KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- In a season that saw her set the school record for all-around score and tie a 17-year-old record on balance beam, Western Michigan sophomore gymnast Payton Murphy has been voted first-team All-Mid-American Conference by the league's coaches.

Murphy is one of three gymnasts selected to the first team for 2021, joining the Central Michigan duo of Hannah DeMers and Katie Kowalski. Murphy becomes WMU's first selection to the All-MAC first team since Jenni Buis in 2015. The MAC specialty awards (Gymnast of the Year, Specialist of the Year, Senior Gymnast of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Coach of the Year) will be announced following the completion of the 2021 MAC Championships, slated for Saturday, March 20, at University Arena.

This season, Murphy has posted WMU's top score on vault (9.875), beam (9.950) and all-around (39.375), while tying a pair of teammates for the top score on floor exercise (9.925). She had a record-setting meet against Eastern Michigan on Saturday, Feb. 21, posting an all-around score of 39.375 to break a 2018 record previously held by Rachel Underwood. Murphy used a mark of 9.950 on beam to get there, tying a program record from 2004 held by Julia Haines-LaPenta and Christy Sassic. Her all-around score against the Eagles helped WMU break 196 as a team for the second-straight meet.

Murphy owns the top balance beam national qualifying score (NQS) in the MAC this season at 9.913, while her 9.950 against Eastern Michigan is tied for the top score on the apparatus in the league this season. Nationally, she ranks 28th on beam based on NQS and she ranks fourth among gymnasts outside the "Power 5" conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC).

Murphy's 39.306 NQS in all-around is second in the MAC, while she's tied for sixth on vault (9.819) and fourth on floor (9.894).

Murphy and the Broncos will look to capture Western Michigan's sixth MAC Championship and second in as many years on Saturday, March 20, when WMU plays host to the 2021 MAC Championships at University Arena. The meet begins at 2 p.m. ET and can be seen on ESPN3. Western Michigan won the championship meet in 1986, 1987, 2006 and 2013, while winning the regular-season title in 2020 (there was no championship meet due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

Visit WMUBroncos.com/MACGym to see the virtual meet program and find links to live results and the ESPN broadcast.