Monday, Jan. 12 - 6:00 pm PT
TV: Pac-12 Networks (Jim Watson, Amanda Borden)
Live Stats - osubeavers.com
Season Opener Monday
The fifth-ranked UCLA gymnastics team will kick off the 2015 season on Monday, Jan. 12 at 11th-ranked Oregon State. The meet will take place at 6pm at Gil Coliseum and will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks, with Jim Watson and 1996 Olympic gold medalist Amanda Borden on the call.
Follow Live
Live stats will be available at osubeavers.com. Live updates can be found on Twitter: @UCLAGymnastics. Follow along with the hashtag #aStormisBruin.
Bruins Open Season Ranked No. 5
UCLA opens the 2015 gymnastics season ranked No. 5 in the preseason coaches poll. The Bruins have been ranked in the preseason Top 5 every year since the poll began in 1998. UCLA received one of 31 first-place votes and 618 total points to finish behind No. 1 Florida (756 points, 19 first-place votes), No. 2 Oklahoma (746 points, 8 first-place votes), No. 3 LSU (689 points, 2 first-place votes) and Alabama (669 points).
UCLA will face eight of the Top 25 teams this season - No. 6 Utah, No. 9 Nebraska, No. 10 Stanford, No. 11 Oregon State, No. 13 Arkansas, No. 14 California, No. 21 Arizona and No. 24 Washington.
UCLA No. 2 in Pac-12 Coaches Poll
The UCLA gymnastics team ranks second in the Pac-12's preseason gymnastics coaches poll, edged out of the top spot by just three points to defending conference champion Utah. The Bruins received three first-place votes and 43 points overall. Utah received five first-place votes and 46 points overall.
Bruins vs. Bruins
The Bruins will be facing two of their own in the season opener, as Oregon State is coached by a pair of Bruins. Beaver head coach Tanya (Service) Chaplin was a six-time All-American for the Bruins and a two-time Pac-10 Gymnast of the Year. Associate head coach Michael Chaplin won an NCAA title with the UCLA men's gymnastics team in 1987 and was teammates with current UCLA associate head coach Chris Waller.
UCLA vs. Oregon State
UCLA holds a 47-20-1 advantage over Oregon State in the overall series and won both matchups a year ago. This is the fifth time UCLA and Oregon have met in a season opener. The Bruins hold a 3-2 advantage in those meets, winning in 2009 in Las Vegas, 2006 in Hawaii, and 2003 in Los Angeles. Oregon State has wins in 1992 in Corvallis and 1985 in Hawaii.
About the Bruins
UCLA returns three All-Americans from last year's squad, led by 2011 NCAA balance beam champion and 2008 Olympic silver medalist Samantha Peszek, who is back for her fifth season. Other returning All-Americans are Danusia Francis (balance beam) and Sophina DeJesus (uneven bars). The Bruins also regain the services of a pair of athletes with high-scoring potential who missed a good chunk of 2014 with injury - redshirt sophomore Christine Peng-Peng Lee and sophomore Angi Cipra. Lee has not competed since 2012 due to a knee injury suffered before the Olympics, and Cipra missed the last three months of last season with a heel injury, halting a successful early start to her freshman season.
The Bruins lose three gymnasts from a year ago - All-Americans Olivia Courtney and Sydney Sawa, along with Dana McDonald, who graduated a year early. UCLA does, however, bring in a large class of newcomers - seven freshmen, led by 2013 JO national vault champion Napualani Hall, and graduate student Jordan Williams, who transfered from the University of Arizona for her fifth season.
Coming Back
UCLA returns 10 athletes who saw competition time a year ago and 17 of 24 routines competed at the 2014 NCAA Championships. The Bruins will need to replace seven high-scoring routines from Olivia Courtney (vault, bars, beam and floor) and Sydney Sawa (vault, bars and floor). Six Bruin returners scored at least one 9.9 last season - Hallie Mossett (1), Angi Cipra (2), Sadiqua Bynum (6), Sophina DeJesus (7), Danusia Francis (11), and Samantha Peszek (23).
New Faces Abound
The Bruins have eight newcomers to the roster in 2015 - two scholarship freshmen, five walk-ons and a fifth-year graduate transfer. Leading the freshmen will be Napualani Hall, the 2013 Level 10 National vault champion and a two-time USA Championships competitor. Fifth-year graduate Jordan Williams should be a strong contributor for the Bruins on vault, holding a career-best of 9.9 at the University of Arizona. Among others who could see action in the opener are JaNay Honest, who was second in the all-around and floor at the 2014 Level 10 Region 1 Championships, and Sonya Meraz, the 2014 Level 10 Region 1 floor champion. Melissa Metcalf, the 2013 Level 10 national bars champion, is out indefinitely with a knee injury.
Pac-12 to Televise Eight UCLA Meets
UCLA's first six meets of the 2015 season will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks. Also televised live will be the Bruins' dual meet at Arizona State on Feb. 28 and the Pac-12 Championships on Mar. 21, also at Arizona State. UCLA's seven regular season televised meets are the most among the Pac-12 schools and represent over a third of the Networks' 20 regular season gymnastics broadcasts. In addition, the Pac-12 Networks will televise each session of the Pac-12 Championships. To see if your television provider has Pac-12 Networks, visit pac-12.com/getpac-12networks.
Before the Storm
Get to know the members of the UCLA Gymnastics team through the preseason video series Before the Storm. The latest episode features senior Ellette Craddock.
UCLA Signs All-Star Class in Early Period
UCLA will add two world gold medalists and another senior elite to its program with the signing of two-time defending world all-around champion Simone Biles, world championship team member Madison Kocian, and Macy Toronjo to national letters of intent.
Biles is already one of the most decorated gymnasts in U.S. history after just two years at the senior level. She has won nine World medals in two years (six gold, two silver, one bronze), which is tied for second-most all-time in U.S. history. In 2014, she became the first woman in 40 years to win four gold medals at a single World Championships, capturing team, all-around, balance beam and floor exercise gold. She also won a silver medal on vault. In 2013, she won her first World gold medals, in the all-around and floor exercise, and also collected silver on vault and bronze on balance beam. Biles' six World gold medals are the most ever by an American woman.
Kocian helped the U.S. win the team title at the World Championships this fall, competing all-around in the preliminaries and providing a high score on uneven bars in the team finals. Kocian also won silver medals on uneven bars at the 2014 Pan American Championships, City of Jesolo Trophy, P&G National Championships and U.S. Classic. At the junior level, Kocian placed third on bars and fifth in the all-around at the 2010 Visa National Championships and sixth in the all-around at the 2009 Visa National Championships.
Toronjo is coming off an impressive senior elite debut in 2014, placing eighth in the all-around and sixth on floor exercise at the P&G National Championships and first in the all-around, bars and beam and second on floor at the American Classic. At the junior level in 2011, she won a bronze medal on floor and placed ninth in the all-around at the Junior American Classic to qualify for the Visa National Championships.
Biles and Kocian plan to defer enrollment until after the 2016 Olympics. Toronjo plans to join the Bruins in the 2015-16 school year.
Looking Ahead
UCLA hosts Arizona in its home opener on Monday, Jan. 19 at 1pm in Pauley Pavilion. Following the meet, which will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks, the Bruins will host a formal autograph session. Tickets start at just $5. For the best value and best seat locations, season tickets are available for just $49 for five home meets.