Fisk University Gymnast Becomes First HBCU Gymnast to Win a National Collegiate Title

Fisk University's Morgan Price lands from the vault during an NCAA college gymnastics meet Friday, Jan. 6, 2023, in Las Vegas. The Fisk University women's gymnastics team became the first historically Black college or university to compete at the NCAA level. (AP Photo/Chase Stevens)

Fisk University made athletic history again last week when gymnast Morgan Price became the first HBCU athlete to win a national college gymnastics championship. Price also was named USAG First Team All-American in the All-Around. She joined the Fisk gymnastics team in 2022 when Fisk became the first HBCU to have a gymnastics team.

Price won her title in the USA Gymnastics women’s collegiate all-around competition with a total score of 39.225 compiled over four events. The total score was broken into four parts like the floor exercise (9.850), the uneven bars (9.850), the balance beam (9.725), and the vault (9.800).

Morgan Price, a Fisk University gymnast, won the 2024 USA Gymnastics Women's Collegiate National Championships all-around title on April 12, 2024. Photo: West Chester University Athletics

The gymnast competed against athletes from other schools including Talladega College, another HBCU that started its gymnastics team last year. Price says she committed to working harder this season after not achieving her goals at nationals last year.

"I just knew that all my preseason work and offseason work really paid off," Price says of her pursuit this time around.

Today, in addition to striving to be the best gymnast, Price says she has her sights set on following in Coach Corrinne Tarver's footsteps and being a head gymnastics coach at an HBCU. Fisk University launched the first gymnastics team at an HBCU in 2022 and Head Coach Tarver, who was the first Black gymnast to win an NCAA all-around title in 1989 has been leading the team since.