University of Denver gymnast Shyla Bhatia will compete at the 2026 NCAA National Championships as an individual event specialist, according to an April 6 announcement from the NCAA.
Bhatia’s selection is significant for both her personal career and for the Denver gymnastics program. She was named the individual event specialist on vault from the Corvallis Regional and will participate in the national semifinals on Thursday, April 16, rotating with Minnesota in the second semifinal. Her performance could earn her a national title or WCGA Postseason All-America honors.
Individual gymnasts qualify for nationals based on results from their regional sites. For Bhatia, a score of 9.900 on vault tied for first in her session and third overall after combining results from both sessions at regionals. The two higher-ranked gymnasts were part of advancing teams, making Bhatia eligible to advance as an individual after she won a three-way tiebreak by having the highest chief judges’ score.
This marks Denver’s continued presence at nationals, with at least one gymnast advancing in 25 of the last 26 seasons when competition was held. Bhatia becomes only the third DU gymnast to qualify for nationals on vault and is also just the fifth freshman in program history to reach this level as an individual qualifier.
Bhatia aims to become Denver’s third-ever individual national champion at Division I level; previous titles were won by Lynnzee Brown (2019) and Nina McGee (2016), both on floor exercise. As a team, Denver placed fourth during its NCAA Second Round appearance in Corvallis.
Further details about this year’s championships are expected soon.
