Denver freshman Shyla Bhatia will compete as an individual vault qualifier at the NCAA National Championships, according to an April 14 announcement. The event is scheduled for Thursday, April 16, at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, during national semifinal II.
Bhatia’s participation marks a continuation of Denver’s strong presence at the NCAA Nationals. The program has now qualified at least one gymnast for the championships in 25 of the last 26 tournaments held. Bhatia becomes the 22nd different Denver gymnast to qualify individually and is only the third from Denver to advance as a vault specialist.
At this year’s regionals, Denver finished seventh overall with a score of 195.950 after advancing to NCAA Regionals for a 27th consecutive time. Among the highlights was Bhatia’s stuck Yurchenko one-and-half on vault, earning her a score of 9.900 that tied her for third overall across both sessions. She secured her spot at nationals by winning a three-way tiebreak based on judges’ scores.
Bhatia joins other notable vaulters such as Sage Kellerman from Michigan State and Cameron Smith from Ohio State in competing for national titles and All-America honors on vault. She will rotate with Minnesota during semifinal II and perform in the third rotation after Minnesota completes its lineup.
The top eight finishers within each semifinal session will be recognized as All-Americans by the Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA). Denver gymnasts have previously earned two individual national titles and five have received WCGA postseason All-America recognition on vault—the most recent being Lynnzee Brown in 2023.
