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Sooners Add Transfer Soraya Hawthorne For 2024 Season
May 31, 2023 | Women's Gymnastics
NORMAN – Head coach K.J. Kindler and the Oklahoma women's gymnastics team announced the addition of Georgia-transfer Soraya Hawthorne (so-RAY-ah) to bolster its championship roster for the 2024 season on Wednesday. Hawthorne will arrive in Norman for the Summer 2023 semester, joining incoming freshmen Addison Fatta, Aspen Lenczner, Hannah Scheible and Keira Wells.
Hawthorne, a Memphis, Tenn., native, has spent the past four seasons at Georgia, where she competed in every meet for the GymDogs since her freshman campaign in 2020, primarily on vault, beam and floor. As a consistent force, Hawthorne hit 94 out of 104 routines (90.4%) across the three events, including hitting 100% of her floor routines (42). In 2021, Hawthorne put the nation on notice with an entertaining Prince-inspired floor routine that showcased her dance moves and powerful tumbling. She also continued Georgia's moonwalk tradition on beam, incorporating the memorable move in her routine.
Hawthorne had a breakout senior campaign in 2023, earning WCGA second-team All-America regular season honors on floor and was named to the All-SEC Team. For her first career conference weekly accolade, Hawthorne was named SEC Event Specialist of the Week (Jan. 24) after posting a career-high 9.900 on beam, season-high 9.875 on vault and top score on floor (9.925) against Kentucky on Jan. 23. She finished the regular season sixth on floor in the SEC with a 9.945 NQS and was ranked 12th nationally on the event. Hawthorne scored a 9.900 or better eight times on floor this past season and collected six individual titles on the event.
During her junior season, Hawthorne scored a career-high and near-perfect 9.975 on floor against Florida during the conference opener on Jan. 22, 2022, and Missouri on March 4, 2022. Against Missouri, Hawthorne's score and event title helped the GymDogs to a 49.625 on floor, marking the highest event score under Georgia head coach Courtney Kupets Carter.
As a sophomore, Hawthorne scored a 9.900 or higher six times on vault and floor, including a career-high 9.900 twice on vault at Auburn and Missouri in February 2021. Hawthorne competed in all 10 meets as a freshman, including 10 vaults and nine floor routines. She scored a career-best 9.900 on vault at Kentucky (Feb. 21, 2020) and debuted on beam with a season-best 9.850 in the UGA Tri-Meet on Feb. 14, 2020. Hawthorne also posted a season-high 9.950 in her second collegiate floor routine against LSU on Jan. 10, 2020.
An exemplary student in her time at Georgia, Hawthorne is a two-time SEC Academic Honor Roll recipient (2021, '22) and was named to the SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll in 2020. The four-time Letterwinner majored in human development & family science while in Georgia and was named to the J. Reid Parker Director of Athletics Honor Roll during the 2020 Fall and 2021 Spring semesters. She plans on majoring in multidisciplinary studies at OU.
"I picked Oklahoma because of the academics and the gymnastics coaches," Hawthorne said. "I feel like the program has the stability and the experience that the coaches have will help me have my best season ever. I like the structure and the drive for excellence in and outside of the gym."
Prior to her collegiate career, Hawthorne graduated from Faith Heritage Academy and trained at Gymstars Gymnastics under Donna and Gene Alexin. She capped off her club career with a national floor title and third-place finish on vault at the 2019 Women's Junior Olympic (J.O.) National Championships. She also posted a perfect 10 on vault at the 2019 Tennessee Level 10 State Championships, earning state titles in the all-around, vault, and floor, and silver medals on bars and beam.
In 2018, Hawthorne was named the national vault champion, while also finishing fifth all-around, and ninth on floor and 10th on beam at the Women's J.O. National Championships. Additionally, she finished fourth on vault and ninth all-around at the 2017 Women's J.O. National Championships. Hawthorne finished seventh on floor at the 2016 Women's J.O. National Championships and had a beam skill named after her in the USA Junior Olympics Code of Points, called the "Hawthorne" (front toss to knee).
"The (campus) visit was extremely exciting," Hawthorne noted. "Everyone wanted to make sure that my needs were met and that I understood everything that was needed for me to make this transition. Understanding all of the academic services was extremely important to me. Not to mention, the world class facilities that is provided for the (student-)athletes. The campus was beautiful and I can't wait to get to Norman."
| Personal Bests | Vault | Bars | Beam | Floor | All-Around |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| College | 9.900 | -- | 9.900 | 9.975 | -- |
| Level 10 | 10.0 | 9.725 | 9.700 | 9.725 | 38.800 |
WATCH: YouTube Channel | Vault (NCAA) | Beam (NCAA) | Floor (NCAA)
| THE HAWTHORNE FILE |
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