When Fisk gymnastics head coach Corrine Tarver first reached out to potential rookies, she led with a simple question:
“Do you want to make history?”
On Friday, those who accepted her offer did just that — and Fisk became the first HBCU gymnastics team to compete at the NCAA level.
Facing North Carolina, Southern Utah and Washington at the Super 16 event in Las Vegas, the Bulldogs made their eagerly awaited debut just 14 months after the school initially announced the formation of the team.
Fisk wasted no time making its presence known. Beginning the meeting on the floor, Naimah Muhammad – the lead gymnast – showed no signs of nervousness and instead wowed the crowd with her massive acrobatic throw. Ending the routine with a double fold, she was met by her teammates and coaches as soon as she hit the floor, and many, including Muhammad and Tarver, were in tears.
“It’s so humbling,” Tarver told ESPN ahead of the meeting. “Something is far from happening and so I’m very proud to be able to put the team on the stage as a college and university with a history of Black people. It was the first time so we did it. ready.”
Morgan Price, the Bulldogs five-star recruiter who initially committed to Arkansas before moving to Fisk, was the team’s best performer of the day, competing in all four events and earning high scores. most of the meeting on the vault with 9.9, thanks to her full Yurchenko stuck.
That will get your team excited‼️@price_morgan with a score of 9.9 for @FiskUGymnastics in the teams’ first vault competition ever. 😱 pic.twitter.com/15JYHQnJLp
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) January 6, 2023
Price, former person told Sports Illustrated she dreamed of being an HBCU gymnast even before she had a team, knowing what that day meant for the sport.
“It feels really great,” Price told ESPN on Thursday. “We’re being watched by a lot of people because we’re the first team and because we’re making history, so it’s exciting to be part of the first team.”
The Fisk University gymnastics team was the first HBCU gymnastics team.
Bulldogs debut tonight in Las Vegas @FiskUGymnastics | #ThatsaW pic.twitter.com/mdVyojAj8A
– GAME (@espn) January 6, 2023
Tarver said she was amazed at the warm welcome the group received from their colleagues — and even some who weren’t in Las Vegas publicly. The Stanford team posted a video on social media wishing the Bulldogs luck earlier in the day.
Today is a big day for the gym world as we welcome the HBCU gymnastics team to their first interscholastic competition!
We can’t wait to see you shine. @fiskugymnastics ✨#goStanford x #GoodLuckFisk pic.twitter.com/GVPs5iXudH
– Stanford Gymnastics (@StanfordWGym) January 6, 2023
In the end, Fisk finished in fourth place with a score of 186,700. Southern Utah (195,800) almost overtook Washington with a score of 0.325 to take first place.
The Bulldogs will next play against the 2021 NCAA championship Michigan team on January 13.
