UCLA Gymnastics' Sara Ulias Tears ACL, Out For Rest of Season

The Bruins will be without one of their young specialists for the rest of 2022.

UCLA gymnastics announced Wednesday afternoon that sophomore Sara Ulias had torn her right ACL, knocking her out for the rest of the season. Ulias went down in visible pain following her uneven bars dismount Saturday against Stanford.

The general timeline of recovery for a torn ACL is anywhere from six to nine months.

Ulias has been a bars specialist for the past two years, completing 14 routines on the event since the start of last year, but she had stepped into a new role this year by also being part of the Bruins' floor rotation in their first three meets.

Sending Sara Ulias all our love and support as she recovers from a torn ACL in her right knee. Sara, we’ll be here with you every step of the way as you heal and get stronger! 💙💛 pic.twitter.com/wJlVMjzP6M
— UCLA Gymnastics (@uclagymnastics) February 16, 2022

Ulias posted a career-high on bars with a 9.925 on Feb. 27, 2021, earning the Pac-12 Coaches’ Choice award for her only conference honor as a Bruin.

While Ulias had not reached that mark so far in 2022, she had held strong as a constant in UCLA's bar rotation. Ulias opened the year by falling and earning a 9.200 against Minnesota and Iowa, then did the same and posted a 9.000 following a fall at Oregon State.

Ulias started her recovery with a 9.675 versus Arizona, then topped out at 9.875 in the Utah meet one week later. The routine that led to Ulias' injury got scored as a 9.700, and it ended in her hopping off the mat and getting attended to by coach Chris Waller and team trainers.

As it turns out, the bars specialist had been doing better on floor through the first month of the season. Ulias put up scores of 9.800, 9.850 and 9.750 on floor in her first three meets of the season, good for a 9.800 average on the year.

Ulias averaged a 9.490 on bars in 2022 after averaging a 9.783 in 2021.

Before arriving in Westwood, Ulias earned two top-three finishes on uneven bars at the Region 1 Championships in 2018 and 2019, then won silver in the all-around and bronze on vault, beam and floor at the 2020 Heart of a Champion meet. The 5-foot-1 Thousand Oaks, California, native grew up training at Paramount Elite Gymnastics.

UCLA will have its first meet without Ulias on bars Sunday on the road against Arizona State. That dual-meet will begin at 2 p.m. and will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Networks.

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