9.975s on floor exercise and vault in the Utes' quad meet on Friday. With strong performances on the power events and a 9.900 on bars and a 9.925 on beam, Skinner grabbed another all-around title with a 39.775. That score was tops in the country for about 24 hours before Nichols competed. Skinner is ranked second in the country in the all-around and is tied for second on floor exercise. It's only a matter of time this season before she will earn her first perfect score.

Zaziski put up a fantastic uneven bars performance. She got great amplitude on her Tkachev and showed off nice handstands throughout her routine. There was a slight leg separation on her double layout, but she nailed the landing and helped the Wolverines to their top uneven bars score of the season with a 49.475 total.

Watch more routine videos from Illinois at Michigan

UK on the rise

Kentucky has gotten off to a stellar start this season and just keeps setting a new standard each week. In their home opener against Auburn on Friday, the Wildcats broke the 197-point mark for the first time in program history. They were led by freshman sensation Mollie Korth, who won the all-around for the third straight week. Korth scored a 39.450 to win the all-around and floor (9.950) events and shared the title on the uneven bars with a 9.875. 


Photo via Kentucky Athletics

Sidney Dukes and Katie Stuart both had big nights as well, tying for second in the all-around with a 39.425. Dukes scored a big 9.950 on balance beam to pace the Wildcats, while Stuart put up a 9.900 on floor with 9.875s on bars and beam. 

The Wildcats are ranked sixth in the country.

A long-awaited debut

LSU freshman Ruby Harrold got on the competition floor for the first time this past week, competing on the uneven bars and floor exercise against visiting Texas Woman's on Friday. Harrold's routine has several more unique skills, namely her Zuchold transition from high to low bar. 

[tweet url="https://twitter.com/LSUgym/status/822624616841703425" hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]

The Tigers opted to bring Harrold into the lineup slowly after a busy summer for the Brit in Rio. Look out for her in the lineups this season.

First meet surprise

Southern Utah topped visiting Stanford on Friday night, 196.150 to 194.150. It was the first meet of the season for the host Thunderbirds, but with the total, they jumped into ninth place in the country. Their best team performance of the night came on balance beam, where they scored a 49.200 total. Southern Utah got contributions across its roster with 14 gymnasts getting on the competition floor. Senior Danielle Ramirez won the all-around with a 39.200 as the only Thunderbird to compete on all four events.

Watch our full event archives from Stanford at SUU


Related:
Maggie Nichols Scores First 10.0 Of Her NCAA Career
Kentucky Wildcats Off To An Impressive Start
Arizona GymCats Top Iowa State Cyclones Despite Depleted Lineup