Friday, Mar. 13 - 7pm CT / 5pm PT
Streaming Video: SEC Network +
Live Stats - arkansasrazorbacks.com
Bruins Wrap Up Regular Season at Arkansas
No. 8 UCLA (10-1) closes out the regular season with a road dual meet at No. 16 Arkansas (5-7) on Friday, Mar. 13. The meet will take place at Barnhill Arena at 7pm CT.
Follow Live
Friday's meet will be webcast live on the SEC Network+ via ESPN3.com and the Watch ESPN app. Live stats will be available at arkansasrazorbacks.com. Live updates can be found on Twitter via @uclagymnastics.
In the Rankings
UCLA remained at No. 8 in the national rankings with a Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) of 196.895. RQS is determined by taking the top six scores, three of which must be on the road, dropping the high score and averaging the remaining five marks. The Bruins are ranked No. 7 on vault (49.375), No. 12 on bars (49.200), No. 6 on beam (49.265) and No. 10 on floor (49.270). Samantha Peszek is ranked on three events - No. 10 on vault (9.920), No. 13 on bars (9.895) and No. 5 on beam (9.905). Three other Bruins have Top 15 rankings - Danusia Francis, who ranks sixth on beam (9.900); Christine Peng-Peng Lee, who is eighth on bars (9.910), and Jordan Williams, who is 15th on vault (9.910).
About the Razorbacks
The 16th-ranked Razorbacks are coming off a season-best performance in a narrow 196.775-196.650 loss at Georgia. Sophomore Amanda Wellick won the all-around for the fifth time this season, recording a career-best score of 39.5. Wellick ranks 14th nationally in the all-around and 10th on vault.
Arkansas is coached by Mark Cook, who was a UCLA assistant coach from 1995-97 and helped the Bruins win their first NCAA title in 1997. Cook came to Arkansas in 2001 to build the program from scratch, and built the Arkansas program from scratch in 2001, and five years later, the Razorbacks qualified their first team to the NCAA Championships.
Bruins Smash Season-High vs. Stanford
Eighth-ranked UCLA smashed its season-high score in a 197.950-196.625 win over 13th-ranked Stanford in front of a school-record 9,531 fans in Pauley Pavilion Saturday. The 197.950 team total was the highest by a UCLA team since the Bruins scored 198.050 in a dual meet win over Arizona State on Feb. 26, 2012. On senior day, seniors Samantha Peszek and Jordan Williams tied for first on vault with Stanford's Elizabeth Price, with all three scoring 9.95. Peszek also captured first place on bars with a 9.9. UCLA also won the other two events, with Danusia Francis and Christine Peng-Peng Lee winning beam with scores of 9.95 and Bynum capturing the floor title with a career-high 9.975. The Bruins had team scores of 49.375 or better on every event, earning 49.475 on vault, a season-high-tying 49.375 on uneven bars, 49.475 on balance beam and a season-high 49.625 on floor exercise.
Show-Stopping Floor
The Bruins' team score of 49.625 on floor exercise Saturday was not only a season-high but the highest floor score by a Bruin team since the 2004 team scored 49.7 on Mar. 7 vs. Michigan. Four Bruins scored career-highs - Mikaela Gerber with a 9.85, Hallie Mossett with a 9.875, Sadiqua Bynum with a 9.975 and Samantha Peszek with a 9.95. Angi Cipra tied her season-best with a 9.9, and Danusia Francis recorded her fifth 9.9+ score of the year with a 9.925.
On the Rise
Since a tough loss at Utah on Jan. 23, UCLA has shown improvements from meet to meet, with season-high team scores being posted from week to week, including a six-tenths improvement from the Feb. 28 meet at ASU to Saturday's meet vs. Stanford, during which UCLA earned a season-high 197.950. The Bruins scored 48.1 on two events in that Utah meet but have scored 49+ on all events in their last six meets, a streak of 24 consecutive events.
Bruins are Beaming
UCLA recorded a 49.525 on beam on Feb. 21, earning the eighth-highest beam score in school history. Only two other UCLA teams in the 2010s have scored higher on beam - the 2010 team, which scored 49.65 at Georgia, and the 2012 team, which scored 49.55 at California. The Bruins earned their 49.525 with six strong routines. Mikaela Gerber led off with a 9.8, followed by a 9.775 from Sonya Meraz. Sophina DeJesus scored 9.85, and then the back half of the lineup went stratospheric, with Danusia Francis scoring 9.95, Christine Peng-Peng Lee 9.975, and Samantha Peszek 9.95. The Bruins are averaging 49.475 on beam in their last three meets, with scores of 49.525, 49.425 and 49.475.
Raising the Bar on Floor
UCLA is raising the bar on floor exercise, with many of the competitors now performing E tumbling passes. Both Jennifer Pinches and Hallie Mossett inserted new full-in opening passes vs. Washington in February, joining Angi Cipra (full-in), Napualani Hall (Arabian double front), Sadiqua Bynum and Samantha Peszek (double layout), who have had their E passes in their routines since the start of the season. The Bruins have scored 49+ on floor in seven-straight meets.
Bynum Scores Big for Bruins
Redshirt junior Sadiqua Bynum has been consistently delivering big scores all season on vault and floor, averaging 9.859 on vault and 9.875 on floor. Bynum came oh-so-close to perfection this past weekend, scoring a career-high 9.975 on floor, breaking 9.925 for the first time in her career. Ranked 28th in the nation on floor, Bynum has scored 9.925 on floor in five of her last six meets and has a team-best four event wins on floor. Bynum has scored 9.85 or better on 13 of her 16 routines this year.
Williams Vaults Ahead
Graduate student Jordan Williams has scored career-highs of 9.95 on vault in three consecutive meets and in four of her last five meets, moving into No. 15 in the national rankings. Williams earned her first 9.95 on Feb. 9 vs. Washington and then blasted three in a row on Feb. 21, Feb. 28 and Mar. 7. Williams, who came to Westwood from Arizona and is UCLA's first-ever graduate transfer, has averaged 9.889 on vault, with four victories and two second-place showings in nine meets. She has also competed .on beam in two meets and earned a career-best 9.875 to place fourth on Saturday vs. Stanford.
Peszek Power
Fifth-year senior Samantha Peszek has been lights out this season, averaging 39.494 in four all-around performances and scoring 9.85 or better on 26 of 29 routines competed. Peszek, the Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week three times this season, has won three of four all-around competitions, scoring 39.55 to win at Oregon State and 39.625 to win at Utah and in the home quad meet. She has a team-high total of 14 victories out of a possible 33 and has placed in the Top 3 29 of 33 times. Peszek is a nominee for the AAI Award, which is given to the nation's top senior gymnast.
Francis. Danusia Francis
Week after week, junior Danusia Francis has been posting big scores for the Bruins. She has 12 scores of 9.9 or higher, including six in her last three meets. Francis is averaging over 9.83 on all three events in which she competes - 9.853 on bars, 9.839 on beam and 9.833 on floor. Taking away her scores in the season opener, Francis is averaging 9.9 on beam, where she has scored 9.95 in three consecutive meets, and 9.89 on floor, where she has four 9.9+ scores in her last five meets with her James Bond-themed routine. On the year, Francis has recorded four event wins on beam and two on floor, and she has scored 9.8 or better on 23 consecutive routines. Her uneven bars average of 9.853 and national ranking of 33rd are especially impressive considering she is the Bruins' leadoff performer.
Lee Back After Two-Year Layoff
Nearly three years after her last competition, redshirt sophomore Christine Peng-Peng Lee made her highly-anticipated collegiate debut at Oregon State on Jan. 12. Lee showed zero signs of rust, winning two events and placing fourth in another. She stuck every dismount and hit every skill in her difficult routines, scoring 9.9 to win bars, 9.825 on a stuck Yurchenko full vault, and 9.875 to tie for first on beam. Against Cal on Feb. 1, she won both events in which she competed, scoring 9.95s on bars and beam, and was subsequently named the Pac-12 Specialist of the Week. She earned Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Week honors twice in the last three weeks and has contributed six 9.95+ scores this season, including a 9.975 on beam. Lee has totaled nine event wins this season, including five in eight meets on bars. Lee tore ligaments in her knee in 2012 just before the Canadian National Championships and had two surgeries, one in 2012 and another in 2013.
Meraz Making Moves
Freshman walk-on Sonya Meraz became just the second Bruin this season to make it into the lineup as an all-arounder, competing in all four events in two meets. In her all-around debut vs. Washington, she won the meet with a score of 39.025. Meraz was not originally scheduled to compete on all four events but was inserted into the vault lineup just before competition began and scored a 9.8 on her first collegiate vault. She also earned scores of 9.6 on bars and 9.75 on beam and capped her night with a career-high 9.875 on floor. She was even better at Stanford, scoring career-highs on all three events in which she competed, earning 9.85s on bars and beam and 9.9 on floor. At ASU, she earned Top 3 finishes on beam in the leadoff position and on floor, and last weekend, she tied her career-bests on bars and beam with scores of 9.85.
Gerber Enjoying Breakout Season
Sophomore Mikaela Gerber has enjoyed a breakout season so far, with strong and consistent routines in each of her eight meets. She hit her first 10 routines of the year and has scored career-bests of 9.8 four times on beam, where she has been the all-important leadoff performer in seven meets. She is also averaging 9.8 on floor and earned a career-high 9.85 in her last two performances.
Walk-On Freshmen Impress
Walk-on freshmen Sonya Meraz, LaNiesha-Jopré Irvin and JaNay Honest have impressed this season. Meraz won the all-around vs. Washington and scored career-highs on all three events she competed at Stanford, including her first career 9.9, on floor. She has season-highs of 9.9 on floor, 9.85 on bars and beam and 9.8 on vault. Irvin has stuck four of her six vaults she has competed this season and holds a season average of 9.846. She has Top 3 finishes in four of her six meets and a high of 9.9, set at Utah. Honest has competed on vault in every meet and is averaging 9.819, with a high of 9.85 set at Stanford. She also has season-best scores of 9.825 on bars and 9.8 on floor.
Honoring Bruin Greats with Legacy Routines
This season, several of UCLA's memorable floor exercise routines are coming back to life via current team members as they pay tribute to legacy of UCLA Gymnastics. Among these “legacy routines” are those done by Sadiqua Bynum, who asked to perform to Onnie Willis' sophomore year music, and Jennifer Pinches, who is recreating Lena Degteva's West Side Story routine. Freshman Sonya Meraz also has a routine previously done by Degteva, a 13-time All-American from 1997-2000. Willis, a 16-time All-American from 2000-03, was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame this year. JaNay Honest made her season debut on floor at ASU with her version of Ariana Berlin's 2009 routine. Ellette Craddock, who exhibitioned on floor for the first time in her career last week, has Alison Stoner's memorable routine from 1999.
Bruin Banter
Samantha Peszek is back hosting her third season of Bruin Banter, a weekly web series that offers an inside look at UCLA Gymnastics. Each week, Peszek, who co-produces the show alongside team videographer Deanna Hong, interviews a team member and recaps the previous week's activities. New this season is a behind-the-scenes segment that provides a glimpse at the inner workings of the team. This week's episode will feature senior Ellette Craddock.
Pac-12 Championships Move to Utah
Due to possible scheduling conflicts with preliminary rounds of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, the Pac-12 Gymnastics Championships on Mar. 21 will be moved to Salt Lake City for the second time in four years. Utah hosted the Championships in 2012, and UCLA took home the title thanks to a final rotation rally on balance beam that pushed the Bruins into first place ahead of the second-place Utes, 197.425-197.375.