Cristal Isa To Return For Fifth Year With Utah Gymnastics
SALT LAKE CITY – University of Utah gymnast Cristal Isa has announced her intent to return for a fifth year with Utah Gymnastics. After a season-ending injury her freshman year and a shortened sophomore season due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Isa will use her extra year of eligibility for another season after having limited competition time during her exceptional career.
"I'm feeling very grateful for the chance to compete in the Huntsman Center for another year," said Isa on her return. "My time as a Red Rock has gone by so fast after my first two seasons ended early and I want to have a complete college experience before I move on to my next chapter. The amount of support from the staff, fans, and community is unmatched, and I'm so excited that my time on this team isn't over yet!"
Despite having just one full season to this point, Isa has accumulated four All-America honors in her career, which includes two regular season honors on beam and one regular season and NCAA honor on bars. The Henderson, Nev., native is a five-time All-Pac-12 Conference honoree and was the 2021 Pac-12 Bars Co-Champion and Beam Co-Champion. She has earned a pair of first team all-conference honors on both bars and beam, while she was also honorable mention in the all-around last season.
Isa has continued to be a tremendous asset to the Red Rocks this season as she is ranked No. 10 in the nation on beam and No. 33 on bars. Isa has scored a 9.90 or better on beam in six of nine routines and has not scored below a 9.875 on bars the past six competitions. She has posted career highs of a 39.650 in the all-around, 9.875 on vault, 9.95 on bars, 10.0 on beam, and a 9.925 on floor. Isa has hit 98-104 career routines for Utah and has collected 17 career wins, which ranks second on the current roster.
The Ute senior is a two-time Pac-12 All-Academic selection and is majoring in Applied Mathematics. She is a member of the team's leadership council this season and is the Crimson Council President. She has also been involved with the UTAH group, which focuses on social justice issues and chance, the campus safety committee, and the Pac-12 Diversity group while a student-athlete at the U.
Isa and the fourth-ranked Utah gymnastics team will prepare for their final home meet of the season this Friday, March 4, against No. 9 Minnesota. The Utes and Gophers will compete at 7 p.m. MT in Salt Lake City and the meet will be senior night. Sydney Soloski, Alexia Burch, Cammy Hall, and Adrienne Randall will be honored prior to the meet at 6:45 p.m. MT.