No. 8 UCLA at NCAA Salt Lake City Regional
Saturday, April 2 - 6:00 pm MT/5:00 pm PT
Live Stats: utahutes.com
UCLA Seeks NCAA Championship Berth
No. 8 UCLA (13-5) is the No. 2 seed at the NCAA Salt Lake City Regional and will compete for one of two available berths in the NCAA Championships, which will be held in Fort Worth, Texas Apr. 15-16. The NCAA Regional meet will take place at Utah's Jon M. Huntsman Center on Saturday, Apr. 2 at 6 pm MT. Also competing at the Regional are fifth-ranked Utah, 17th-ranked Washington, 23rd-ranked Southern Utah, 29th-ranked Illinois, and 32nd-ranked Utah State.
Follow Live
Live stats will be available at utahutes.com, and live updates can be found on Twitter by following @UCLAGymnastics.
Rotation Order
The rotation order for the Regional was determined by blind draw prior to the selections. The No. 2 seed Bruins will begin the meet on balance beam and have a bye in rotation two. Their competition will resume in rotation three on floor exercise, then vault, another bye and wrapping up on uneven bars. Utah State begins on vault, Utah starts on a bye before bars, Illinois begins on bars, Southern Utah is on a bye before floor, and Washington begins on floor.
Regional Championship History
The Bruins have won 21 regional titles, including last year's victory at the Columbus Regional, where Christine Peng-Peng Lee won three events (vault, bars and beam), Danusia Francis won beam and Samantha Peszek won the all-around, beam and floor. The Bruins placed second to Utah at the Fayetteville Regional in 2014.
In the Rankings
After a strong performance at the Pac-12 Championships, UCLA improved its Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) and ranking, moving up one spot to No. 8 with a RQS of 197.055. 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 finished the regular season ranked No. 4 on beam (49.325), No. 8 on floor (49.430), No. 10 on vault (49.180) and No. 12 on bars (49.235). There are three Bruins ranked in the Top 25 nationally, and they are all ranked in the Top 11 on their respective events - Danusia Francis is No. 2 on beam, Sadiqua Bynum is No. 7 on floor, and Angi Cipra is No. 11 on floor.
Trio of Bruins Named Regular Season All-Americans
Seniors Danusia Francis and Sadiqua Bynum and junior Angi Cipra were awarded regular season All-America honors by the National Association of College Gymnastics Coaches (NACGC/W). Francis earned her fourth regular season All-America honor of her career, receiving first-team acclaim on balance beam. Bynum earned her second career All-America nod on floor exercise with first-team honors. Cipra received her first career All-America award with second-team honors on floor exercise. UCLA has produced 64 All-Americans who have totaled 321 All-America honors.
UCLA Wins 17th Pac-12 Title
Ninth-ranked UCLA won the 2016 Pac-12 Gymnastics Championship, scoring 197.250 to record its 17th Pac-12 title in school history. The outcome of the meet came down to senior Sadiqua Bynum, a role that has become familiar to her this season. And for the third time this season, Bynum delivered, scoring 9.9 to clinch the victory.
Even with Bynum's heroics, the meet was won by UCLA on the balance beam in the third rotation, as the Bruins delivered the sixth-highest beam score in school history – 49.575 – to pull away. All six Bruin gymnasts scored 9.9 or higher, with Danusia Francis leading the way with a meet-high-tying 9.95 that gave the senior star her first career Pac-12 event title. Freshman Nicki Shapiro delivered a career-high 9.925, and the other four competitors – Mikaela Gerber, Sonya Meraz, Katelyn Ohashi and Sophina DeJesus – each scored 9.9. UCLA's uneven bars set, which scored a meet-high 49.300, also helped the Bruins move into the lead. Sophomore JaNay Honest won a share of the uneven bars title with a 9.9.
Five Bruins Earn All-Pac-12 Honors
Five members the Pac-12 Champion UCLA Gymnastics team were named to the 2016 Pac-12 All-Conference teams, including multiple honorees Sadiqua Bynum and Danusia Francis. Bynum received first-team acclaim on vault and floor exercise. Her floor exercise award was the second consecutive in her career, and her vault award was the first. Francis earned her fourth career honor on balance beam. Earning All-Pac-12 honors for the first time in their careers were junior Angi Cipra, who was named to the first team on floor exercise; senior Sophina DeJesus, who earned second-team acclaim on uneven bars; and freshman Katelyn Ohashi, who received second-team honors on balance beam.
Bynum Shines in Clutch Time for Bruins
Senior Sadiqua Bynum may have started her UCLA career as a redshirt walk-on, but she is ending her career as a superstar. Three times this season, she has clinched victories for the Bruins with a strong score on floor exercise. She did it in the season opener by scoring 9.95 to defeat Alabama, repeated the score and feat in the win over Utah, and hit the trifecta at the Pac-12 Championships, needing to hit her routine for UCLA to win and doing just that with a 9.9. Bynum has been ranked in the Top 20 in the nation on floor every week this season and was No. 1 for two weeks (Weeks 8 and 9). She finished the regular season ranked No. 7 in the nation and No. 1 in the Pac-12. Bynum's consistency on floor has been incredible, as she has scored 9.95 or higher in six of her last seven meets, with a high of 9.975 set on Feb. 13, and 9.9 or better in 10 of her 11 meets this season. She also had a streak of five consecutive victories on floor and has a team-high eight event titles (seven on floor, one on vault). On vault, she holds UCLA's highest season average with a 9.841 and has the Bruins' highest vault score this season, a career-high 9.95, set Mar. 6. Bynum won Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week and Pac-12 Specialist of the Week honors one time each this season.
Francis Reaches Perfection
Senior Danusia Francis scored the second perfect 10 of her career on Mar. 6 on the balance beam. Her first perfect 10 came on Mar. 16, 2014. Francis was flawless on the balance beam, performing a routine that was both graceful and difficult, ending with a stuck landing on her one-of-a-kind sideways side aerial to immediate full-twisting layout dismount. The 10 was only the ninth by a Bruin on beam in program history and the first (and only) by a Pac-12 gymnast this year. Francis, the Pac-12 beam champion, finished the regular season ranked No. 2 in the nation on beam and held the No. 1 spot for a total of five weeks during the year. She has ranked in the Top 20 in the final regular season rankings in all four years at UCLA (No. 2 in 2016, No. 3 in 2015, No. 4 in 2014 and No. 18 in 2013). She is currently averaging 9.920 on beam and has posted seven scores of 9.925 or better, including four 9.95s and one perfect 10.
Freshman Sensation
Freshman Katelyn Ohashi may be the smallest gymnast on the floor at 4-10, but she packs a powerful punch during competition, averaging 9.84 or higher on both beam and floor. She won Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors four times in the six weeks in which she competed prior to the Pac-12 Championships. Since coming back on Feb. 27 from the sternum injury that saw her miss four weeks of competition, she has scored 9.9 on beam in four consecutive meets and also scored a high of 9.9 on floor. She has season-high scores of 9.775 on vault, 9.925 on bars, 9.9 on beam and floor and 39.375 in the all-around.
High Marks
After 10 meets, UCLA has posted 22 9.95 scores this season - Danusia Francis five times on beam and once on floor, Christine Peng-Peng Lee and Sophina DeJesus once on beam, Sadiqua Bynum seven times on floor and once on vault, Angi Cipra four times on floor, Hallie Mossett once on floor and JaNay Honest once on bars. Francis leads the crew with 15 9.95+ scores in her career (13 on beam and 2 on floor). Lee has eight (3 on bars, 5 on beam), Bynum has nine (8 on floor and 1 on vault). Cipra has five on floor, Mossett has one on floor, and Honest has one on bars. DeJesus has one each on bars and beam. The Bruins have also tallied 62 scores of 9.9 or higher this year and had a season-high eight three times (Pac-12 Championships, vs. Stanford/Georgia and vs. Oregon State).
Notables
Five Bruins have hit all of their routines without a fall so far this season. Danusia Francis is 30-for-30, JaNay Honest is 27-for-27, Sadiqua Bynum is 22-for-22, Mikaela Gerber is 16-for-16, and Rechelle Dennis is 5-for-5 … Francis has hit 65 routines in a row without a fall, with 59 of those routines scoring 9.8 or above … Bynum has hit 52 routines in a row since 2014 … Sophina DeJesus has scored 9.8 or higher on 19 of her last 20 beam routines … Sonya Meraz has hit 19 of 20 beam routines in her career, with 14 of those routines scoring 9.8 or higher … Meraz is the team's No. 1 point contributor this year with 322.375 total points (12.53%) … UCLA's top point producers on the individual events are Sadiqua Bynum on vault (108.25) and floor (109.125), JaNay Honest on bars (108.275), and Mikaela Gerber on beam (108.175) … Six Bruins have competed in every meet this season - Sadiqua Bynum, Sophina DeJesus, Mikaela Gerber, JaNay Honest, Sonya Meraz and Madison Preston … 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.
Bruin Depth
The depth of the UCLA team has been on full display this season, with 16 gymnasts getting into the lineup at least three times. The Bruins have had tremendous contributions from their walk-ons, particularly in the middle to late part of the season. Sonya Meraz has competed the most for UCLA this season with 33 routines. JaNay Honest won a share of the Pac-12 uneven bars title and has contributed scores of 9.9 or higher on each of her three events this season. Stella Savvidou has competed in the last four meets and scored a high of 9.875 on bars the last two meets and 9.825 on beam on Feb. 27 vs. Arizona State, where she placed third. Nicki Shapiro has competed on beam the last six meets and posted a high of 9.925 at the Pac-12 Championships. Rechelle Dennis competed on bars for three-straight meets from Feb. 13-27, with a high of 9.85 on Feb. 27. And although now on scholarship, Sadiqua Bynum began her career as a walk-on and has been UCLA's rock, leading the team in season average on both vault and floor.
Unique Skills
UCLA gymnasts have long been known for their unique skills. Most notably, Danusia Francis is the first gymnast ever to connect a sideways side aerial to a full-twisting layout dismount on beam. She was also the first collegiate gymnast to do the sideways side aerial back in 2013. After completing a double layout as her first pass, Sadiqua Bynum does her second pass - a double tuck - as a side pass across the short length of the floor. Christine Peng-Peng Lee mounts beam with the Homma Flairs and does a double turn. She also performs a Bhardwaj (full-twisting Pak salto) on uneven bars. Other notable skills include a double wolf turn on beam by Stella Savvidou, a backhandspring/backhandspring/2-foot layout series on beam by Katelyn Ohashi, and a side somi connected to a layout full dismount on beam by Hallie Mossett.
Attendance Record Set
UCLA fans came out in record numbers in 2016, with an school-record average of 6,010 fans attending Bruin home meets. UCLA topped 5,000 fans in five meets and had over 7,000 fans in attendance twice. UCLA's home attendance numbers have increased from year-to-year since the Bruins returned to Pauley Pavilion after a remodel in 2013.
Bruins Go Viral
UCLA Gymnastics has been seen in unprecedented numbers this season, with two videos going viral and a few others going semi-viral.
Senior Sophina DeJesus started the trend when a video of her floor exercise routine went viral on Super Bowl weekend. The video has topped 28 million views on Facebook and 13 million on YouTube. DeJesus was the top trending topic on Facebook for two days and was 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, Chris Brown and Ashton Kutcher posted about her routine on social media. DeJesus was invited to be a guest on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Feb. 17, performing a modified version of her floor routine and reminiscing 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/DJ Stephen “tWitch” Boss.
Senior Danusia Francis was next to go viral, with her perfect 10 on balance beam on Mar. 6 seeing over 5 million views on Facebook. Other UCLA Gymnastics videos with over half a million views on Facebook include Nicki Shapiro's balance beam save and Angi Cipra's floor exercise dance-through during the pre-season.
Vault Changes
With the Yurchenko layout full and Yurchenko layout half vaults being devalued to 9.95 start values, several Bruins worked on new vaults in 2016 to maintain a 10.0 start value. Two Bruins have competed 10.0 start value vaults this season. Napualani Hall has scored career-highs of 9.9 on stuck Yurchenko 1.5s twice, and Sadiqua Bynum stuck her Yurchenko Arabian Mar. 6 for a career-high 9.95. JaNay Honest and Madison Preston have UCLA's highest score on a Yurchenko layout full with 9.9s.
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 week on uclabruins.com. This week's episode will feature Sadiqua Bynum and JaNay Honest.
UCLA Dominates Pac-12 All-Century Team
UCLA Gymnastics dominated the Pac-12 All-Century Team, with 12 Bruins selected to the 16-gymnast roster, in addition to current head coach Valorie Kondos Field being named Coach of the Century and two-time NCAA all-around champion Tasha Schwikert being selected the Gymnast of the Century.
Also selected to the All-Century team from UCLA were Jill Andrews (balance beam), Mohini Bhardwaj (all-around, uneven bars, floor exercise), Jamie Dantzscher (floor exercise, all-around), Kim Hamilton (floor exercise), Kristen Maloney (vault), Heidi Moneymaker (vault), Samantha Peszek (balance beam, all-around), Kate Richardson (floor exercise), Schwikert (all-around), Sharon Shapiro (all-around), Stella Umeh (floor exercise) and Vanessa Zamarripa (vault).
Get Social
UCLA Gymnastics ranks first among all NCAA gymnastics teams in Instagram followers (49k) and Facebook likes (102k+) and has moved up to fifth in Twitter followers (9.7k). The Bruins are just the fourth NCAA women's team across all sports to surpass 100,000 likes on Facebook. Follow the Bruins at @UCLAGymnastics on Instagram and Twitter and on Facebook at facebook.com/uclagymnastics.