Article written by Olivia Sneed and published on www.wvusports.com on 2/21/2023
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Junior Ellen Collins of the West Virginia University gymnastics team has been named the Big 12 Conference Event Specialist of the Week, the league announced on Tuesday.
The honor is the first Big 12 weekly award of Collins’ career, as well as the first for a WVU gymnast this season.
The recognition is West Virginia’s first Big 12 weekly honor since fifth-year senior Kendra Combs was named the Big 12 Gymnast of the Week on March 1, 2022. Collins also collects the Mountaineers’ first event specialist award since Chloe Cluchey garnered the accolade on Jan. 27, 2020.
The award comes following Collins’ career-best performance in WVU’s dual meet against Bowling Green inside the WVU Coliseum on Feb. 19. She helped West Virginia earn a season-best 196.575 overall team score, the Mountaineers’ highest total of the season. Collins was one of six WVU gymnasts to score a 9.9 or higher on floor exercise and help the Mountaineers tally a 49.575 total on the event, their highest since 2016.
In just her second career floor outing, the Clearfield, Pennsylvania, native earned a new career-best 9.9 to anchor WVU’s impressive floor lineup. The total was the first score of 9.9 or higher of Collins’ career, as she finished in a tie for third place on the final floor standings, her first career podium finish.
The Mountaineers now head back on the road, competing in their first double weekend of the season. First up, WVU travels to Norman, Oklahoma, to take on Big 12 Conference foe No. 1 Oklahoma on Friday, Feb. 24. Action inside the Lloyd Noble Center is tabbed for 7:45 p.m. ET, and will be broadcast on Sooner Vision on ESPN+.
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUGymnastics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.