Alexandra Claire McMurtry (born December 8, 1996) is an American former

artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different types of apparatus. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which assigns the '' Code of Points'' used ...

. She is the 2013

Nastia Liukin Cup The Nastia Liukin Cup (formerly the Nastia Liukin Supergirl Cup from 2010–11) is an annual artistic gymnastics competition held in the United States and hosted by Olympic gymnast Nastia Liukin. History In August 2009, USA Gymnastics announce ...

champion and the 2017 NCAA Champion. She competed in

NCAA gymnastics The NCAA women's gymnastics tournament is an annual competition sponsored by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to determine the team and individual national champions of women's collegiate gymnastics among its member programs ...

for the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville, Florida, Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni an ...

and was the 10th person in NCAA history to record a Gym Slam.

Early life and education

McMurtry was born in

Commerce Township, Michigan Commerce Township is a charter township in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northwestern suburb of Detroit, Commerce Township is located about northwest of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the township had a population o ...

, to David and Christine McMurtry and has two siblings. She graduated from James River High School in 2014 and started up at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

that fall and was part of their gymnastics team. McMurtry graduated summa cum laude in August 2018 with degree in Applied Physiology &

Kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, Biomechanics, biomechanical, Pathology, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kines ...

–Exercise Physiology.

Gymnastics career

Junior Olympic Level 10

2011 – 2012

McMurtry competed at the 2011 Women's Junior Olympic Level 10 National Championships in

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

, California. She won the all-around title with 38.575 points, ahead of silver medalist Maggie Nichols. She also tied for the highest score on vault with a 9.950 and floor with a score of 9.650. In 2012 McMurtry competed at the Atlanta Crown Invitational where she placed first in the all-around and qualifier for the

. There she placed second behind Charity Jones. At the 2012 Women's Junior Olympic Level 10 National Championships, McMurtry once again placed first.

2013 – 2014

In early 2013, McMurtry verbally committed to attend the

on a gymnastics scholarship. In March 2013 McMurtry once again competed at the

; this time she finished in first place. At the 2013 Women's Junior Olympic Level 10 National Championships she finished in second place behind future Florida Gator teammate Alicia Boren. At the 2014 Women's Junior Olympic Level 10 National Championships, McMurtry finished in eighth place after a disappointing uneven bars performance. She finished first on vault.

NCAA

2014–2015

As a freshman in 2015, McMurtry regularly contributed to the Florida gymnastics team on vault, bars and beam during the regular season, and also saw action on floor. She was ranked #1 in the nation on vault at the end of the regular season on March 16, 2015.

2015–2016

McMurtry made her floor exercise debut in a match against LSU. She received two perfect 10s on uneven bars.

2016–2017

McMurtry won the all-around at both the Southeastern Conference Championships and at the

2017 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championship The 2017 NCAA women's gymnastics tournament was the 35th NCAA women's gymnastics tournament, the Anniversary#Numerical, annual women's gymnastics championship contested by the teams of the member associations of NCAA. The regionals were hosted o ...

. Additionally she won the

Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in t ...

and the NCAA Elite 90 Award, an award given to the student-athlete with the highest GPA at each of the 90 NCAA championships sites.

2017–2018

On January 26, McMurtry earned a perfect 10 on balance beam, thus completing a ''Gym Slam'' – earning a perfect 10 on each apparatus. She is the second Florida Gator to achieve this feat after

Bridget Sloan Bridget Elizabeth Sloan (born June 23, 1992) is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2009 world champion in the all-around, the 2009 United States national champion, and a silver medalist with the American team at the 2008 Summer Olympics i ...

. Later in the season McMurtry won the gold on vault at both the Southeastern Conference Championships and at the 2018 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championship. She was also awarded the NCAA's

Today's Top 10 Award The Today's Top 10 Award is given each year by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to honor ten former outstanding senior student-athletes. The award was previously known by three different names, each reflecting the number of reci ...

Career perfect 10.0

Competitive history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McMurtry, Alex 1996 births Living people Level 10 gymnasts Sportspeople from Brighton, Michigan People from Midlothian, Virginia Sportspeople from Virginia American female artistic gymnasts Florida Gators women's gymnasts 21st-century American sportswomen