4/2/25 - NAIGC Nationals Successes

The UCSD Club Gymnastics Team made a name for themselves at NAIGC Nationals 2025 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania! Over three days of competition, seventeen gymnasts performed routines across all MAG, WAG, and T&T events, where they excelled and had fun in the process!

The Xcel Silver team, composed of Morgan Ayan, Alexa Reyes, Lauren Yerger, Nyla Janmohamed, Zach Weiner, and Luya Wei, earned third place in their session with an all-around score of 108.575! Morgan earned second place individual all-around in her session with a 37.3, Alexa won second place on floor with a 9.375, Nyla earned a 9.0 on her handspring vault, Lauren danced through her beam and floor routines very gracefully, Luya impressed everyone with his sky-high butterfly aerial and straddle jump on floor, and Zach competed on the beam for the first time, rocking the Macarena in his choreography!

Xcel Platinums Sydney Kundert and Kristina Ma, as well as Level 9 gymnasts Sarah Mackey and Raina Eghbalyans, had an incredibly successful meet! In their session, Kristina earned seventh place all-around (37.15) and first place on bars (9.425) while Sydney won sixth on vault (9.45) and seventh on beam (9.3)! Sarah nailed her Tsuk vault, earning a 9.1, and Raina earned sixth on vault in her session with a 9.2 and eighth on floor with a 9.35. Raina even advanced to finals for floor, where she won fourth place in the nation!

Xcel Diamonds Ari Pasha, Frances Scott, Kaitlyn Fong, Kayla Phillips, Liliana Echevarria, Malia Lewton, Mia Roe, and Victoria Paulo strove for the team final. While they just fell short, they earned an impressive 112.075, and all athletes put up a remarkable performance. Mia earned sixth place in the session with a 36.975, followed by Malia in thirteenth place with a 36.3 and Liliana in fourteenth with a 36.225. Frances contributed a beautiful 9.4 bar routine to the team total, Kayla Phillips competed a clean twisting vault, and Ari Pasha showed off his straddle hecht on bars and energizing floor routine (for the first time since its debut at the Coastal Classic). Victoria and Kaitlyn advanced to finals for floor (with qualifying scores of 9.75 and 9.85, respectively), and Malia moved on to finals with a 9.5 on beam!

The Nationals MAG team was made up of Ari Pasha, Luya Wei, Zach Weiner, Morgan Ayan, and Malia Lewton. Morgan and Malia competed MAG for the first time ever at this meet! Morgan was the team’s pommel horse specialist, while Malia competed rings and floor–a special shoutout goes to Malia for scoring an 11.55 on floor for fourth place in the entire meet! The developmental team had a great competition with Luya and Zach competing in five of six events. Intermediate competitor Ari qualified to finals for pommel with an 11.35, earning 7th place. Overall, the MAG team had an amazing meet and hopes for more competitors in the following year to reach team finals!

Finally, the UCSD Club Gymnastics Team’s Trampoline & Tumbling arc continues with many highlights–two synchronized trampoline pairs won second place in their session (Ari Pasha and Kaitlyn Fong aced Intermediate Flyer, while Malia Lewton and Morgan Ayan came back from a 0 at Regionals to earn 24.3 in New Flyer), Kaitlyn won her session in tumbling, Malia won first place in trampoline, and Malia and Kristina Ma earned second and third place for double mini! Kayla Phillips, Lauren Yerger, Mia Roe, Nyla Janmohamed, Raina Eghbalyans, Sydney Kundert, and Victoria Paulo competed as well and stunned in their jumps and flips for synchro trampoline!

Outside the gym, the team played street Jenga, bucket tosses, and pitching games as part of the festivities for the Pittsburgh Pirates’ opening weekend, marvelled at the cherry blossom trees and geese along the Allegheny River, and became Instagram influencers through daily story takeovers. They also enjoyed the combined Bruegger’s Bagels and Jamba Juice built into their hotel, discovered the Pittsburger, and made many, many trips to the nearby Target! The team is so proud of gymnasts’ amazing performances at Nationals and is grateful for this inspiring, record-breaking, and joyful season!