Perfect 10s Help UCLA Gymnastics Advance to NCAA Championships
The Bruins have punched their ticket to Fort Worth.
No. 4 UCLA gymnastics trailed midway through the NCAA Los Angeles Regional finals on Saturday night, but came alive late to post a 197.925 and finish in second place. That was good enough for the Bruins to clinch a spot in the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2019, bringing the program back to life in Janelle McDonald's first season as head coach.
UCLA is joining No. 5 Utah down in Texas, with the Red Rocks winning Saturday's regional with a 198.050 team score. Missouri, which held a top-two spot for roughly half of the meet at Pauley Pavilion, will head home, as will Washington.
The Bruins opened the day with their lowest score on uneven bars since late February, and the rotation started with a 9.800 from junior Chae Campbell. Senior Kalyany Steele followed that up with a 9.775, although sophomore Ana Padurariu helped erase it with a 9.875.
Freshman Selena Harris stepped up with a 9.900, and after redshirt senior Margzetta Frazier posted a 9.850, sophomore Jordan Chiles capped things off with a 9.975 for the third meet in a row. Before her current streak, the Olympic silver medalist had put up back-to-back perfect 10s on bars, as well as another 9.975 before that.
Thanks to Chiles staying hot on bars, UCLA was tied for second at 49.400 through one rotation.
The Bruins' score on balance beam fell short of that mark, though, and they fell into third as a result.
Sophomore Emily Lee led off with a 9.850 and freshman Ciena Alipio earned a 9.800 before Padurariu and Chiles scored back-to-back 9.850s. Harris' 9.950 was UCLA's high mark in the second rotation, as sophomore Emma Malabuyo capped it off with a 9.825.
Entering the third rotation down 0.200 to both Utah and Missouri, the Bruins got their signature floor party started just in time.
Malabuyo and Harris posted consecutive 9.900s, while Frazier and Campbell went back-to-back with two 9.950s. Chiles hammered home a perfect 10 to bring the team's floor score to a season-high 49.700, and UCLA surged into second place as part of a true three-horse race with Utah and Missouri down the stretch.
The Tigers were still right on the Bruins' heels heading into the final rotation, and UCLA could only marginally build their lead as they got going on vault. Frazier and Lee started off the final event with a pair of 9.850s, and after sophomore Brooklyn Moors stuck a 9.900, Campbell was only able to earn a 9.825.
The one-two punch of Harris and Chiles erased all doubts, though, with the former earning her first collegiate perfect 10 and the latter posting a 9.900 as the anchor. It wasn't enough for the Bruins to pass the Red Rocks, but they had buried the Tigers and kept their championship hopes alive in the process.
The NCAA championships begin April 13. UCLA will be pushing for its eighth national title in program history, and its first in the post-Valorie Kondos Field era.
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