DENVER, Colo. – The West Virginia University gymnastics team recorded a season-best 196.650 to finish in third place at the 2022 Big 12 Gymnastics Championship, inside Magness Arena in Denver, Colorado, on Saturday.
 
West Virginia's total marked its highest team score at the Big 12 Championship in program history, besting its previous program-best of 196.375, recorded in 2014. The Mountaineers also placed third at Saturday's championship, marking the squad's highest finish at the conference meet since 2017, when it also finished third.
 
Additionally, WVU's 196.650 total also was the 11th-best team score in program history, marking the Mountaineers' highest meet total since 2018.
 
No. 1 Oklahoma earned the conference crown, posting a 198.200 final team score to reclaim the Big 12 Championship title. Defending champion Denver took second place with a 197.250 total, while Iowa State placed fourth after tallying a 196.100.
 
"Tonight was electric," Mountaineer coach Jason Butts said. "We started off a little bit slow on vault, but that's okay. This was a very intimidating environment, up on the podium with a lot of fans in the stands. After vault, though, we really got into our groove on bars and went on to rock beam and floor also. I feel like this team is definitely capable of performing at this level, and this is going to be a huge confidence booster for us going into regionals."
 
Senior Rachel Hornung was the lone WVU gymnast to compete in the all-around on Saturday, earning a spot on the 2022 All-Big 12 Championship Team with a third-place, 39.175 total to match her career-best. The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, native becomes the first Mountaineer to be named to the all-championship team since 2017, when now-assistant Zaakira Muhammad and Kirah Koshinski earned the honors on vault and floor exercise, respectively. Additionally, Hornung is the first to earn the honors on the all-around since Dayah Haley in 2015.
 
The Mountaineers competed in Olympic Order Saturday night, opening the meet on vault and notching a 48.850 total in the first rotation. A trio of Mountaineers paced the lineup, as senior Rachel Hornung, junior Kianna Yancey and sophomore Kiana Lewis led the way with matching 9.8 scores.
 
In the next rotation on the uneven bars, WVU matched its season-best total on the event with a 49.200. Picking up momentum in the second rotation, senior Kendra Combs led the way with a career-high 9.9 to earn her first score of 9.9 or better on bars. Classmate Esperanza Abarca was just behind Combs, tallying a 9.85 to help lead West Virginia to the season-high score.
 
WVU then moved to balance beam, where the Mountaineers recorded their best performance of the campaign on the event, earning a season-high 49.275. Junior Abbie Pierson and sophomore Chloe Asper tallied matching 9.875s to help pace the squad, while Hornung and junior Emily Holmes-Hackerd were just behind with a pair of 9.85 scores. In the leadoff position, sophomore Agatha Handono rounded out West Virginia's scoring gymnasts with a 9.825.
 
Riding momentum from the previous two rotations, the Mountaineers closed the meet on floor exercise. Three gymnasts – Combs, Holmes-Hackerd and Lewis – recorded 9.9s to help lead the squad to a 49.325 total on floor. Junior Kianna Yancey added a 9.85, and Pierson tallied a 9.775 to round out WVU's scoring.
 
"This was the first time that a lot of our athletes have competed in an environment like this," Butts added, "so going into Regionals is almost going to be easier than this kind of environment. We're really going to be looking forward to that, and we have to keep building on this momentum."
 
The Mountaineers now wait to learn their fate in the 2022 NCAA Gymnastics Championships, with the NCAA Selection Show scheduled for Tuesday, March 22, at 12 p.m. ET. The show will air on NCAA.com, and the 2022 NCAA Gymnastics Regional Championships are tabbed for March 31-April 2.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUGymnastics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.