The Ohio State women’s gymnastics floor team huddles up before their floor event during the All Ohio meet March 4. Ohio State took first place with a score of 196.575. Credit: Gabe Haferman | Assistant Photo Editor
For the Ohio State women’s gymnastics team, success has met them on and off the mats as 14 Buckeyes were picked for Academic All-Big Ten March 23.
Not only were 14 Buckeyes able to complete this achievement, but three seniors earned this honor for the third time. Seniors Claire Gagliardi, Colby Miller and Miriam Perez have all been selected for their third Academic All-Big Ten.
Academic success is something head coach Meredith Paulicivic said has been building over time as she has tried to create a school-first mindset for the team.
“For me, since I’ve been here these last five years, the culture of the team was coming in and really getting this program to understand that academics comes first,” Paulicivic said. “When you apply yourself to your schoolwork and maximize yourself and do the things that you need to do comes great opportunity.”
According to a release, to earn Academic All-Big Ten honors, a student-athlete must be enrolled in at least 12 credit hours and maintain a 3.0 GPA for 12 months.
For some Buckeyes, this year was the first chance they had to compete in a full season as the previous two years were impacted by the pandemic. As circumstances shifted to normalcy, gymnasts on the team still found a way to maintain a balance.
Junior Elexis Edwards said she does not have the same schedule as a regular student. Despite the early mornings and long nights, she said she still managed to find a way to maintain her education.
“We don’t have as much time as regular students to venture out and figure things out because we’re still dealing with school, gymnastics and traveling,” Edwards said. “They do a great job exposing us to different programs, different majors, educating us a lot on that.”
