Abbey Miner-Alder finishes gymnastics career at NCAA Championships

FORT WORTH, Texas – All-American Abbey Miner-Alder competed on Friday in the NCAA Championships as an individual competitor on floor, BYU’s first qualifier since 2018.

Ranked as No. 10 in the nation on floor, the senior sported an impressive NQS of 9.944 this season. Back in March, the WCGA celebrated the Utah native as a second-team All-American on the floor exercise. 

Alder earned her spot at the NCAA Championships after competing at the NCAA Morgantown Regionals on April 2. The MRGC Floor Specialist of the Year achieved her highest score of the night on floor, notching a 9.900. This score, along with her NQS score, advanced her to the next round. 

“I was super excited that Abbey, who ranked No. 10 in the country, could go through a pretty grueling qualifying process to make it here to nationals,” head coach Guard Young said. “It’s always a special thing for BYU to get an athlete to the final dance.”

In the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, Alder rotated with No. 8 University of Minnesota, who competed on floor in the final rotation. She achieved a score of 9.5875. 

“It was very difficult for her to come in and not have her teammates with her,” Young said. “She warmed up and then sat for an hour. And then warmed up again and sat for another two hours. It’s very unique. She is used to competing on every event, so for her to sit, that was challenging.”

This is head coach Guard Young’s second BYU gymnast to both qualify for nationals and earn All-America honors. The last time was in 2018 when Shannon Evans was named to the second team for the uneven bars.

“Abbey's our all-arounder and our ace in the hole. Overall, she handled it beautifully,” Young said. “She had a great warm-up and great preparation for the tournament. I think she just thought that she had to be too perfect. That does not take away from her All-American status and everything that she has accomplished during her career as a gymnast here at BYU.”

The top four teams will compete on Saturday in the finals of the NCAA Championship. Details on how to watch the meet can be found at NCAA.com.