Clemson Gymnastics Wins ACC Championship
By: Will Vandervort March 21, 2026

The Clemson Gymnastics team is only in its third season of competition, but it can already call itself ACC Champions.

The program won its first ACC Championship Saturday night at the First Horizon Coliseum Coliseum in Greensboro, N.C. The Tigers entered the tournament as the No. 3 seed.

Clemson posted four 9.900s on its final event on its way to a school-record 49.450 to claim the 2026 ACC Gymnastics Championship with a 197.100. The Tigers upended top-seeded and seventh-ranked Stanford by a margin of 0.025 on the final event to win the title, also surpassing second-seeded California (196.900) and NC State (196.500) in the process. 

Junior Quinn Kuhl posted a 9.900 on bars in the anchor leg, which meant Stanford’s anchor needed a 9.975 to tie the Tigers. The Cardinal’s Ana Barbosu posted the highest floor score of the night, a 9.950, but the Tigers erupted when the team final showed the smallest of margin of victory on the scoreboard, this time in favor of Clemson. 

The Gymnastics program became the quickest in Clemson history to record a conference championship, doing so in its third season, and in the first season under the direction of Co-Head Coaches Justin Howell and Liz Crandall-Howell.

Cal, where the Howells coached previously, led by 0.150 entering the final rotation, bars for Clemson and vault for Cal. Clemson’s first three routines from Lilly Lippeatt, Hannah Clark and Emma Malewski all tied career-highs with 9.900s. After a 9.725 from Takoda Berry and a 9.850 from Ella Cesario, Kuhl closed the rotation with the career-high-tying 9.900. 

Junior Madison Minner won vault with a 9.900, while Maggie Holman (vault), Lippeatt, Malewski, Hannah Clark and Kuhl (bars), Malewski (beam), and Brie Clark (floor) all earned podium finishes. 

Career Highs:

  • Emma Malewski: Beam – 9.900, Bars – 9.900 (tie)
  • Madison Minner: Vault (tie) – 9.900
  • Lilly Lippeatt: Bars – 9.900 (tie)
  • Quinn Kuhl: Bars – 9.900 (tie)
  • Hannah Clark: Bars – 9.900 (tie)
  • Madison Minner: Vault – 9.900 (tie)

Event Winner

  • Vault: Madison Minner (9.900) – 3rd title of the season

Beam: 49.125

The Tigers began the meet on beam, totaling a 49.125 behind a steady lineup that featured three scores of 9.850 or higher. Emma Malewski led the way with a team-best and career-high 9.900 in the third spot, while Lilly Lippeatt and Brie Clark each added 9.850s for counting scores in the rotation. Tara Walsh contributed a 9.800, and Quinn Kuhl closed with a 9.725 as Clemson navigated the opening event.

Floor: 49.275

Clemson built on that performance on floor exercise, posting a 49.275 in the second rotation. Brie Clark delivered the top score of the rotation with a 9.925 in the anchor position, as she continued her streak of scoring a 9.900 or better in every meet this season, the only floor athlete in the country to make that claim. Maggie Holman, Tara Walsh and Ella Cesario each posted 9.850s, while Lilly Lippeatt and Molly Arnold added matching 9.800s to round out the lineup.

Vault: 49.250 – 2nd in school history, season high

The Tigers carried that energy into vault, where they recorded a 49.250, the second-highest vault score in program history. Madison Minner highlighted the rotation with a 9.900, matching her career high, while Maggie Holman added a 9.875 and both Clark and Cesario contributed 9.850s. Clemson counted five scores of 9.850 or higher in the rotation to deliver one of its strongest vault performances as a program.

Bars: 49.450 – School Record

Clemson had four 9.900s and also counted a 9.850 from Ella Cesario for a school-record in the event. Kuhl’s 9.900 made it such that Stanford needed a 9.975 on floor on its final routine to claim the title. Stanford’s Barbosu tallied a meet-best 9.950, but fell just 0.025 short of the Tigers’ team total. 

 Up Next: The NCAA Selection Show will take place Monday, Mar. 23 at noon on ESPNU, where the Tigers are vying for a top-16 national seed. The 2026 NCAA Gymnastics Regionals are April 1-5, 2026 in Baton Rouge, La., Corvallis, Ore., Lexington, Ky., and Tempe, Ariz.

–story and photo courtesy of Clemson Athletic Communications

Check how the Tigers won the championship and what was said afterwards, plus more photos: