After placing in the top 10 and watching her teammate, Adia Friesen, walk away with a national title a year ago, Lopes' Student Leader Bella Scott made it two titles in two years for the Grand Canyon University Club Gymnastics team, winning the all-around national title in Level 9 (the tournament's highest level) with a finishing overall score of 38.275. Meanwhile, Lopes' senior (and Cactus High School alum) Audrey Love used a strong performance on the vault to finish in the all-around top 20 in the Platinum category; while Lilah Seedroff also reached the final in the vault, finishing 32^nd in the event with a score of 9.45 in her first-ever nationals appearance. Finally, in the Diamond division, NAIGC Western Regionals gold medalist Jordyn Contreras reached the finals in the floor exercise, with her 9.825 score placing her in a tie for 3^rd. The foursome was joined in the field of nearly 1300 gymnasts by two other Lopes making their second appearance at nationals, Lopes' Student Leader Kynsley Hobbs and junior Madison Kaheaku; as well as first-time performers Jaedyn Duck and Emma Smith.
 

Scott – a native of Grand Rapids, Michigan – will head back to the Great Lakes region for the summer later this week knowing that she was one of just two gymnasts in L9 to exceed the 38-point level overall (no one reached that pinnacle a year ago). The sophomore's finishing score topped Liberty University's Malaika Campbell by .75 of a point. Scott won the overall title with consistency, since she didn't win an individual event, but finished no worse than 7^th in any category. Scott's 9.675 mark in the uneven bars placed her 2^nd in that category, while she also placed 4^th in the balance beam (9.4) and 5^th in vault (9.675).

"How amazing is it that we have the LV9 AA National Champion for the second year in a row?!" said Lopes' Assistant Coach Peter Wieging. "Bella looked great in the training session and performed well in the Qualifications. When I learned she was in 2^nd heading into Finals, I felt pretty good about her chances, and after seeing her performance improve in the Finals, I was confident she would win."
 
"After my routine was finished, my father pulled up the results, and said, 'You won!', but I didn't believe it," said Scott. "It's been up-and-down for me this year in competitions, but this was my best event, so I was excited. (Nationals) was definitely easier this year, because I was focused more on having fun with my team and not putting so much pressure on myself."
 
Meanwhile, Contreras fought through the usual glut of participants on the Diamond level to reach the final day of competition after just missing finals a year ago, but once again dazzling in the floor exercise. The junior from Gilbert was in the hunt to qualify for the all-around, finishing in a tie for 31^st place and just two points out of the top 20 after prelims, but didn't hang her head about it. Instead, she showed the Alabama crowd why floor was her best event a year ago and why she finished 2^nd in that category at regionals, finishing just .25 of a point out of a silver medal. Speaking of showing what she learned from the past year, Love continued to build off last year's Indianapolis performance to reach the top 20 for the 2^nd straight year on the Platinum level. Her top-25 performances in the vault (9.525, 16^th place) and the floor (9.575, 23^rd) secured 19^th place overall for the Peoria native with an overall mark of 37.575.
 
"Our performance as a team might've even exceeded our expectations, since Diamonds have such a tough time getting to finals," said Scott. "Knowing this team and how hard they trained this year, though, and watching them compete, it honestly didn't surprise how well they did. I held a high standard for them knowing what they could accomplish."