University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA Hosts Oklahoma on Senior Day
March 10, 2016 | Gymnastics
#8 UCLA vs. #1 Oklahoma
Sunday, Mar. 13 - 2:00 pm
TV: Pac-12 Networks (Jim Watson, Amanda Borden, Greg Marsden)
Live Stats: uclabruins.com
Tickets: uclabruins.com/tickets
UCLA Hosts Top-Ranked Oklahoma Sunday
No. 8 UCLA (6-4) hosts No. 1 Oklahoma (19-1) in the regular season finale on Sunday, Mar. 13 in Pauley Pavilion. The gymnastics extravaganza begins at 1:45pm, with competition beginning promptly at 2pm. The meet will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks and Pac-12 Los Angeles, with Jim Watson, Amanda Borden and Greg Marsden on the call.
Senior Salute
UCLA seniors Sadiqua Bynum, Sophina DeJesus and Danusia Francis will be honored at the conclusion of the meet, along with graduating team manager Jessy MacArthur and undergraduate assistant coach Jennifer Pinches. Bynum, DeJesus and Francis have been invaluable contributors to the Bruin squad, having each earned All-America honors during their careers. Bynum has the highest season average on the team on vault (9.842) and is ranked first on the team and fourth in the nation on floor (9.935 RQS). DeJesus is ranked first on the team and 24th in the nation on bars (9.880 RQS) and is tied with Bynum for the team's highest season average on floor (9.919). Francis ranks first in the nation on beam (9.940) and has the team's highest season average on bars (9.828). All three seniors have scored 9.975 or higher this year, with Bynum earning a 9.975 on vault, DeJesus a 9.975 on beam and Francis a 10.0 on beam.
Tickets & Promotions
Sunday is Sparkle Day, and in honor of Sophina DeJesus' favorite color, all fans who bring the bling and wear sparkly attire will receive a free general admission ticket. If sparkles aren't your thing, tickets for Sunday's meet start at just $8 and can be purchased in advance at the UCLA Central Ticket Office or online at Ticketmaster. UCLA students are free with ID and eligible to win a raffle prize each home meet. This week's prize is an Apple Watch, and students who enter before 1:45pm wearing sparkles will receive an extra raffle ticket.
Follow Live
Live stats for Sunday's meet will be available at uclabruins.com. Live updates can also be found on Twitter: @UCLAGymnastics. British Olympian and undergraduate assistant coach Jennifer Pinches will live tweet from the arena during the meet.
In the Rankings
UCLA improved its Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) to 196.865 but dropped one spot to No. 8 in the national rankings. 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 No. 4 on floor (49.420), No. 6 on beam (49.240), No. 9 on vault (49.150) and No. 13 on bars (49.140). There are four Bruins ranked in the Top 25 nationally - Danusia Francis is No. 1 on beam, Sadiqua Bynum is No. 4 on floor, Angi Cipra is No. 9 on floor, and Sophina DeJesus is No. 24 on bars.
UCLA-Oklahoma Matchup
This is only the sixth regular season matchup between UCLA and Oklahoma. The Sooners lead the overall series, 4-1, and won the last matchup in 2013 in Oklahoma, 198.375-197.200. UCLA won the matchup in 2012 in Los Angeles, 197.525-196.475.
Along with being No. 1 overall in the nation, Oklahoma ranks No. 1 on bars (49.530 RQS) and floor (49.530), No. 2 on beam (49.370) and No. 3 on vault (49.395). Chayse Capps is No. 1 in the nation in the all-around (39.620) and tied for No. 1 with Danusia Francis on beam (9.940). McKenzie Wofford is No. 1 on bars (9.945), and Ali Jackson is No. 2 on vault (9.935).
Francis Scores Perfect 10, Wins Pac-12 Specialist of the Week
Senior Danusia Francis scored the second perfect 10 of her career last Sunday with a flawless routine 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 by a Pac-12 gymnast this year.
With her performance, Francis was named the Pac-12 Specialist of the Week, becoming the fifth different Bruin to win the award this season. It is also her second Specialist of the Week award of her career.
Ohashi Named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week
For a school-record fourth time this season, Katelyn Ohashi was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week. Ohashi posted big numbers in the team's tri-meet with Georgia and Stanford, scoring career-highs of 9.9 on both beam and floor. Since coming back from her sternum injury, she has scored 9.9s on all three of her routines. Ohashi has won Freshman of the Week honors in four of the five weeks she has competed this season.
Last Time Out
Senior Danusia Francis scored a perfect 10 on balance beam, but the seventh-ranked Bruins had to count a fall on the event, dropping them to third place in a highly-competitive tri-meet with Stanford and Georgia. The 16th-ranked Cardinal won the meet with a season-high 197.400, while 10th-ranked Georgia was second with a 197.025. UCLA finished with a team score of 196.825. UCLA had strong performances on vault and floor, scoring a season-high 49.375 on vault thanks to career-bests from Sadiqua Bynum (9.95) and Madison Preston (9.9) and a meet-high 49.475 on floor that was highlighted by Bynum's 9.95, JaNay Honest's 9.925 and Katelyn Ohashi's return to the floor lineup that saw her score a career-high 9.9. The Bruins, however, ran into troubles on bars and had to count a 9.625, and on beam, where they had to count a fall, tempering the high of Francis' 10 and a huge leadoff score of 9.925 from Mikaela Gerber.
High Marks
After nine meets, UCLA has posted 17 9.95 scores this season - Danusia Francis four times on beam, Christine Peng-Peng Lee and Sophina DeJesus once on beam, Sadiqua Bynum six times on floor and once on vault, Angi Cipra three times on floor and Hallie Mossett once on floor. Francis leads the crew with 13 9.95+ scores in her career (12 on beam and 1 on floor). Lee has eight (3 on bars, 5 on beam), Bynum has eight (7 on floor and 1 on vault). Cipra has four on floor, and Mossett has one on floor. DeJesus has one each on bars and beam. The Bruins have also tallied 49 scores of 9.9 or higher this year and had a season-high eight in the meets vs. Oregon State and vs. Stanford/Georgia.
Notables
Seven Bruins have hit all of their routines without a fall so far this season. Danusia Francis is 24-for-24, JaNay Honest is 21-for-21, Sadiqua Bynum is 18-for-18, Mikaela Gerber is 14-for-14, Madison Preston is 13-for-13, Melissa Metcalf is 7-for-7, and Rechelle Dennis is 5-for-5 … Francis has hit 59 routines in a row without a fall, with 53 of those routines scoring 9.8 or above … Bynum has hit 48 routines in a row since 2014 … Sophina DeJesus has scored 9.8 or higher on 17 of her last 18 beam routines … Sonya Meraz is a perfect 18-for-18 on beam in her career, with 13 of those routines scoring 9.8 or higher … Meraz is the team's No. 1 point contributor this year with 264.2 total points (12.55%) … 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. Stella Savvidou has competed on beam in the last two meets, with a high of 9.825 set on Feb. 27 vs. Arizona State, where she placed third. She also scored 9.875 on bars in an exhibition in that meet and scored 9.575 in a counting routine Mar. 6. Nicki Shapiro has competed on beam the last four meets and posted a high of 9.9 in her competitive debut Feb. 13. Rechelle Dennis competed on bars for three-straight meets from Feb. 13-27, with a high of 9.85 on Feb. 27, but she sprained her ankle during vault warmups last weekend and was unable to compete. JaNay Honest is making a compelling case for staying in the floor lineup, scoring 9.85 on her season debut performance at Washington and then following it up with back-to-back career-highs of 9.925 the last two meets.
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.
Sophina Goes Viral
Senior Sophina 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 and 12 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 made her biggest appearance yet on Feb. 17 with a guest turn on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. During the broadcast, 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.
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 stuck her Yurchenko Arabian last weekend 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 Thursday on uclabruins.com. This week's episode features guests Madison Preston and Melissa Metcalf.
Get Social
UCLA Gymnastics ranks first among all NCAA gymnastics teams in Instagram followers (47k) and Facebook likes (96k+) and ranks sixth in Twitter followers (9.3k). Follow the Bruins at @UCLAGymnastics on Instagram and Twitter and on Facebook at facebook.com/uclagymnastics.
Looking Ahead
UCLA has clinched a spot in the evening session (6pm) at the Pac-12 Championships Mar. 19. The Bruins will be the No. 2 seed behind Utah and will have Olympic rotation.
