Emma Spence Season 2022-23

Career Honors & Awards

• First-Team All-Big Ten (2023, 2024) 
• Co-Regional Gymnast of the Year (South Central, 2023) 
• CSC Academic All-District At-Large Team (2023)
• Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar (2023, 2024)
• WCGA Scholastic All-American (2022, 2023, 2024) 
• Big Ten Distinguished Scholar (2023, 2024)
• CSC Academic All-District (2024)
• Academic All-Big Ten (2023, 2024)
• Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll (Fall 2021, 2022, 2023; Spring 2022, 2024)
• Tom Osborne Citizenship Team (2022, 2023, 2024)
• Nebraska Gold Academic Medallion (2024)
• Big Ten Co-Gymnast of the Week
  • 3/19/24
• Commonwealth Games 2022 Participant (Team Canada)
  • Team Competition - 3rd
  • All-Around - 3rd
  • Beam - 3rd
  • Vault - 4th 
  • Floor - 4th
• 2022 World Gymnastics Championships (Team Canada) 
  • Team - 3rd 
• 2022 Canadian Senior National Team 
• 2020 Canadian Olympic Team Alternate (Tokyo)
• 2018 Youth Olympic Games Bronze Medalist (Vault)
• 2018 Canadian Championships Silver Medalist (All-Around, Beam)
• 2018 Canadian Championships Bronze Medalist (Bars)

2024 (Junior)
Emma Spence played a significant role in Nebraska’s success in 2024, earning First-Team All-Big Ten honors for the second-straight year. She grabbed 13 event titles over the course of the season, including five in the all-around. She represented the Huskers in the all-around in 11 meets during the year, including eight straight to end the season. She also ended the year with five-straight scores of 9.900 or above on floor. The Canada native notched a 100% hit rate on bars and floor and scored a 9.900 or above 18 times.

Spence posted career highs on vault (9.950), beam (9.900), floor (9.950) and the all-around (39.650) and was a Big Ten Co-Gymnast of the Week on March 19. She finished third on bars and fifth in the all-around at the conference championships. Spence was also named to the Academic All-Big Ten team for her accomplishments in the classroom.

2023 (Sophomore)
Emma Spence had an impressive sophomore campaign earning First-Team All-Big Ten honors and was named Co-Regional Gymnast of the Year. Spence competed in all 12 meets during the season, hitting all 48 routines without a fall. The sophomore set new career-best scores on every event including the all-around. Spence finished the season with 14 individual titles including five in the all-around. At the Masters Classic, Spence recorded a 9.975 on uneven bars, the third-best score in program history. 

Prior to the collegiate season, Spence spent time competing with Team Canada at the Commonwealth Games and the World Gymnastics Championships. At the Commonwealth games, Spence earned the bronze medal in the team competition, all-around and beam.  At the World Gymnastics Championships, Spence helped Team Canada to a third-place finish, securing a spot in the 2024 Paris Olympics for Canada. 

2022 (Freshman)
Spence made an immediate impact for the Huskers competing in the all-around in every meet of the 2022 season. Spence claimed the all-around titles in the meets against Iowa State and Ohio State. At Maryland, Spence notched a 9.925 on balance beam for a share of the event title. At the Big Five meet, Spence earned a career-high 9.850 on floor to help the Huskers to a second-place finish. 

Spence was also named to the Tom Osborne Citizenship Team for her dedication and commitment to serving the Lincoln community.

Before Nebraska
One of the top young gymnasts in the Canadian National Team program, Spence captured a bronze medal on vault at Elite Canada in 2020, while adding fourth-place finishes on bars and in the all-around. She also took fifth on floor exercise and eighth on beam. At the 2020 Melbourne World Cup, she managed eighth-place finishes on both beam and floor. She made her Senior International Elite debut in 2019, taking fourth on floor and seventh in the all-around at Elite Canada. She closed 2019 with a bronze medal on balance beam at the World Challenge Cup in Szombathely, Hungary, where she added a fifth-place finish on floor and a sixth-place showing on vault. As a Junior Elite gymnast in 2018, Spence took bronze on vault at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, while adding a fifth-place finish on floor. She was also chosen as Canada’s flag bearer at the closing ceremonies. Spence added a pair of fifth-place finishes in the all-around and on beam at the Junior Pan American Championships, after capturing silver medals in the all-around and beam at the 2018 Canadian Championships. She also earned a bronze on bars. At 2018 Elite Canada, Spence captured gold medals in the all-around, on floor and on bars while adding a bronze on vault.

Spence has trained with coach Kathy Hubbard at the Burlington Gymnastics Club. She attended Père-René-de-Galinée secondary school in Cambridge, Ontario.

Personal
The daughter of Travis and Kristy Spence, Emma was born Feb. 27, 2003, in Cambridge, Ontario. Emma has two younger sisters, Abigail and Elisabeth. Emma’s great-grandmother was Canadian sprinter Mary Vandervliet, who advanced to the semifinals of the women’s 100-meter dash at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Emma, whose first language is French, said she chose Nebraska because of the overall strength of the program. Emma is majoring in communication sciences and disorders. A 2022 WCGA Scholastic All-American, she was a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar in 2023. She was also an Academic All-Big Ten selection. She is a three-time Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll honoree. Spence is a two-time member of the Tom Osborne Citizenship Team.

Spence's Career Highs at Nebraska

• Vault: 9.950 (Illinois, 1/20/24)
• Bars: 9.975 (Masters Classic, 3/11/23)
• Beam: 9.925 (2x, last at Utah State, 3/3/23)
• Floor: 9.950 (2x, last at Arkansas, 3/15/24)
• All-Around: 39.650 (3x, last at Arkansas, 3/15/24)

2024 Season Highs

• Vault: 9.950 (Illinois, 1/20/24)
• Bars: 9.925 (Illinois, 1/20/24)
• Beam: 9.825 (at Iowa State, 1/5/24)
• Floor: 9.950 (2x, last at Arkansas, 3/15/24)
• All-Around: 39.475 (2x, last vs. UNC/SEMO/ISU, 3/3/24)

2023 Season Highs

• Vault: 9.925 (2x, last at Masters Classic, 3/11/23)
• Bars: 9.975 (Masters Classic, 3/11/23)
• Beam: 9.925 (at Utah State, 3/3/23)
• Floor: 9.925 (at Utah State, 3/3/23)
• All-Around: 39.650 (2x, last at Masters Classic, 3/11/23)

2022 Season Highs

• Vault: 9.875 (at Maryland, 2/11/22)
• Bars: 9.850 (3x, last at Maryland, 2/11/22)
• Beam: 9.925 (at Maryland, 2/11/22)
• Floor: 9.875 (at Big Tens, 3/19/22)
• All-Around: 39.375 (at Maryland, 2/11/22)