FORT WORTH – University of Denver gymnast
Shyla Bhatia scored a 9.8125 for her vault at the 2026 NCAA National Championships in semifinal II at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth on Thursday evening.
Bhatia, who was selected to NCAA Nationals as an individual event qualifier on vault, competed on just the one event and had to wait until the end of the third rotation to step onto the podium. On her powerful Yurchenko one-and-a-half, Bhatia took a controlled step forward on the landing to earn her 9.8125 – the freshman's 11
th score at or above 9.800 on the event in her first 14 collegiate meets and ending the season with a streak of six in a row of 9.800 or higher.
Within the second national semifinal, Bhatia's 9.8125 finished her tied for No. 20. When results were combined between both semifinal sessions, Bhatia was tied for No. 35 overall.
Her 9.8125 tied the No. 27 highest vault score by a Denver gymnast at the NCAA National Championships and became the No. 11 highest score on the event by a DU gymnast competing at NCAA Nationals as an individual qualifier.
With her appearance in Fort Worth, Bhatia ends a highly-successful freshman season that saw her hit all 42 of her routines. The 2026 Big 12 Newcomer of the Year will head to the 2027 season as the team's reigning vault NQS leader (9.860). She also finished 2026 with Denver's third highest floor NQS (9.890) and third highest bars season average (9.790).
