Michelle Stout

Michelle Stout (b. April 27, 1988) is a gymnast from Endwell, New York. She is a member of the Lady Razorbacks gymnastics team (or Gymbacks) at the University of Arkansas.

Club Gymnastics

Michelle did her training at Southern Tier Gymnastics Academy in Endwell. During her time at this club, Michelle appeared in several regional and national competitions in which she won all-around and event titles. In 2005, she became all-around, vault and uneven bars champion at the U.S. Challenge. The following year, Michelle competed in the Junior Olympic National Championships, where she placed 3rd on vault and 8th in the all-around.

Career at Arkansas

Michelle's career with the Gymbacks got off to a good start in 2007. On January 13, she was a co-winner on vault (w/teammate Samantha Cortez), helping her team to victory in a meet at Penn State. Also on vault, Michelle set an Arkansas record for the event with a winning score of 9.950 on February 9 against No.1 ranked Florida. This propelled her to an all-around score of 39.325 in this meet at Barnhill Arena.

Michelle was then decimated by injuries. Not being able to perform at top level, she had very few quality routines for the rest of the year.

In 2008, Michelle came back strong. She won her first all-around title as a Gymback on February 8 with a score of 39.225 in a meet at Alabama. Her scores of 9.875 on uneven bars on February 22 (vs. Auburn) and 9.900 on vault on March 15 (vs. Oklahoma) were enough to win titles on the events. With these results, it was evident that Michelle was a high-level performer for Arkansas.

Michelle scored another 9.9 on vault at the NCAA Women's Gymnastics championship at the University of Georgia. This was the highest score on the event in Session I of the team competition. It helped lift Arkansas to a #10 national ranking for 2008, its highest ever.

Michelle's 2009 season started well. On January 9, she earned an event-winning score of 9.850 on vault and a second place finishing all-around score of 39.200 (behind teammate Casey Jo Magee) in an Arkansas victory over Ohio State. She also won vault titles in each of Arkansas's the next three meets with scores of 9.900 in a tri-meet against California and Oregon State, 9.900 against Florida and 9.875 against Oklahoma. Michelle followed these with wins on balance beam (9.875) and uneven bars (9.900) in meets against Alabama and Kentucky, respectively. She then earned a share of the floor exercise title with a score of 9.900 on February 20 in a Gymbacks' meet against Georgia.

Michelle won her first all-around of the season on March 6 in leading Arkansas to a win over Minnesota. She accumulated an individual score of 39.325 for first place. She also won three event titles with a 9.900 on vault, a 9.850 on uneven bars and a 9.900 on floor exercise.

At the South Central Regionals on April 4, Michelle scored a 9.875 on vault for first place on the event. Arkansas placed first in the six-team field to gain a spot at the NCAA Championships at the University of Nebraska. Michelle's all-around score of 39.575 at the NCAAs made her a First-Team All-American on vault (on which she scored a school record 9.975), uneven bars and the all-around. It also led the Gymbacks to a team record score of 196.950, qualifying them for their first Super Six.

Honors and awards

Stout's vault score at the '08 Nationals earned her a spot as a First Team All-American on the event. In addition, teammate Casey Jo Magee became a Second Team All-American on both vault and uneven bars. Together, they were the first University of Arkansas gymnasts ever to receive All-American honors.

Also in '08, Stout was co-Recipient of the Dana McQuillan Coaches Award. This honor is given to those who represent the Gymbacks beyond expectations.