ITHACA, N.Y. -- Raegan Walker of the Yale gymnastics team was crowned vault champion at the USA Collegiate National Championships Sunday at Cornell's Newman Arena. The honor caps a remarkable season for the junior and for the team as a whole. Senior Lindsay Chia and sophomore Sherry Wang also competed Sunday at the championships.
 
Walker competed the most difficult vault in the competition with her 10.000 start value. She executed her usual Yurchenko 1.5, which is especially difficult because of the blind landing. This did not deter her, however, as she stuck her landing cold to score a 9.875. Chia also performed a strong Yurchenko full but hopped backward, which cost her a few tenths. She placed seventh with a 9.750.
 
Walker had qualified to compete for the bars and beam championships as well, finishing in the top five of each of those events on the first night of competition (Friday). The competition for bars was difficult Sunday, with three gymnasts scoring over 9.900. Nonetheless, Walker performed a clean routine with a perfectly stuck double layout. She did not hit one of her handstands to a 90-degree angle, which cost her a few tenths. She earned a 9.825 to place in fifth. Wang, unfortunately, fell off the bars on her Jaeger because she was too far from the bars to catch her release. She had a strong rest of her routine with her full-twisting double back dismount.
 
On beam Walker suffered from a wobble on her front aerial. She also landed too low on her full-twisting dismount and had a big hop. Her 9.600 placed her 10th in what is normally one of her best events. She had a near-perfect 9.900 on the beam at the Ivy Classic last month.
 
Chia performed a strong routine on floor, sticking her full-twisting front layout to a split jump. She also stuck her full-twisting layout to a punch front layout. The floor competition was also tight, with three gymnasts scoring above a 9.900. Chia's 9.850 earned her fifth place.

The meet marked the conclusion of a season that added greatly to Yale Gymnastics history. The Bulldogs won the Ivy Classic title in March with a score of 195.050, the third-highest score in program history. That was the team's 17th Ivy title. The Bulldogs ranked second in the GEC in the regular season before finishing fourth at the GEC Championship. The team recorded its best bars score in history (49.175) at the GEC Championship.
 
At the meet USA Gymnastics also announced its major annual awards. Andrew Leis, who took over as the team's interim head coach in August 2021 after the passing of legendary head coach Barbara Tonry, was named USA Gymnastics Ken Anderson Women's Coach of the Year. Additionally, five Bulldogs earned All-America honors: Chia, Walker, Wang, sophomore Emma Mangiacapre and sophomore Sarah Wilson. 

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