Spartans Earn WCGA Scholastic All-America Awards

Photo by: Matt Hawley / Pitt Athletics

8/17/2023 12:11:00 PM | Women's Gymnastics

EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State gymnastics collected 16 WCGA Scholastic All-America award honors by the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA), as announced by the organization Thursday.

Elle Beaufait, Chloe Bellmore, Baleigh Garcia, Naomi German, Sydney Hayashi, Lauren Hsu, Jori Jackard, Giana Kalefe, Genevieve Lebster, Stephanie Lebster, Tori Loomis, Skyla Schulte, Nikki Smith, Nyah Smith, Gabrielle Stephen and Tara Walsh were all recognized for posting a GPA of 3.5 or higher during the 2022-23 school year.

MSU's 16 honorees mark the second-highest number of award winners in program history.

The Spartans were also recognized as one of 76 WCGA Team Academic award winners for earning a cumulative team GPA of 3.0 or better. In 2022-23, MSU logged a cumulative team GPA of 3.6595, which ranked 25th among all NCAA programs. MSU also ranked 24th in institutions ranked by percentage of student athletes receiving Scholastic All-America recognition, with 80 percent of the team earning the award.

MSU's cumulative team GPA ranked fourth among Big Ten teams.

A pair of Spartans, Chloe Bellmore and Jori Jackard, become four-time All-America recipients with their recognition in 2023, while Baleigh Garcia, Naomi German, Sydney Hayashi, Tori Loomis, Nyah Smith and Tara Walsh each earn their third Scholastic All-America nod.

Lauren Hsu, Giana Kalefe, Genevieve Lebster, and Gabrielle Stephen each earn their second Scholastic All-America awards, while Elle Beaufait, Skyla Schulte, Stephanie Lebster and Nikki Smith become first-time recipients.

The WCGA Academic awards mark the end of a successful year in the classroom for the Spartans, who collected 12 Academic All-Big Ten and eight Big Ten Distinguished Scholar honors in 2022-23. Garcia, Jackard and Stephen were also recognized as College Sports Communicators Academic All-District recipients in 2023.