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Big Ten Conference

2026 Women's Gymnastics Roster

Emily Leese

Emily Leese

  • Position:
    Vault, Beam, Floor
  • Height:
    5-2
  • Class:
    Graduate Student
  • Hometown:
    Lancaster, Pa.
  • High School:
    PA Cyber Charter School
  • Major:
    Public Health

Summary

Biography

2024 All-Big Ten Second Team
2024 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar
2024 Academic All-Big Ten
2023 NCAA Regionals Individual Qualifier (Vault)
School record holder in vault - 9.925
2023 WCGA Scholastic All-America
2023 Big Ten Distinguished Scholar
2023 Academic All-Big Ten
2022 NCAA Regionals Individual Qualifier (Vault)
2022 Academic All-Big Ten
CAREER HIGHS
VT UB BB FX AA
9.925 -- 9.850 9.925 --

2024 (Senior): 
  • Leese concluded her senior season as an All-Big Ten Second Team selection and with her third consecutive qualification to the NCAA Regional Championships (3/25).
  • Named to the All-Big Ten Second Team for her performance throughout the 2024 season (3/20).
  • Tied her own school record with her second career 9.925 on vault performing the Yurchenko 1.5. Leese bested 23 other vaulters to earn first place and her 11th event title this season, at the George Washington quad meet with Towson and Penn State (3/17).
  • Tied for third on vault with a score of 9.850 in a tri-meet with Penn and Yale (3/15).
  • Led RU on the floor, anchoring with a 9.850 and tying for third place, against West Virginia (3/10).
  • Took the vault title with a score of 9.875, in quad meet with West Chester, Cornell, and Ursinus (3/2).
  • Named a nominee for the 2024 American Athletic, Inc. (AAI) Award (2/20).
  • Scored three events at 9.800 or above, and posted team-best marks of 9.800 on vault, 9.825 on beam, and 9.875 on floor, in a dual with Michigan (2/17).
  • T-1st of 24 (Floor), in the New Hampshire Quad Meet with Brown and Towson (2/11).
  • 2nd of 24 (Vault), in the New Hampshire Quad Meet with Brown and Towson (2/11).
  • The New Hampshire Quad Meet marks the second time in her career that Leese has hit 9.9+ on vault (second of the season and fifth of her career) and floor (seventh time), marking the senior's 12th overall score of 9.9+ (2/11).
  • Nailed a 9.900 on vault to finish second in competition in a quad with New Hampshire, Brown, and Towson (2/11).
  • Scored a career-high tying 9.925 on floor in a three-way tie for first place at the New Hampshire Quad Meet, with Brown and Towson (2/11).
  • Has a total of seven event wins this season in six meets (2/9).
  • Concluded the evening with a 9.850 floor routine, finishing in a three-way tie for the event title in the dual with the Iowa Hawkeyes (2/9).
  • Scored her second consecutive 9.875 on vault to win an event in a Big Ten dual with Iowa (2/9).
  • Won her fifth event title in as many meets, and added her seventh overall Top-3 finish, in a dual with Illinois (2/4).
  • Topped the leaderboard in vault, with a score of 9.875 against Illinois (2/4).
  • Notched her season high on vault with a 9.825 on the Yurchenko 1.5, over Maryland (1/19).
  • Earned a 9.900 on floor, tying for second and marking her ninth 9.9+ score of her career (sixth on floor), over Maryland (1/19).
  • Won her second event in as many meets to start the 2024 season, taking the floor crown with a career-high tying score of 9.925.
  •  Serving as a meet captain for the Scarlet Knights, led by example with solid scores in three events. She followed up her 9.775 vault and 9.800 floor routine with a career-high 9.850 on beam, claiming the beam title for the first time in her career. 
  • Continued her momentum on beam, winning the event for the first time in her career with a career-high 9.850.
2023 (Junior):
  • 2023 NCAA Regional Championships qualifier. 
  • Recorded another career-high on beam scoring a 9.850 at the Big Ten Championships (3/18).
  • Tied the school vault record with a 9.925 on a Yurchenko 1.5 in regular season finale victory over UPenn & West Virginia, contributing to a program-record team score of 196.875 and tying the school vault team record with a 49.275 (3/12). It was the highest scored vault at Rutgers since Luisa Leal's record in 2013. She also added a 9.900 on floor in the record-breaking meet.
  • Anchored floor scoring a 9.900 in dual meet vs. NC State (3/4), contributing to their 49.400, Rutgers' second-highest floor score in school history. 
  • Set career-highs on beam (9.825 in her second start of the season) and floor (9.925) - contributing to the school-record 49.425 team score on floor vs. Maryland (2/11).
  • Won vault in the Penn State dual (1/30) with her second career 9.900 on the apparatus, also placing third on floor with a 9.850.
  • Placed second on vault with a 9.850 in a dual against Illinois (1/21), helping Rutgers score 49.100 for the sixth-highest score in vault in program history.
  • Won the floor title with a 9.875 and added a second-place 9.875 vault performance at Rutgers' home opener quad (1/14).
  • Placed third on floor with a career-high 9.900 at the Super 16 Collegiate Challenge (1/6) in Las Vegas, also contributing a second-place score of 9.875 on vault.
2022 (Sophomore): Has competed in 11 meets for Rutgers...contributed to a the highest program score at a Big Ten Championship, recording a 9.850 on vault (3/19)...contributed to a program-record team total of 196.400 (3/11)...placed second on vault with a 9.850 in home quad meet with No. 17 Iowa, Ursinus and Kent State (2/11)...matched her career high on floor with a 9.850 in home tri meet (2/4)...recorded a career high 9.900 on vault to place first at No. 22 Ohio State (1/30)...posted a 9.875 on vault and 9.800 on floor in tri meet at Kent State (1/28)...scored a 9.825 on vault in win over Maryland (1/22)...scored 9.825 on vault to place third and posted a career-high 9.850 on floor to finish third, helping RU claim wins over North Carolina and New Hampshire (1/15).

2021 (Freshman): Competed in eight meets...led the team with a career-high 9.850 on vault in her Big Ten Championships debut (3/20)...reset her then-career best for the second straight meet with a 9.800 in the win over Penn State (3/13)...registered a then-career best on vault with a 9.775 in a quad meet at Ohio State (3/7)...posted a then-season high of 9.725 on vault at the Big Five Meet (2/27)...made collegiate debut on vault in historic win at Nebraska (2/7).

Prior to Rutgers: Three-time State All-Around Champion – 2016, 2017, 2019…four-time Regional Qualifier – 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020…a 2019 JO National Qualifier.

Personal: Daughter of Susie and Chris Leese…has a sister, Sydney…father played baseball for York College of Pennsylvania…studying towards a career as a physical therapist.

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Historical Player Information

  • 2021Freshman

    5'2"

  • 2022Sophomore

    All-Around
    5'2"

  • 2023Junior

    All-Around
    5'2"

  • 2024Senior

    Vault, Beam, & Floor
    5'2"

  • 2025Graduate Student

    Vault, Beam, Floor
    5'2"

  • 2025Graduate Student

    Vault, Beam, Floor
    5'2"

  • 2026Graduate Student

    Vault, Beam, Floor
    5'2"
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