Chasing perfection: Boise State gymnast Emily Muhlenhaupt continues her quest for 10.0
Boise State gymnast Emily Muhlenhaupt will never forget the first time she scored 9.975 in the event that has become her specialty: bars.
It was during a tri-meet at San Jose State her sophomore year in 2019. When she finished her routine and stuck the landing, her teammates rushed to the mat to celebrate.
When her score was announced, the Broncos responded with a chant of 10.0. Muhlenhaupt has been chasing that perfect score ever since.
“It’s hard to be perfect,” she told the Idaho Statesman. “It’s what I’ve been working for basically my whole life.”
There have been four perfect scores in Boise State history: three on vault (Julie Wagner, 1993; Leslie Mott, 1996; Ciera Perkins, 2015) and one on beam (Marie Lucas, 2002).
No gymnast in program history has scored 10.0 on bars.
Muhlenhaupt has one more chance to do it this season in front of a home crowd at ExtraMile Arena on Friday when No. 18 Boise State hosts No. 10 Arizona State (7 p.m.).
She would be ecstatic to head into the postseason on the heels of a perfect score and celebrate at ExtraMile, but Friday’s meet may not be her last at home.
Muhlenhaupt said she’s leaning toward taking the NCAA up on its offer of an extra year of eligibility, which was extended after the end of the 2020 season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
She will graduate this spring with a degree in health science, and she’s studying for the MCATS. She plans to apply to medical school, and if she gets in, she would have to wait a full year to begin.
So why not come back and compete for another year in the sport she first took up when she was 9 years old? Why wouldn’t she continue chasing the perfect score that has slipped through her grasp so many times?
Muhlenhaupt’s 15 career wins on bars rank No. 2 in program history behind Lindsay Ward, who racked up 20 between 2004 and 2008, and she has scored 9.975 in the event four times as a Bronco.
Boise State gymnastics coach Tina Bird said Muhlenhaupt is bound to earn a 10.0 sooner or later.
“She has really grown as an athlete and been so methodical and consistent the past couple years,” Bird said. “She’s a beautiful gymnast, and she has really pretty lines, which makes her gymnastics look that much better. We’re just waiting for that 10.0.”
‘It’s really subjective’
A 9.975 is an impressive score in any event. That means at least one of the two judges scored the routine a 10.0.
When Muhlenhaupt earned the score for the first time as a sophomore, she was just the third gymnast in program history to have done so.
“It’s like taking a really hard test,” she said. “You hope you get version A and a really nice grader, but that doesn’t always happen. It’s really subjective.”
Her most recent 9.975 came in this year’s home win over Utah State on Feb. 6. In the Broncos’ latest meet — a win over Stanford last Sunday — she scored a 9.925 after receiving a rhythm deduction, which she still can’t explain.
“I want a 10 from both judges, but they sit on different sides of the bars and they see different things,” Muhlenhaupt said. “They’re looking for different things.”
Posture, rhythm and timing are all taken into consideration as gymnasts spin and flip between two parallel bars — one slightly higher than the other.
Muhlenhaupt said one judge may be focused on her feet, which are supposed to remain together with toes pointed. The other may be watching the shape of her hips or how she arches her back.
Given how many times she’s flirted with a 10.0, Muhlenhaupt said the judges have to feel like she’s deserving.
“Having a lot of history and those high scores under my belt allows judges to see it wouldn’t be a fluke if I scored a 10,” she said. “Judges don’t want to just give out a 10 because that’s not what this sport is about. They want to know they’re giving it to the people that deserve it.”
What it will take to earn that perfect score is constantly on her mind.
“I’m visualizing my routine all the time,” Muhlenhaupt said. “Right before I go to bed, I imagine it. Right when I wake up, I imagine it. I kind of see the whole thing in my head, and I see myself getting a 10.”
In search of another title
Muhlenhaupt’s gymnastics career began as a way to spend more time with her childhood best friend, but it quickly grew into a passion.
She’s been competing since she was 11, and she finished eighth overall at the 2015 Junior Olympics after taking third on bars with a 9.55.
Her devotion to bars comes from spending her junior and high school careers training at Colorado Aerials Gymnastics Center, where two of her three primary coaches specialized in the event.
“It takes a lot of dedication and hard work, a lot of lonely hours in the gym,” Bird said. “You have to be a special athlete just to do the routines, and you really have to be open to criticism and willing to keep getting better.”
Muhlenhaupt — a native of Castle Rock, Colorado — was named first-team All-America on bars last year by the Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association and she was named the Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference Specialist of the Year after racking up seven wins in the event.
She’s tied for No. 3 at Boise State with Anne Staker (1991) for most wins on bars in a single season. Krystine Jacobsen leads the list with nine wins in 2016, followed by Ward, who racked up eight in 2008.
Muhlenhaupt’s success on bars helped the Broncos claim five straight conference titles heading into last season, when they were expected to compete for another in front of their hometown fans. But after the postseason was canceled, the championship was awarded to BYU based on regular-season results.
“That was really sad, especially for the seniors,” Muhlenhaupt said. “Our goal is always to be No. 1 in the conference, but it’s not all about wins. If we have a great team score and still lose, we’re happy because we all know we put on a great performance.”
Great performances have become commonplace this season for the Broncos (8-2, 4-2 MRGC), who own wins over five teams ranked in the top 25 in the Road to Nationals poll. They also sit at No. 2 in the conference behind No. 12 BYU (8-5, 7-1), which Boise State split with this year.
Muhlenhaupt said COVID-19 protocols made it tough to connect as a team when gymnasts returned to campus last fall, but they jelled quickly thanks to a common goal — bringing the Mountain Rim Gymnastics title back to Boise.
“We couldn’t hang out outside of practice, we couldn’t get within 6 feet of each other in practice and we were all wearing masks and couldn’t tell if each other were happy or sad,” she said. “Learning how to form close relationships from a distance was really important.”
The MRGC championships are scheduled to begin March 20 at Utah State.
This story was originally published March 12, 2021 at 4:00 AM with the headline "Chasing perfection: Boise State gymnast Emily Muhlenhaupt continues her quest for 10.0."
