Leaping to New Heights: Morgan Price Becomes First HBCU Gymnast to Win National Title
Fisk University sophomore, Morgan Price, has become the first gymnast from an HBCU to win a collegiate national title.
Price’s routines across floor exercises, uneven bars, balance beams and vault landed her an overall score of 39.225 and the 2024 USA Gymnastics Women’s Collegiate National Championships all-around title.
During a Good Morning America interview, Price said she was honored to be, “part of the first ever HBCU gymnastics team and being the first HBCU gymnast to win [an] all-around national title. It really means everything to me."
Corrinne Tarver, Fisk’s head gymnastics coach, noted that globally there are a small number of athletes who compete in the all-around category, “To have four (disciplines) and to be that strong is something that is a testament to her dedication but really her talent.”
Following Morgan Price, Kyrstin Johnson, another HBCU student, won the highest score on vault with a 9.8750. Johnson is a gymnast at Talladega College, a school that recently joined Fisk as one of the few HBCUs with a gymnastics program. She also achieved All-American status with fellow team mates, Alexa Chuy, Alondra Maldonado and Kiora Peart-Williams.
Fisk was the first HBCU gymnastics team to compete at the NCAA level in 2023. The team grew from a student’s wish to compete in gymnastics at the collegiate level without being able to find an HBCU with a program. Her uncle, a Fisk alum, was instrumental in supporting Fisk building a gymnastics team. He reached out to Coach Derrin Moore of Brown Girls Do Gymnastics and together with Fisk’s board of trustees, the Fisk Bulldogs added another collegiate team to its roster.
Fisk’s moves on the gymnastics floor have brought new attention to the institution. Price was planning to attend the University of Arkansas, but did a mid-air twist when she learned that Fisk was going to start a gymnastics program. She explained, “Growing up, I learned the importance of HBCUs and just being able to go to an HBCU, it’s an honor. So I really wanted to bring my talents to an HBCU.”