Olympic gold medalist and five-time NCAA champion Kyla Ross was promoted to assistant coach of the Gymbacks for the 2023 season and has kept the Hogs on historic pace since her arrival.
After primarily coaching beam since 2021, Ross pivoted to vault in the 2024 season and and got off to a hot start. The Hogs scored 49+ in every meet of the season, culminating with a 49.325 at NCAA Championships, Arkansas’ best event of the day in Fort Worth. Leah Smith and Cami Weaver both earned marks of 9.8875, which tied for 13th overall and garnered them Second Team All-America honors. En route to nationals, Arkansas scored 49.375 on vault in each day of regional competition, highlighted by Smith’s 9.950 in the Fayetteville regional final, the second time she scored a perfect mark for a Yurchenko Full vault. At SEC Championships in March, sophomore Lauren Williams earned a 9.850, which gave her All-SEC nods on the event for the second consecutive season.
The Hogs closed out the regular season with a 49.550 on vault on March 15, which contributed to a new program score record of 198.100 and marked three program event records for Ross in three seasons. Freshman Hailey Klein got a 9.975 on her Yurchenko 1.5 during the meet, which matched the program record and is the best score ever on the event by a freshman at Arkansas.
Throughout the 2024 slate, Arkansas earned 17 9.9+ scores on vault and saw five Gymbacks combine for 12 vault titles, including six by Williams.
Ross helped Arkansas post then-program records on beam in each of her first two seasons, 2022 and 2023. The latest high of 49.525 came on Feb. 24, 2023, five-tenths greater than the best of 49.475 set in 2022. The Hogs went 49+ in 10 of 12 meets on beam in 2023, and had 18 scores of 9.9 or better, with five career highs.
Graduate transfer Norah Flatley earned an individual NCAA Championships berth in 2023 after she posted a 9.950 at regionals, the highest mark ever by a Gymback on beam in regional competition. Ross’ guidance at NCAA Championships helped push Flatley to a 9.9375, good for All-American honors and a spot in the Arkansas record book as the best-ever individual beam qualifier score and third-highest ever in Arkansas NCAAs history.
Ross initially joined the staff as a volunteer assistant and immediately made a lasting impact on the program, as she led the team to a then-program high of 49.475 on beam against Florida on Jan. 28. Beam was Arkansas’ best event for much of the season, with a final ranking of 16th and placement as high as 8th throughout the regular season. The Hogs earned at least a share of the beam title six times over 13 meets.
Ross’ early success as a coach comes off one of the most successful careers in collegiate gymnastics history. During her four seasons at UCLA, Ross won four individual NCAA titles – one on each event – the 2018 team title with the Bruins, and finished as a 24-time All-American. She is one of just 13 gymnasts to record a Gym Slam – a perfect 10 on each event – and is one of only three to record multiple Gym Slams in their careers. She was also the first-ever women’s gymnast to own Olympic, world, and NCAA titles.
Ross’ presence on the staff continues a dynamic with head coach Jordyn Wieber that has seen the two as teammates, coach and athlete, and coworkers over the course of 10+ years from London 2012, to UCLA, and now at Arkansas.
With Wieber at the helm and Ross and Chris Brooks as assistants, Arkansas was the first and only NCAA women’s gymnastics program to have an all-Olympian staff in the 2022-23 slate. Brooks is a two-time Olympian and served as captain for the men’s squad at the Rio 2016 games, where he also placed 14th in the all-around competition. Wieber and Ross competed together as part of the Fierce Five, who won the United States’ first-ever women’s gymnastics gold medal on foreign soil on July 31, 2012 in London.
