Salt Lake City, Utah - Seventh-ranked UCLA placed second at the Pac-12 Gymnastics Championships, earning its second-highest score of the season, 197.350, but finishing behind host and fourth-ranked Utah, who repeated as Pac-12 champions with a score of 198.150. The Bruins scored 49.275 or better on all four events despite a fall on three of the four events.
Senior Samantha Peszek won her second-straight Pac-12 balance beam title, scoring 9.95, and captured her first floor exercise crown, tying for first with two others with a score of 9.95. Peszek also tied for second in the all-around with a 39.575. Utah's Georgia Dabritz placed first with a 39.775.
The Bruins had a solid start to the meet, scoring 49.275 on uneven bars thanks to 9.875 scores from Danusia Francis, Sophina DeJesus and Peszek. Utah, however, went 49.675 on vault, with a 10.0 from Tory Wilson and a 9.975 from Georgia Dabritz to take a lead it would not relinquish. Stanford stayed neck-and-neck with UCLA, matching the Bruins' 49.275 on floor exercise.
UCLA posted the meet's highest team score on balance beam despite an early fall, scoring 49.425. Peszek earned a 10 from one of the four judges and finished with a 9.95. Christine Peng-Peng Lee got sweet retribution after her fall on uneven bars, scoring 9.925. Francis hit her best beam dismount yet, her world-class sideways side aerial to full-twisting layout, and scored 9.875. Sonya Meraz contributed her fourth consecutive 9.85 leadoff score, and DeJesus added a 9.825. The Bruins moved ahead of Stanford for second place by 0.150 but still remained behind Utah by 0.475.
The Bruins entertained the pro-Utah crowd with scintillating floor exercise routines. Mikaela Gerber and Napualani Hall each tied their career-highs with scores of 9.85. Francis seemed on her way to a big score but stumbled on her dismount and scored 9.775. Angi Cipra was also in line for a strong score before falling out of bounds on her last pass. But the Bruins closed with huge scores from Peszek (9.95) and Sadiqua Bynum (9.925) to finish with a team total of 49.350. Stanford, however, claimed a slight .025 lead over UCLA for second, however, after scoring 49.525 on bars.
UCLA rallied back into second place on vault with a team total of 49.3, thanks to career-high marks of 9.85 from JaNay Honest, 9.875 from Cipra, 9.85s from Lee and LaNiesha-Jopre' Irvin and a 9.875 from Jordan Williams. Stanford finished in third place with a 197.175, and Oregon State was fourth with 196.900.
UCLA will find out its NCAA Regional pairing on Monday, Mar. 23 at 12pm PT. The NCAA selection show will air on www.ncaa.com.