From the Mile High City to sea level
This is huge.
On Friday, LSU landed one of the most anticipated transfers when former Denver all-arounder Madison Ulrich announced she’d be spending her final two seasons of eligibility in Baton Rouge. Ulrich teased fans about her recruiting by posting pictures from her visits to LSU, Oklahoma and Utah tagged with “#notcommitted” as a way of drumming up hype.
Ulrich, an incoming junior from Fort Mill, South Carolina, was tied for the 10th highest rated recruit in the 2023 freshman class according to College Gym News alongside Auburn’s Julianne Huff. In her two years as a Pioneer, she’s more than lived up to the hype. She’s competed in the all-around in every meet possible (29 total meets) and has gone below 39 just three times, all of which came this season. In 2024, she was named Big 12 Newcomer of the Year. Her career highs are 9.925 on vault (out of a 9.950 SV), 9.975 on bars, 9.900 on beam, 9.950 on floor and 39.575 in the all-around. That 39.575 was enough to qualify Ulrich for NCAA nationals as an individual at which she earned second-team All-American honors on bars, beam and the all-around.
Ulrich will be an immediate leader on bars without question. Ashley Cowan has a gorgeous double layout, but Ulrich takes it to another level. Hers is floaty and sticky. As I mentioned with Emily Innes, having someone who has great experience on beam is great. She is also very likely to be a floor option. Even then, don’t count out a chance to see her in the all-around. If she can develop a Yurchenko 1.5, she’ll have a good chance to vault. Skylar Killough-Wilhelm, a transfer from Washington to Kentucky for 2025, developed her Yurchenko Full to a 1.5 thanks to the enhanced training resources available to her at Kentucky, after all.
The best part about this transfer is that it seems the people on the team love her. I have no doubt she’s going to be a great addition to this team both on and off the floor.