CLEMSON, S.C. – Head Coach Amy Smith announced the signing of six student-athletes to the inaugural Clemson Gymnastics signing class on Tuesday. Molly Arnold, Trinity Brown, Brie Clark, Eve Jackson, Kielyn McCright, and Rebecca Wells have each signed and intend to enroll at Clemson University in the Fall 2022 semester, where they’ll spend the 2022-23 academic year in residence ahead of Clemson’s inaugural season in 2023-24.
The group hails from six different states, and each competed at Utah State this past season, where Smith had served as leader since 2018. The group includes an All-American and All-Conference performer for the Aggies, who claimed the program’s first MRGC championship, and were the highest-ranked program from outside the Power Five.
“I cannot contain my excitement for the announcement of our newest Clemson Tiger gymnasts,” said Smith. “In all honesty, I did not think we would be giving this announcement this early on, but Erik and I are beyond thrilled! These incredible young women will obviously be embarking on a unique year ahead, but we are so thrilled that they decided to join us at Clemson and help build this incredible program. We feel very strongly that these six will help us expedite the culture, character and integrity expectations of Clemson Gymnastics and will set a very strong tone gymnastically out of the gates. It is such an unparalleled situation and it is so special that we get to continue to work with these amazing student-athletes, help them continue to grow, and have them be a part of the very first Clemson Gymnastics team. I don’t think there is any better place out there for them to do that than here at Clemson.”
Molly Arnold
Molly hails from Bloomington, Minn. and comes to Clemson after a very successful freshman season at Utah State. Arnold competed in vault, bars and floor and registered a 9.850, 9.825 and 9.900 career-high in the three events, respectively.
Trinity Brown
Brown comes to Clemson from Upper Marlboro, Md. and saw great success in her rookie season with the Aggies. She competed in vault and floor and registered career-highs in both with a 9.875 in vault and 9.925 in floor.
Brie Clark
A native of Daphne, Ala., Clark comes to Clemson after a stellar first year at Utah State. Brie competed in vault, beam and floor and saw scores as high as 9.825, 9.900 and 9.950, respectively. She was tabbed a Second-Team All-American by WCGA, MRGC Freshman and Floor Specialist of the Year while also being named to the MRGC floor first-team and seven time MRGC floor specialist of the week.
Eve Jackson
Eve hails from Los Angeles, Calif. and enjoyed a successful two seasons at Utah State. She has seen time competing in vault, bars, beam and floor, registering 9.825, 9.900, 9.775 and 9.900 career-highs, respectively. Jackson also earned MRGC bar specialist of the week during the 2022 campaign.
Kielyn McCright
Kielyn comes to Clemson from Parkland, Fla. and competed primarily in the beam in her rookie campaign. She registered a career-high in the beam with an impressive score of 9.925 and was named MRGC beam specialist of the week this past season.
Rebecca Wells
A native of Smyrna, Tenn., Rebecca has gained vital experience in her three seasons at Utah State and plans to lead the squad for her remaining two seasons of eligibility. Wells enjoyed her most successful season yet in her junior campaign, being named the MRGC All-Around Champion, first-team all-conference in both all-around and vault and second-team all-conference in the beam. She also holds the program record for beam in a regional meet with a 9.900 score. Wells boasts three MRGC vault specialist of the week honors and was named MRGC gymnast of the week this past season. Rebecca claimed career-highs in vault, bars, beam, floor and all-around with a 9.900, 9.875, 9.925, 9.900 and 39.475 scores, respectively.
ABOUT CLEMSON GYMNASTICS
Clemson announced the addition of the program in June 2021, with the team scheduled to begin competition in the winter of the 2023-24 athletic year. In January 2022, Clemson received initial board approval on $27.5 million in upgrades and new athletic facilities for women’s programs, including a new 21,000 square foot gymnastics practice facility. The program will compete in 9,000-seat Littlejohn Coliseum. Clemson becomes the fourth ACC program with gymnastics, joining Pitt, NC State and North Carolina, making it an official league sport.
For complete coverage of the Clemson women’s gymnastics team, follow @Clemsongymnastics on Instagram and Facebook and @ClemsonGym on Twitter.
