DAVIS, Calif. – UC Davis senior Kyla Kessler was named the MPSF Gymnast of the Year, the conference office announced on Thursday. The Aggies garnered 17 all-conference honors, including seven first-team accolades.
Kessler represents the conference-high 10th MPSF Gymnast of the Year award for UC Davis and hauls in first-team honors on the vault, beam, floor and all-around.
The Fremont, Calif., native competed in the all-around in nine of the 10 regular season meets, in which she accumulated three MPSF all-time top-10 totals. At Sacramento State on March 5, Kessler posted the MPSF's highest all-around (39.425) and floor score (9.95) in the regular season. Her all-around that day ranked fifth in the MPSF record book, while her floor routine was the third-best in the history of the conference.
Kessler also recorded a pair of 39.375 all-arounds in February to share the No. 10 all-time conference ranking. In her national qualifying scores, Kessler finished second in the MPSF in the all-around (39.270), tied for third on the balance beam (9.840), third on floor (9.875), tied for fourth on vault (9.845), and 11th on bars (9.780). She has the highest conference all-around average on the year of 39.119, surpassing the 39-point threshold eight times.
Kessler was recognized as a 2022 MPSF Gymnast of the Week four times and earned a conference-high four first-team All-MPSF awards (V, BB, FX, AA).
The UC Davis freshmen trio of Keanna Abraham, Emily Pires and Megan Ray also were named to the first team. Abraham and Pires joined Kessler with first-team honors on the vault as Ray paced the conference on the floor with an NQS of 9.895.
Abraham and Pires posted their highest score of the season on the vault against San Jose State with a 9.90 while Ray was 9.90 or above five times on the floor, including a 9.925 against the Spartans. Abraham was also named to the second team on floor, while Ray garnered second-team accolades on vault and on the beam.
Emma Otsu nabbed second team honors on the vault and beam, while Ava Scafani and Kaitlyn Lyle joined Otsu and Ray with recognition on the beam. Scafani was joined by Thea Michovsky with second-team accolades on the uneven bars.
UC Davis will host the MPSF Championships at the University Credit Union Center on Saturday, March 19 at 2 p.m.
