University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA Gymnasts Seek Seventh NCAA Title
April 11, 2016 | Gymnastics
No. 8 UCLA at NCAA Semifinals - Session II
Friday, April 15 - 7:00 pm CT/5:00 pm PT
TV: ESPNU
Live Stats: ncaa.com
UCLA Competes at NCAA Championships
Eighth-ranked and six-time NCAA champion UCLA (13-5) will compete at the NCAA Championships April 15-16 at the Fort Worth Convention Center Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. Competition begins on Friday, April 15 with two semifinal sessions at 1pm and 7pm CT. The Bruins will compete in the 7pm evening session, along with Oklahoma, Alabama, Utah, California and Nebraska. Afternoon session competitors are Florida, LSU, Auburn, Georgia, Minnesota and Stanford.
The top three teams from each semifinal will advance to the Super Six Team Finals on Saturday, Apr. 16 at 8pm CT. The all-around and individual event champions will be determined during Friday's semifinals.
Follow Live
All three sessions of the Championships will be televised live on ESPNU, and ESPN3 will also provide live feeds on each apparatus. Live stats and streaming links are available at ncaa.com. Live updates on the Bruins can be found on Twitter by following @UCLAGymnastics.
Rotation Order
The rotation order for the semifinals was determined by blind draw. The Bruins will start the meet on uneven bars, followed by balance beam, a bye, floor exercise and vault. UCLA ends the meet on a bye. Utah has the Olympic order and will start on vault. Alabama begins on a bye before bars. California starts on beam, Oklahoma has a bye before floor, and Nebraska begins on floor.
UCLA's NCAA Championship History
The Bruins have won six NCAA gymnastics titles - in 1997 at Florida, 2000 at Boise State, 2001 at Georgia, 2003 at Nebraska, 2004 at UCLA and 2010 at Florida. This is UCLA's 32nd overall appearance in the 35 NCAA Championships. The Bruins have qualified to the Super Six Team Finals 18 times in the 23 years of this format.
Individual NCAA History
A total of 16 Bruins have won 33 NCAA titles to rank second behind only Georgia (40) in individual NCAA titles. UCLA has won at least two individual titles in 10 of the last 18 years and a team or individual title in 13 of the last 18 years. Since 2000, the Bruins have captured 22 individual titles, the most of any school during that time period. Samantha Peszek won UCLA's last three titles, winning the balance beam as a freshman in 2011 and as a fifth-year senior in 2015, when she also captured a share of the all-around title.
Last Year at NCAAs
UCLA placed 11th overall at last year's NCAA Championships, placing sixth in the semifinals with a score of 196.400. The Bruins dug themselves a hole right away in the first rotation, with two out-of-bounds deductions and just two clean routines on floor exercise, and did not help matters in rotation two with short landings and only two sticks. Although the Bruins regrouped and finished strong with a 49.25 on bars and 49.2 on beam, it was too little, too late. All was not lost for UCLA, however, as Samantha Peszek tied with Kytra Hunter from Florida for the all-around title and won the balance beam crown outright.
NCAA Championship Notes
*Only six teams have ever won the NCAA title in the 34 years of the Championships - Georgia (10), Utah (9), UCLA (6), Alabama (6), Florida (3) and Oklahoma (1). For the first 15 years of the Championship, only Utah, Georgia and Alabama had ever won the team title. UCLA broke the stranglehold in 1997. It took 16 years for another new team - Florida in 2013 - to win a title, and Oklahoma joined the party in 2014, tying with Florida for the championship.
*Ten schools return from the 2015 NCAA Championships, including all six Super Six teams. Returning teams are Florida (1st place), Utah (2nd), Oklahoma (3rd), Alabama (4th), Stanford (5th), Auburn (6th), Nebraska (8th), Georgia (9th), LSU (10th), and UCLA (11th). California is making its second-ever Championship appearance and first since 1992. Minnesota returns after a two-year absence. Absent from last year's field are Michigan (7th) and Penn State (12th).
*Only one of the 2015 individual champions returns - Stanford sophomore Elizabeth Price, who won vault. Florida's Bridget Sloan won the all-around in 2013 and bars and beam in 2014.
*Ten of the Top 12 teams in the final regular season rankings qualified for the NCAA Championships. Seventh-ranked Michigan and 11th-ranked Denver were the only two not to advance. Advancing out of the Top 20 were No. 16 Minnesota and No. 18 Stanford.
*UCLA ranks second among all schools with 33 individual titles. Georgia leads all teams with 40. Utah is in third place with 25, and Alabama has 24.
*UCLA has won either a team or an individual NCAA title 11 times since the 2000 season.
*This is the first time the NCAA Championships have been held in the same location in consecutive years since Utah hosted in 1987 and 1988.
UCLA vs. the 2016 Field
The Bruins have matched up against seven of the 11 other teams in the NCAA field this season. The Bruins are 2-1 vs. Utah, 1-0 vs. Alabama, 1-1 vs. Stanford, 1-1 vs. Cal and 0-1 vs. Georgia, Florida and Oklahoma.
Bruins Second in SLC Regional
UCLA advanced to the NCAA Championships for the 32nd time in program history after placing second to Utah in the NCAA Salt Lake City Regional with a score of 196.375. The Bruins had to dig deep in the final rotation to grab that qualifying spot after two missed routines in a row, but the final three competitors on uneven bars came through in the clutch. Competing on bars for the first time in a year, Christine Peng-Peng Lee hit a meet-winning 9.95, and JaNay Honest and Sophina DeJesus delivered a 9.8 and 9.85, respectively, to secure second place for UCLA over Washington. A Bruin took home first-place honors on all four events, with Madison Preston tying for first on vault, Lee winning bars, Danusia Francis tying for first on beam and Sadiqua Bynum tying for first on floor.
Texas Bruins
UCLA has two freshman gymnasts on its squad from Texas - Katelyn Ohashi from Plano (WOGA) and Macy Toronjo from Huntsville (Texas Dreams). Ohashi has been a standout performer, winning Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors four times and scoring highs of 9.925 on bars, 9.9 on beam and floor, 9.775 on vault and 39.375 in the all-around. Toronjo underwent rotator cuff surgery in the fall and is redshirting this season. Last year, she won the Level 10 National all-around and floor title.
In the Rankings
UCLA finished the regular season No. 8 in the national rankings 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.
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.
Scholar-Athletes
Six Bruins earned Pac-12 All-Academic honors in 2016. Receiving second-team honors for the second consecutive year were Angi Cipra and Danusia Francis, and Mikaela Gerber and Sonya Meraz also earned second-team honors. Christine Peng-Peng Lee and Melissa Metcalf received honorable mention. Members of the All-Academic team must have a 3.0 or higher cumulative GPA and compete in at least 50% of the team's meets.
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 was 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 seven of her last eight meets, with a high of 9.975 set on Feb. 13, and 9.9 or better in 11 of her 12 meets this season. She also had a streak of five consecutive victories on floor and has a team-high nine event titles (eight on floor, one on vault). On vault, she holds UCLA's highest season average with a 9.842 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 9.918 on beam and has posted seven scores of 9.925 or better, including four 9.95s and one perfect 10.
Lee Makes Triumphant Return
It has been a long road back for Christine Peng-Peng Lee, but the four-time All-American is back in the Bruin lineup on uneven bars, and her return was never more needed than at the NCAA Regionals. With the Bruins already counting a fall on the event in the final rotation and with a NCAA Championships berth on the line, Lee scored a meet-high 9.95 to help UCLA qualify. It was her first uneven bars routine of the year, as she was limited to six balance beam routines and two vaults due to off-season thumb surgery. Lee then underwent a knee scope on Feb. 23 and missed five meets before returning for Regionals.
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 9.825 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 of five 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
UCLA has posted 24 9.95 scores this season - Danusia Francis five times on beam and once on floor, Christine Peng-Peng Lee once each on bars and beam, Sophina DeJesus once on beam, Sadiqua Bynum eight 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). Bynum has 10 (8 on floor and 1 on vault), and Lee has nine (4 on bars, 5 on beam). 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 67 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 33-for-33, JaNay Honest is 30-for-30, Sadiqua Bynum is 24-for-24, Mikaela Gerber is 17-for-17, and Rechelle Dennis is 5-for-5 … Francis has hit 68 routines in a row without a fall, with 62 of those routines scoring 9.8 or above … Bynum has hit 54 routines in a row since 2014 … Sophina DeJesus has scored 9.8 or higher on 19 of her last 21 beam routines … Sonya Meraz has hit 20 of 21 beam routines in her career, with 15 of those routines scoring 9.8 or higher … Meraz is the team's No. 1 point contributor this year with 350.95 total points (12.5%) … UCLA's top point producers on the individual events are Sadiqua Bynum on vault (118.10) and floor (119.075), JaNay Honest on bars (118.075), and Mikaela Gerber on beam (117.95) … Six Bruins have competed in every meet this season - Sadiqua Bynum, Sophina DeJesus, Mikaela Gerber, JaNay Honest, Sonya Meraz and Madison Preston … Christine Peng-Peng Lee won her fourth career NCAA Regional event title by taking the uneven bars crown at the Salt Lake City Regional. She has competed on four events in her career at Regionals and has won every one, taking the vault, bars and beam crowns in 2015 … 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 36 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 five 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 seven 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) and Shaposh half 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.
Get Social
UCLA Gymnastics ranks first among all NCAA gymnastics teams in Instagram followers (50.5k) and Facebook likes (104k+) and has moved up to fifth in Twitter followers (9.8k). 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.
