After leading the William & Mary women’s gymnastics team to one of the most successful seasons in recent history, head coach Kelsey Hinton returns for her seventh year leading the Tribe.
During Hinton’s head coaching tenure in Williamsburg, W&M student-athletes have combined to earn 18 All-GEC honors, 86 GEC Scholar-Athlete Awards and 70 WCGA Scholastic All-America accolades.
The program’s success was on display during the 2025 campaign when W&M earned the program’s highest win total in a decade and equaled its second-most victories during the last 16 years. Additionally, W&M placed fourth at the GEC Championship and posted the 10th-best beam score in school history during the dual meet against Penn.
Individually, four Tribe standouts combined to earn five all-conference honors, as Caroline Blatchford garnered first-team accolades on bars at the championship meet while Hannah Burke (vault) and Melanie Faulkner (beam) earned second-team distinction. Additionally, Faulkner (beam) and Sarah Wozniak (bars) garnered regular-season all-conference recognition.
W&M gymnasts also excelled in the classroom, as 18 members of the squad earned GEC Scholar-Athlete awards, 16 were honored as WCGA Scholastic All-Americans and 14 garnered W&M’s prestigious Provost Award for academic excellence.
The 2024 campaign produced numerous memorable highlights, but perhaps none was more impressive than the team’s school-record 193.920 National Qualifying Score, which bettered the program’s previous mark of 193.770 set in 2015.
En route to breaking the record, W&M posted multiple performances that ranked among the best efforts in school history, highlighted by the sixth (194.925 at Temple) and seventh (194.825 at Towson) best team totals in school history. Additionally, the Tribe earned scores that ranked among the program’s top 10 on vault, bars and beam, which included the third-best total in school history on bars (49.000 at Towson).
In addition to the collective success, a number of Tribe standouts posted tremendous seasons individually in 2024. Highlighting the group was a contingent of five gymnasts who earned All-GEC honors during the regular season – Sarah Kuper (vault), Caroline Blatchford (bars), Madeline Frazier (beam), Grace Costello (beam) and Michelle Ngo (floor). Additionally, Sarah Kuper earned first-team all-conference honors on vault at the league championship meet.
Tribe gymnasts also continued to thrive academically, as 20 members of the squad earned GEC Scholar-Athlete awards and 16 garnered WCGA Scholastic All-America distinction. Additionally, 12 standouts earned W&M's prestigious Provost Award for academic excellence.
During the 2023 campaign, Hinton continued to build upon the program’s upward trajectory as she led the Tribe to the team’s most victories since 2018. Additionally, a trio of gymnasts earned all-conference honors during the regular season while another garnered the distinction at the Gymnastics East Conference Championship.
W&M also continued its tradition of excelling in the classroom as 17 members of the squad were selected as WCGA Scholastic All-Americans and earned GEC Scholar-Athlete Awards, while 14 garnered W&M’s Provost Award.
During the previous season a trio of standouts earned all-conference honors, while the team concluded the year by posting its best score of the 2022 campaign at the inaugural Gymnastics East Conference Championship. Additionally, 15 members of the Tribe were honored as GEC Scholar Athletes after excelling in the classroom, while 14 were named WCGA Scholastic All-Americans.
Despite being limited to abbreviated schedules due to the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, both seasons featured successes in the gym and in the classroom.
In 2021, W&M ranked 10th in the nation with a team GPA of 3.81, as 10 standouts garnered Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) Scholastic All-America honors.
Among the many highlights from the 2020 season were two outstanding performances that ranked among the program’s all-time top 10 list, while the Tribe etched its name in the program’s top-10 lists three times on bars and twice on vault.
W&M standouts also posted some of the best individual performances in school history, as Katie Waldman set a program record on bars and recorded the fifth-best score in all-around while Erika Marr registered the fourth-best mark on vault.
In addition to the record-setting performances a number of Tribe standouts were recognized with all-conference honors for their outstanding seasons, as five members of the squad combined to earn nine All-ECAC accolades in various events.
Tribe gymnasts also excelled in the classroom as 13 standouts were honored as Scholastic All-Americans by the WCGA, while seven were named to the ECAC All-Academic Team.
After four tremendously successful seasons as W&M’s assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, Hinton was named head coach of the program in August, 2019.
The Tribe posted three top-three finishes, including two runner-up efforts, at the ECAC Championship during Hinton’s four seasons as an assistant. Additionally, W&M standouts combined to win seven ECAC individual titles and 24 all-conference honors at the league championship during those four seasons.
In addition to the success in the gym, W&M also excelled academically during her tenure as an assistant and earned 34 NACGC Scholastic All-America honors.
A four-year all-around competitor at North Carolina State (2004-08), Hinton joined the Tribe staff after serving as the Class Program Manager and Girls Team Coach at Kidsport Gymnastics Academy in Burlington, N.C. During her eight-year tenure with the Academy, she was responsible for a wide range of duties that included creating practice plans, providing private lessons, evaluating talent, overseeing various special projects and managing the building. Highlighting Hinton’s accomplishments at KGA was being honored as the 2015 North Carolina Coach of the Year.
Hinton also serves as the NCAA Gymnastics representative for the WeCOACH Coaches Council.
Hinton graduated from N.C. State with a Bachelor of Science in Sport Management in 2008.
