#7 UCLA vs. Washington
Sunday, Feb. 21 - 1:00 pm
TV: Pac-12 Networks (Jim Watson, Samantha Peszek)
Live Stats: gohuskies.com
UCLA Travels to Seattle for Sunday Meet
No. 7 UCLA (4-2, 3-1 in the Pac-12) travels to Washington (3-6, 2-2) for a Sunday, Feb. 21 meet at 1pm at Alaska Airlines Arena. The meet will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks, with Jim Watson and Samantha Peszek calling the action. This will be the first of two trips to Seattle in less than a month. The Bruins will return on Mar. 19 for the Pac-12 Championships.
Follow Live
Live stats will be available at gohuskies.com. Live updates can also be found on Twitter: @UCLAGymnastics.
Pac-12 Snapchat Takeover
UCLA Gymnastics is taking over the Pac-12 Conference's Snapchat on Feb. 20 and 21 during the Pac-12's #Complete12 campaign. Follow the Pac-12 at pac12conference all week as different schools and teams are taking over the account to showcase the complete lives of Pac-12 student-athletes.
Sophina on Ellen
After a week in which she became a worldwide viral star, senior Sophina DeJesus made her biggest appearance yet with a guest turn on The Ellen Show on Wednesday. While at the Ellen Show, DeJesus did a modified version of her floor routine and reminisced with Ellen about her first appearance on the show 10 years ago when she performed with her dance crew Diamonds in the Rough. DeJesus and her teammates also danced on stage during a commercial break with dancer/actor/Ellen DJ Stephen “tWitch” Boss.
DeJesus gained overnight fame when a video of her floor exercise routine went viral on Super Bowl weekend. The video has topped 28 million views on Facebook at 11 million on YouTube. DeJesus was the top trending topic on Facebook for two days and has been featured on countless news programs and websites around the world, including People Magazine, Time, New York Times, BuzzFeed, Upworthy, Good Morning America, The Today Show, NPR and Cosmo. Celebrities such as Reese Witherspoon, Jamie Foxx, Ludacris and Ashton Kutcher posted about her routine on social media.
In the Rankings
UCLA remained at No. 7 in the national rankings but moved back to No. 1 on floor exercise. The Bruins are also ranked No. 7 on beam, No. 10 on vault and No. 15 on bars. UCLA has five athletes ranked in the Top 25 on floor - Sophina DeJesus, Hallie Mossett and Angi Cipra, who are tied for No. 8; Sadiqua Bynum, who is tied for 13th, and Madison Preston, who is tied for 25th. Three Bruins are ranked in the Top 25 on beam - Danusia Francis (2nd), Nicki Shapiro (4th) and DeJesus (23rd). Both Francis and Sonya Meraz moved into the Top 12 after their first all-around performances of the year. Francis ranks eighth, and Meraz is 12th.
UCLA vs. Washington - The Matchup
UCLA leads the all-time regular season series with Washington, 60-3. The two teams faced each other twice last season, with UCLA winning the dual meet in Los Angeles, 197.000-194.500, and finishing ahead of Washington at the Pac-12 Championships. The Huskies are coming off their best performance of the season in a loss at Utah, scoring a season-high 196.250 and posting season-best team scores on vault (49.075) and floor (49.3). Allison Northey set a new career-high in the all-around with a 39.550.
Last Time Out
UCLA scored season-highs on vault (49.35)and beam (49.5) en route to a season-high score of 197.475 in a late-night dual meet win over Oregon State, who scored 196.225, on Saturday. Three Bruins flirted with perfection, as Sophina DeJesus and Sadiqua Bynum earned scores of 9.975 on beam and floor, respectively, while Danusia Francis earned a 10 from one judge en route to a 9.95 on beam. Francis competed all-around for the first time in her four-year career and won the meet with a score of 39.45. Sonya Meraz was second with a career-high 39.4. Freshman Madison Preston picked up her first event win, tying with teammate JaNay Honest for first on vault with a 9.9.
DeJesus Named Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week
Senior Sophina DeJesus was named the Pac-12 Gymnastics Specialist of the Week after scoring a near-perfect 9.975 on the balance beam against Oregon State on Saturday. Coming off a week in which she became a viral internet sensation, DeJesus gave another standout performance, this time on the beam. She came close to scoring a perfect 10 on the apparatus, receiving a 10 from one judge and a 9.95 from the other to shatter her career-high with a 9.975. It was her first career win on the beam, and it helped the Bruins set a new team season-high on the event with a 49.5. She followed up with a 9.9 on floor exercise to finish third. Her scores helped the Bruins defeat Oregon State with a season-best score of 197.475.
High Marks
After six meets, UCLA has posted 11 9.95 scores this season - Danusia Francis three times on beam, Christine Peng-Peng Lee and Sophina DeJesus once on beam, Sadiqua Bynum three times on floor, Angi Cipra twice on floor and Hallie Mossett once on floor. Francis leads the crew with 12 9.95+ scores in her career (11 on beam and 1 on floor). Lee has eight (3 on bars, 5 on beam), Bynum has four, all on floor. Cipra has three on floor, and Mossett has one on floor. DeJesus has one each on bars and beam. The Bruins have also tallied 30 scores of 9.9 or higher this year and had a season-high eight in their last meet vs. Oregon State.
Notables
Nine Bruins have hit all of their routines without a fall so far this season. Danusia Francis is 18-for-18, Sadiqua Bynum and JaNay Honest are 12-for-12, Madison Preston is 10-for-10, Mikaela Gerber and Napualani Hall are 8-for-8, and Melissa Metcalf is 4-for-4. Nicki Shapiro and Rechelle are 1-for-1 … Francis has hit 53 routines in a row without a fall, with 49 of those routines scoring 9.8 or above … Bynum hit all 23 routines in 2015 and has hit 42 in a row since 2014 … Sophina DeJesus has scored 9.8 or higher on 15 of her last 16 beam routines … Sonya Meraz is a perfect 16-for-16 on beam in her career, with 11 of those routines scoring 9.8 or higher … Hallie Mossett choreographed the floor exercise routines for JaNay Honest, Napualani Hall and Rechelle Dennis and helped head coach Valorie Kondos Field choreograph others on the team, including her own.
Injury Update
Junior Hallie Mossett fractured her sternum and suffered an injury to her torso during uneven bars warmups on Feb. 13. Her injuries are stable, and doctors are regularly monitoring her progress. The timetable for her return is unkown. Freshman Katelyn Ohashi has been out since the Feb. 1 meet, but is progressing well with her sternum injury.
Bruin Debuts
The last four meets have provided the Bruins opportunity to get new faces in the lineup. Rechelle Dennis and Nicki Shapiro made their competitive debuts on Saturday against Oregon State. Dennis scored 9.725 on bars, and Shapiro placed third on beam with a 9.9. Danusia Francis made her collegiate debut on vault and all-around and placed first in the all-around with a 39.45. Against Utah, Sophina DeJesus made her season debut on floor exercise and proceeded to break the interent with her routine. Also, Madison Preston competed on beam for the first time and scored 9.775. At Cal Feb. 1, Christine Peng-Peng Lee made her season debut on vault and stuck her Yurchenko full for a first-place 9.875 score. Mikaela Gerber came in on floor exercise as a last-minute sub and hit her routine for a 9.8. Also making their season competitive debuts were Stella Savvidou on bars and Angi Cipra on beam. At Arizona the week prior, Savvidou's first-ever Bruin routine, an exhibition on bars, resulted in a 9.75 score. Shapiro also made her Bruin debut with an exhibition beam performance that scored 9.725. Sonya Meraz and Preston competed on floor at Arizona for the first time this season and scored 9.8 and 9.875, respectively.
Vault Changes
With the Yurchenko layout full and Yurchenko layout half vaults being devalued to 9.95 start values, several Bruins have been working on new vaults in 2016 to maintain a 10.0 start value. Two Bruins have competed 10.0 vaults in their four meets. Napualani Hall has scored career-highs of 9.9 on stuck Yurchenko 1.5s twice, and Sadiqua Bynum scored a season-high 9.875 on her Yurchenko Arabian at Arizona. JaNay Honest and Madison Preston have UCLA's highest score on a Yurchenko layout full with a 9.9s last week against Oregon State.
Singing Bruins
Juniors Christine Peng-Peng Lee and Hallie Mossett and team manager Alex Waller made their vocal debut singing the national anthem at the Bruins' last home meet. On Friday, Feb. 12, they made their live television debut on the Pac-12 Networks, singing the national anthem live prior to UCLA-USC swimming and diving meet. The trio will also take their vocal talents to the UCLA-Oregon men's basketball game on Mar. 2.
Francis Hosts Bruin Banter
Senior Danusia Francis has taken over hosting duties from Samantha Peszek in the weekly gymnastics web series Bruin Banter, which can be viewed every Thursday or Friday on uclabruins.com. This week's episode is a special one, featuring head coach Valorie Kondos Field.
Get Social
UCLA Gymnastics ranks first among all NCAA gymnastics teams in Instagram followers (40.8k) and Facebook likes (81k+) and ranks seventh in Twitter followers (8.9k). The Bruins also have 4600+ followers on Vine. Follow the Bruins at @UCLAGymnastics on Instagram and Twitter and on Facebook at facebook.com/uclagymnastics.
Looking Ahead
UCLA closes the regular season with three consecutive home meets beginning on Saturday, Feb. 27 against Arizona State at 1pm. The Bruins also host Georgia and Stanford on Sunday, Mar. 6 at 12pm and Oklahoma on Sunday, Mar. 13 at 1pm.