Morgan Price
Fisk University gymnast Morgan Price became the first athlete from an HBCU to win the all-around title at the USA Gymnastics Women’s Collegiate National Championships.
Competing in West Chester, Pa., Price topped her opponents on Saturday with a score of 39.225, totaled from individual scores on floor exercise (9.850), uneven bars (9.850), balance beam (9.725) and vault (9.80).
Jaly Jones of Lindenwood University repeated as silver medalist with a 38.850, and Kyrstin Johnson of Talladega College was third with a 39.050, giving HBCUs two spots on the all-around podium. Fisk was the first historically black college or university to field a gymnastics team, starting competition in 2023, while Talladega began competition this year.
In 2023, Price finished tied for eighth in the all-around competition with a score of 38.40.
Price on Sunday was named an All-American in four categories: all-around, floor exercise, uneven bars and vault.
Fisk teammate Liberty Mora was named second-team All-American in the balance beam competition. Another Fisk gymnast, Aliyah Reed-Hammon, was named second-team All-Amercan in the vault competition.
Price’s all-around victory at the competition comes almost two years after the former five-star recruit surprised the gymnastics world, decommitting from the University of Arkansas to become part of Fisk’s start-up program.
“African-Americans weren't allowed to go to [predominantly white institutions] and SEC schools,” Price told the Scene's sister publication the Nashville Post at the time. “The fact I can go to an HBCU and be able to show off my talents at the school my ancestors made for me is so much more [of an honor] than going to an SEC school.”
A Lebanon native, Price is the daughter of two athletes. Her mother, Marsha, is a former Vanderbilt cheerleader. Her father, Chris, played baseball at Lebanon High and Middle Tennessee State University, eventually spending a season in the Kansas City Royals’ minor-league system.
This article first appeared in our sister publication, the Nashville Post.
