Head Coach Jason Butts

Following a five-year tenure that saw him rise from assistant coach to associate head coach, Jason Butts became West Virginia University’s third gymnastics head coach in April 2011. Since his appointment, Butts has compiled a 123-92-1 (.572) career record with the Mountaineers. He has led WVU to eight appearances at the NCAA Regional Championships and a program-best, second-place showing at the 2015 Big 12 Gymnastics Championship. The 2021 campaign saw the Mountaineers competing in a double roundrobin, home and away conference slate due to restrictions in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Along with six conference meets, WVU also competed against regional rival Pitt to close the regular season. Butts led WVU to a pair of wins against the Panthers, while the team ended the year ranked No. 28 in the Road to Nationals Rankings with a National Qualifying Score (NQS) of 391.419. The Mountaineers’ floor exercise lineup was ranked inside the top 25 every week, as the squad posted a 49.0 or higher in all but two meets. Kendra Combs ranked inside the top 10 on floor in the conference, checking in at No. 10 overall with an NQS of 9.888. Combs also led the squad with 11 podium finishes and seven event wins on the year. In the postseason, West Virginia hosted the Big 12 Gymnastics Championship and the NCAA Morgantown Regional Championships inside the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown. Butts’ Mountaineers finished fourth (195.725) at the Big 12 Championship and third (195.65) in the second of two second-round meets at the Regional Championships. Nine Mountaineers earned a spot on the 2021 Academic All-Big 12 Gymnastics Teams, including six first-team members. Kianna Yancey was the lone WVU gymnast to earn the recognition with a 4.0 grade point average. Additionally, ten members of the team were named Scholastic All-Americans by the Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA). McKenna Linnen also received the Dr. Gerald Lage Academic Achievement Award, the Big 12 Conference’s highest academic honor. In a season cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, Butts guided WVU to four top-50 scores in 2020, including a season-high 196.425 in wins over Pitt and Rutgers on March 1, at the WVU Coliseum. West Virginia won six of its last eight competitions and finished the year ranked No. 24 nationally on floor exercise. Individually, 12 of the 16 Mountaineers who saw competitive time reached the podium. Chloe Cluchey posted a personal best on floor, scoring a winning 9.95 on March 1. Her total was the team’s highest individual score of the season, becoming the first WVU gymnast to earn a 9.95+ since Kirah Koshinski scored a 9.975 on March 17, 2019. Academically, a program-record eleven Mountaineers were named NACGC/W Scholastic All-Americans, marking the fifth time since 1987 that 10 or more gymnasts received recognition. Nine student-athletes also earned a spot on the 2020 Academic All-Big 12 Gymnastics First Team. The nine first-team honors are a team record and top the previous season-best showing of eight, set in 2018 and 2019. Abby Kaufman and Julia Merwin also received the Dr. Gerald Lage Academic Achievement Award, the Big 12 Conference’s highest academic honor. Additionally, Kaufman landed on the CoSIDA Academic All-America At-Large Third Team for the second year in a row and became the first gymnast in program history to receive the Order of Augusta award, WVU’s most prestigious student honor. Kaufman also earned WVU’s Fred Schaus Captain’s Award, an honor given to the University’s most outstanding varsity team captain. In 2019, Butts led WVU to the regional championships for the 40th time in program history and placed fourth in the second of two second round quad meets at the NCAA Ann Arbor Regional Championships with a 195.425 score. Prior to the regional championships, WVU placed fourth at the Big 12 Championship with a 195.6 score. West Virginia reached double-digit wins in just six meets, the fastest under Butts and the quickest since earning 10 victories in five meets in 2010. The Mountaineers’ 2019 win total of 19 was the team’s top win mark since earning 21 in 2012, Butts’ first season. WVU finished the season with a 19-9 overall record (0-4 Big 12). West Virginia also was nationally ranked twice in the Road to Nationals Rankings. The vault and floor lineups were nationally ranked each week, with the floor lineup spending seven weeks in the top 10 and peaking at No. 5. At season end, Jaquie Tun and Koshinski owned a combined three national rankings. Koshinski ranked No. 7 on vault and No. 28 on floor, while Tun ranked No. 45 on floor. Individually, Butts helped coach Koshinski to her fourth career All-America honor and first first-team recognition, as she was named to the NACGC/W Regular Season All-America Vault First Team. Koshinski became the first gymnast in program history to earn at least one honor in four consecutive seasons. The 2019 All-Big 12 Gymnastics Vault Team member also set the WVU records for career 9.9+ scores on vault (26) and floor (22). Additionally, Kaufman competed in the all-around in all 14 meets, the second-highest season total in program history, and earned 544.925 points, the third-best single-season total in program history. WVU tallied three top-50 scores, including a season-high 196.425 in wins over No. 22 Ohio State, No. 24 Penn State and NC State on March 17, at the WVU Coliseum. Most notably, WVU totaled 49.5 on floor in wins over Pitt and Cornell on Feb. 17, at the WVU Coliseum. The mark was the fifth-best floor score in program history. Koshinski earned the first 10.0 of her career that same day and claimed the floor victory with a career-best 9.975. Academically, eight Mountaineers earned a spot on the 2019 Academic All-Big 12 Gymnastics First Team. Three Mountaineers earned the honor with 4.0 grade point averages (GPA); no other conference team had an honoree with a 4.0 GPA. Seven gymnasts also were named NACGC/W Scholastic All-Americans. Kaufman led the way in the classroom and became the first gymnast since 2007 to be selected to an Academic All-America Team, as she was named to the 2019 CoSIDA Women’s At-Large Academic All-America Third Team. She also became the second Mountaineer gymnast and the first since Jaida Lawrence in 2015 to earn Big 12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year accolades. The Mountaineers were at their most consistent in 2018, as WVU did not count a fall in all but one meet and finished the year at 13-13 (0-6). WVU made its fourth consecutive appearance at the NCAA Regional Championships, its sixth qualification under Butts, and finished fourth at the 2018 Big 12 Championship with a 195.625 score, its second-best mark in a championship away from Morgantown. Additionally, WVU sat within the national rankings four times throughout the season. The Mountaineers made their mark in the record book in 2018, as WVU posted five team scores that rank in the program’s top-50 list. Four of the scores were 196.0 or better, and three were earned away from the WVU Coliseum, a feat never achieved before by a Mountaineer team. For the third consecutive season, a Mountaineer earned All-America accolades, as Koshinski was named to the NACGC/W All-America Second Team for vault, her third career honor. She is only the second Mountaineer gymnast in program history to earn at least three career awards. Academically, a program-record 10 Mountaineers were named to the 2018 Academic All-Big 12 Gymnastics Team, with eight landing on the first team. Additionally, for the second consecutive season, 10 gymnasts were named Scholastic All-Americans by the NACGC/W. WVU ranked No. 28 nationally and tops among Big 12 schools with a team GPA of 3.5233. The 2017 season was one of the Mountaineers’ strongest outings under Butts. Not only did WVU have a presence at the NCAA Championships, as Zaakira Muhammad qualified in the all-around, but the program also saw a pair of AllAmericans crowned and finished the year ranked No. 20 in the Road to Nationals Rankings. The Mountaineers punctuated the 2017 season with a program-best showing at the NCAA Morgantown Regional Championships, finishing third overall with a 196.325 mark. The record mark, just 0.3 points short of secondplace Alabama, also was a season high. The Mountaineers set a program regional record on uneven bars (49.35) and matched the program’s regional floor record (49.225). Additionally, Muhammad earned her national championships bid with a fourth-place, 39.325 showing in the all-around, while Koshinski placed second on floor with a 9.925 mark. Muhammad finished eighth on floor in the second semifinal session at the 2017 NCAA Championships, scoring a program NCAA record 9.9125 and earning All-America Second Team accolades. She became the first Mountaineer since 2007 to earn All-America honors at the NCAA Championships. Additionally, Muhammad scored 9.8 on bars, matching the program’s championship record. Koshinski also was named to the NACGC/W All-America Second Team for the second straight season, giving WVU two All-Americans in one season for the second time in program history and the first time since 1994. Koshinski also earned her second career All-Big 12 Gymnastics Vault Team accolade. The Mountaineers were nationally ranked each week but three in 2017. WVU concluded the year ranked No. 20 in the Road to Nationals Rankings, the team’s highest position in the final season rankings since finishing No. 18 in 2007. The squad’s final season record stood at 13-10, 3-3 in Big 12 competition.

Ten gymnasts were named Scholastic All-Americans by the NACGC/W. As a team, WVU ranked No. 25 nationally and tops among Big 12 schools with a team GPA of 3.4935. Additionally, seven gymnasts earned Academic All-Big 12 Gymnastics Team accolades. Butts guided the Mountaineers back into the national rankings in 2016, as the team was nationally ranked six of the last nine weeks of the season, marking the squad’s first national ranking since March 18, 2013 (No. 22 in the Jan. 25 Road to Nationals Rankings). The Mountaineers finished the season ranked No. 3 in the Southeast Region, the team’s highest position of the year. Following its 2016 opener, WVU hit 195.0 or better in 11 straight contests, marking the first time since 2004, and only the second time in program history, the squad scored 195.0+ in all but one of its regular season meets. The Mountaineers finished with an 11-8 overall record (1-5 Big 12). The Mountaineers put together a solid list of “firsts” in Butts’ fifth season, including scoring 196.0 or better in back-to-back meets for the first time since 2013. Additionally, Koshinski earned the program’s first regular season AllAmerica honor, as she was named to the NACGC/W All-America Second Team. Koshinski also claimed the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year honor, the first major Big 12 postseason award for a Mountaineer gymnast. A five-time Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honoree, she also was named to the All-Big 12 Gymnastics Vault Team and the All-Big 12 Championship Team. Eight gymnasts were named Scholastic All-Americans by the NACGC/W. The accolades were the most for the program since 2011. Additionally, seven gymnasts landed on the Academic All-Big 12 Gymnastics Team. Butts led the Mountaineers to their best-ever finish at the 2015 Big 12 Championship, as the team placed second with a 195.025 score. The squad used the momentum built at the meet to finish fifth at the 2015 NCAA Morgantown Regional Championships with a score of 195.65, the program’s third-best score at a regional championships. Included in the final total was a 49.225 showing on balance beam, the team’s best-ever score on the event at a regional meet. WVU finished the 2015 season with a 14-9-1 (1-1-1 Big 12) record. Dayah Haley earned her second straight All-Big 12 Championship Team honor with a second place all-around showing at the conference championship. Season highlights also included a 195.35, first-place finish in a quad-meet at NC State, WVU’s first win over the Wolfpack in Raleigh since 2007, and a season-best 196.075 score in wins over Penn and Cornell. Individually, WVU tallied 11 scores of 9.9 or better throughout the season, including 9.95 showings by Haley (floor) and Alexa Goldberg (bars). The Mountaineers finished the year ranked No. 28 in the GymInfo Poll. Butts also saw his team excel in the classroom in 2015. Lawrence was named the Big 12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the program’s first honoree. Additionally, six gymnasts earned NACGC/W Scholastic All-America honors, seven garnered Academic All-Big 12 Team recognitions and two were named to the Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team. Butts returned the program to the national stage in his third season, as Hope Sloanhoffer qualified for the NCAA Championships in the all-around, the first gymnast since 2009 to advance to the national championships and the 18th in program history. The 2014 NCAA Athens Regional Championships beam co-champion, Sloanhoffer also captured the Big 12 all-around crown, WVU gymnastics’ first Big 12 title. As a team, the Mountaineers finished with a 6-11 (0-4 Big 12) overall mark and a third-place showing at the Big 12 Championship, the first conference championship hosted in Morgantown since WVU joined the Big 12 in 2012. The squad scored a program- and season-best 196.375 at the championship. Sloanhoffer finished with two All-Big 12 Championship Team honors (all-around and floor), while Haley (all-around) and Beth Deal (beam) each earned one, quadrupling the program’s honors from 2013. Sloanhoffer, Deal (beam), Goldberg (bars) and Nicolette Swoboda (all-around) all individually qualified for the Athens Regional. The Mountaineers also showed improvement in the classroom in 2014, as seven gymnasts were named Scholastic All-Americans, an increase from five in 2013. Additionally, seven garnered Academic All-Big 12 Gymnastics Team recognition, also an increase from five in 2013. In just his second season at the helm, Butts ushered in a new era for WVU gymnastics in 2013, as the Mountaineers joined perennial powerhouse Oklahoma and Iowa State in the Big 12. The team made a name for itself in its new home, as the squad scored 196.0 or better in every home meet, a feat never before achieved in program history, and finished the year at 13-9 (1-3 Big 12). WVU spent six weeks in the GymInfo Poll, peaking at No. 16, and finished third in its first Big 12 Championship. The team also qualified for its 34th NCAA Regional Championships and placed fifth in front of a WVU Coliseum crowd. Included in 2013’s five 196.0+ performances were a season-best 196.55 mark in a loss to then-No. 3 Michigan (196.925) and wins over New Hampshire (194.875) and Towson (193.15) at the WVU Coliseum on Feb. 24. The Mountaineers’ score was the 10th-best mark in program history. WVU also earned its first Big 12 victory with a 196.15-194.825 win over ISU at the WVU Coliseum on Feb. 10 in front of 2,522 fans, the sixth-largest crowd to attend a home WVU gymnastics meet. In all, WVU competed in front of three home crowds of 1,800 or better, including the team’s Big 12 opener against Oklahoma on Feb. 1, which drew a crowd of 1,881, the 11th-best mark in program history. Lawrence earned the program’s first All-Big 12 honor, as she was named to the vault team, while Kaylyn Millick earned a spot on the All-Big 12 Championship Team for her second-place all-around finish. Additionally, three gymnasts earned

a combined six Big 12 weekly awards, five student-athletes were named to the 2013 Academic All-Big 12 Gymnastics Team and all three newcomers were named to the Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team. At season’s end, the Mountaineers were nationally ranked No. 21 on vault, No. 21 on beam and No. 26 on floor; WVU was ranked in the top 25 on vault each week of 2013. Millick ranked No. 27 in the all-around, Sloanhoffer followed at No. 42, Lawrence ranked No. 43 on vault and Alaska Richardson ranked No. 48 on floor. Additionally, the squad ranked No. 2 overall in the Big 12 and on every event but bars. Butts wasted little time in his first season, leading the Mountaineers to a 21-5 record in 2012, their first 20-win season since 2008, and a fifth-place showing at the 2012 NCAA Auburn Regional Championships. WVU scored 195.9, its best-ever regional score, and finished the year ranked No. 21 nationally, the Mountaineers’ first final season ranking since 2009. WVU concluded the year with a 5-4 mark against ranked teams and earned wins against No. 8 Arkansas, No. 13 Auburn and No. 13 Missouri. Making good on a promise he gave the team when he was hired, Butts also led the Mountaineers to their league-best seventh East Atlantic Gymnastics League (EAGL) title on March 24, 2012. Sloanhoffer, the EAGL Gymnast of the Year, captured the vault, bars and all-around titles, while Deal secured the beam victory. WVU tallied a season-best 196.475 score in its win and set three seasonbest scores on vault (49.25), bars (49.175) and floor (49.2). Prior to the championship, seven Mountaineers earned 15 All-EAGL honors, including four first-team awards for Sloanhoffer. She ranked No. 1 in the league in the all-around every week of the season. Following its seven wins at the EAGL Championship, WVU qualified for its 33rd regional championship appearance as the No. 5 seed in the Auburn regional. Entering regional competition, WVU ranked nationally on vault and floor and owned the league’s top ranking on each event. Additionally, the squad ranked No. 2 on bars and beam. Nationally ranked for all but four weeks, the Mountaineers opened the 2012 season at No. 21. The squad was ranked in the nation’s top 25 on vault and floor all season and spent the first three weeks of the year nationally ranked in the top 10 on floor. The Mountaineers ended the season ranked No. 20 on vault and No. 21 on floor. A two-time (2009-10) Southeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year, Butts spent five seasons coaching the Mountaineers’ vault, floor and bars lineups under coach Linda Burdette-Good, who announced her retirement after 37 years of leading the Mountaineers in 2011. He helped those three lineups become dominant in the EAGL, as eight Mountaineers earned 19 first team all-league honors in the three events under his tutelage. As the primary bars coach, Butts produced three EAGL individual bars champions, including 2011 outright winner Amy Bieski. He also guided Mehgan Morris to back-to-back wins in 2008 and 2009. Additionally, he helped mentor Janáe Cox (2007) and Morris (2009) to individual all-around NCAA Championships qualifications and coached Cox to 2007 first team All-America honors on floor. In his five seasons as an assistant, the Mountaineers produced a 98-44 record, competed at five straight NCAA Regional Championships and claimed the 2008 EAGL Championship. Additionally, Butts coached nine EAGL individual champions, two EAGL Gymnasts of the Year and 57 All-EAGL honorees. Though the bars lineup shuffled throughout the 2011 season, Butts’ unit produced an overall season average of 48.406. Emily Kerwin ended the year ranked No. 6 in the EAGL and No. 13 in the Southeast Region, with a 9.81 RQS, while league champion Bieski ranked No. 8 in the conference and No. 15 regionally, with a 9.795 RQS. Additionally, the Mountaineers placed the most representatives on the All-EAGL bars first team, as Kerwin, Bieski and Nicole Roach all secured the honor. In total, four gymnasts swung to multiple scores of 9.8 or better throughout the season, and Bieski and Roach set the team standard with career-best 9.875 marks. In addition to leading the bars team, Butts helped guide the vault and floor lineups to the No. 1 (49.08 RQS) and No. 2 (49.035) league rankings, respectively. The units also were nationally ranked No. 17 and No. 21, respectively. Under his supervision, Sloanhoffer, a nine-time EAGL weekly award winner, was ranked No. 1 in the league, No. 6 in the region and No. 37 in the nation on vault (9.865 RQS) and earned three 9.9+ vault scores on the season. Butts was faced with the challenge of filling holes in the bars lineup in 2010, as key contributors were hit with injuries. Under his guidance, the Mountaineers rose to the challenge and finished the season ranked second in the EAGL and fourth in the Southeast Region. Additionally, he guided Bieski and Roach to the No. 8 league ranking with matching 9.79 RQS’. Butts also helped Chelsi Tabor attain the second-best EAGL vault RQS of 9.855. The mark ranked 10th in the region and 47th nationally. The Mountaineers finished first on floor and second on bars and vault in the EAGL in 2009; they were nationally ranked 17th and 21st on vault and bars, respectively. Butts helped guide Morris to a fifth-place all-around finish at the 2009 NCAA Southeast Regional Championship and a qualification for the NCAA Championship. Additionally, she not only repeated as the EAGL bars and floor champion, but she also won the all-around league title and was named the EAGL Outstanding Senior Gymnast. Three additional Mountaineers won EAGL titles in 2009 – Tabor (vault), Tina Maloney (vault) and Shelly Purkat (beam). In 2008, Morris scored a 9.85 on bars at the EAGL Championship to win the individual title, and the Mountaineers picked up their first league team title since 2004. Morris, along with Erica Watson, was named to the All-EAGL First Team on bars, while Bieski was a second-team selection in her rookie season. Butts saw his bars lineup vastly improve through his first season at WVU. After early season struggles, the group came together down the stretch to have the EAGL’s top bars RQS and a score that ranked 23rd in the country by season’s end. WVU placed second at the EAGL Championship on bars after posting a 48.85. Butts guided Cox and Morris to All-EAGL First Team selections in 2007. Morris posted four 9.9s that season under Butts and averaged an impressive 9.85 in 13 meets to rank atop the league’s individual rankings. Morris would go on to place seventh in the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships. The Athens, Georgia, native brought 12 years of club coaching experience to WVU, most recently from Classic City Gymnastics, where he trained men and women from 2001-06. He guided the women and men to Junior Olympic Nationals during that stretch, as well as sending athletes to the Region 8 Championships, while also assisting numerous gymnasts in earning Division I athletic scholarships in the process. Butts worked at the Woodward Camp (1994-96) and the UGA Gym Dog Camp (2004-06). He competed as a competitive gymnast for 10 years, reaching Class I status, and he was a Junior Olympic National Qualifier. Butts received a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management from Georgia in 2006. He received a master’s degree in athletic coaching education at WVU in 2012.