2027 Season Detailed Outlook: Vault
So, who are we losing and what’s the potential of our returners?
By average score, our vaulters ranked as follows in 2026:
Kaya Forbes (9.869 average, 9.895 NQS, 9.925 high)- JoJo Valahovic (9.823 average, 9.905 NQS, 9.925 high)
Gwen Fink (9.818 average, 9.850 NQS, 9.9 high)- Sydney Seabrooks (9.806 average, 9.825 NQS, 9.85 high)
Paige Prejean (9.798 average, 9.825 NQS, 9.85 high)- Neve King (9.786 average, 9.790 NQS, 9.825 high)
- Elly King (9.770 average, no NQS, 9.825 high)
Although this ranking includes average, NQS, and high score, I’m choosing to rank by average due to the NQS still only counting six meets for individuals. We are losing our #1, #3, and #5 vaulters by average score – half of our “best case scenario” lineup. We will return four athletes who have competed vault in NCAA (Valahovic, Seabrooks, and the King twins), plus Anna Pearl Stanley, who did a couple of exhibitions and hovered in the 9.7 range.
At this point, our expectation should be to consistently hit a 196.5 team score, which would mean an average individual score of 9.825. We really don’t want to be counting many, if any, scores in the 9.7s, which means that in a perfect world the Kings would improve their scoring potential (particularly their landings), and/or we’d bring in four new vaulters capable of meeting the level of Valahovic and Seabrooks.
Where does CC Cooley fit into all of this?
At Denver, Cooley competed vault in the first 7 meets of the season with an average score of 9.746. Her high was 9.825, and she did not vault enough times to earn an NQS. In other words, she fits right in with the Kings in terms of scoring potential.
How about the newcomers? Who’s making the lineup? And what do their Level 10 numbers mean in the context of NCAA?
For the newcomers, I am looking at their average and high vault scores from the 2026 DP season, plus Jillian Fisher’s DP scores from the 2025 season.
- Sarah Savisky (9.784 average, 10.0 high)
- Katie Cross (9.716 average, 10.0 high)
- Jillian Fisher (9.654 average, 9.775 high) (in 2025)
- Sophia Banky (9.5525 average, 9.7 high)
As a rule, Level 10 scoring is stricter than NCAA. In NCAA Division 1, 9.8 is sort of the bare minimum for acceptability, but in Level 10 that bar is lower – around 9.5 or 9.6. Specifically on vault, there are some key differences in scoring between NCAA and Level 10 that you need to contextualize these scores. First, in Level 10 the athletes vault twice and only count the higher of the two scores, which means the scores can mask consistency issues. Second, the start values are higher in Level 10 – vaults that typically start from a 9.95 in NCAA get a 10.0 start value in Level 10, and vaults that start from a 10.0 in NCAA start from a 10.1 in Level 10. This means that the delta between “a good Level 10 score” and “a good NCAA score” is less on vault than on the other events.
Cross and Savisky both have 10.0 start value vaults and are near locks to be in the lineup. There’s well-earned optimism that they can replace the scoring potential of Fink and Forbes (even if Cross ends up downgrading to a Yurchenko full). Fisher and Banky will be competing for lineup spots but are less of a sure thing and will be fighting with Cooley and the Kings for the remaining two spots.
In 2027 will we be better on vault, worse on vault, or about the same?
So far it’s looking like the answer is “about the same.” We have two clear replacements for Fink and Forbes, but none of the other athletes we’re bringing in are quite at Prejean’s level. Our net depth on vault is up, which is a plus.
