Friday, April 14
St. Louis, Mo.
10:00 AM

UCLA

at

NCAA Semifinals

Angi Cipra (photo by Katie Meyers)
Angi Cipra (photo by Katie Meyers)

NCAA Gymnastics Championships Begin Apr. 14

April 10, 2017 | Gymnastics

No. 5 UCLA at NCAA Championships
St. Louis, Mo. (Chaifetz Arena)
Friday, Apr. 14, 12pm CT - Semifinal #1
TV: ESPN2
Live Stats: ncaa.com
Twitter: @uclagymnastics

Saturday, Apr. 15, 8pm CT - Super Six Team Finals
TV: ESPNU
Live Stats: ncaa.com
Twitter: @uclagymnastics

UCLA Competes at NCAA Championships
Fifth-ranked and six-time NCAA champion UCLA (13-4-1) will compete at the NCAA Championships April 14-15 at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, Mo. Competition begins on Friday, April 14 with two semifinal sessions at 12pm and 7pm CT. The Bruins will compete in the 12pm afternoon session, along with Oklahoma, Washington, Oregon State, Utah and Denver. Evening session competitors are LSU, Nebraska, Michigan, Alabama, Florida and Georgia. The top three teams from each semifinal will advance to the Super Six Team Finals on Saturday, Apr. 15 at 8pm CT. The all-around and individual event champions will be determined during Friday's semifinals.

Follow Live
Each session of the Championships will be televised live. The first semifinal will air on ESPN2, while the second semifinal and Super Six will air on ESPNU. ESPN3 will also provide live feeds on each apparatus. Live stats will be available at ncaa.com, and live updates can be found on Twitter by following @UCLAGymnastics.

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 33rd overall appearance in the 36 NCAA Championships. The Bruins have qualified to the Super Six Team Finals 19 times in the 24 years of this format.

Individual NCAA History
A total of 17 Bruins have won 34 NCAA titles to rank second behind only Georgia (42) in individual NCAA titles. UCLA has won three individual titles in the last two seasons, with Danusia Francis capturing the beam title in 2016 and Samantha Peszek winning the all-around and beam in 2015. Since 2000, the Bruins have captured 23 individual titles, the most of any school during that time period.

Last Year at NCAAs
UCLA placed fifth overall at last year's NCAA Championships, scoring 196.825. The Bruins hit 24-for-24 in both days of competition and scored over 49 on each event in the final, including a huge score of 49.4375 on balance beam in the last rotation to ensure a Top 5 finish. Senior Danusia Francis won a share of the NCAA balance beam title, UCLA's second in as many years, scoring 9.95.

NCAA Championship Notes
*Only six teams have ever won the NCAA title in the 35 years of the Championships - Georgia (10), Utah (9), UCLA (6), Alabama (6), Florida (3) and Oklahoma (2). 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 before winning outright in 2016.
*Ten schools return from the 2016 NCAA Championships, including all six Super Six teams. Returning teams are Oklahoma (1st place), LSU (2nd), Alabama (3rd), Florida (4th), UCLA (5th), Georgia (6th), Nebraska (8th), and Utah (9th). Michigan and Oregon State both return after a one-year absence. Denver makes just its fourth-ever appearance and first since 2008, while Washington is back for the first time since 1998. Absent from last year's field are California (7th), Stanford (10th), Auburn (11th) and Minnesota (12th).
*There are only two returning individual champions in the field - 2016 vault co-champion Katie Bailey from Alabama and 2015 vault champion Elizabeth Price from Stanford. Price qualified for the NCAA Championships on uneven bars only this season.
*Ten of the Top 12 teams in the final regular season rankings qualified for the NCAA Championships. 11th-ranked Boise State and 12th-ranked Kentucky were the only two not to advance. Advancing out of the Top 12 were No. 13 Washington and No. 14 Nebraska.
*UCLA ranks second among all schools with 34 individual titles. Georgia leads all teams with 42. Utah and Alabama each have 25.
*UCLA has won either a team or an individual NCAA title 12 times since the 2000 season.
*This is the first time the NCAA Championships have been held in St. Louis. Chaifetz Arena has hosted USA Gymnastics events in recent years, however, including the USA Championships in both 2012 and 2016. Katelyn Ohashi (5th AA, 1st UB in the junior competition) and Kyla Ross (4th AA, 2nd UB) competed in the 2012 Championships, and Madison Kocian (5th AA) competed at the 2016 Championships.

UCLA vs. the 2017 Field
The Bruins have matched up against four of the 11 other teams in the NCAA field this season. The Bruins are 2-1 vs. Oregon State, 0-0-1 vs. Washington, 0-1 vs. Oklahoma, and 0-2 vs. Utah.

Bruins Win Champaign Regional
UCLA advanced to the NCAA Championships for the 33rd time in program history after winning the NCAA Champaign Regional with a score of 196.800. Oregon State held off Iowa in the last rotation to secure the second qualifying spot. The Bruins used a strong 49.425 performance on bars in the first rotation to grab an early lead and secured the lead with a 49.275 on floor in rotation four. Madison Kocian won the bars title with a 9.95 and shared first place along with Angi Cipra on floor with a 9.875.

Lee Earns Multiple Honors
Senior Christine Peng-Peng Lee has been raking in the honors in the postseason, being named a finalist for the AAI Award, winning West Region Gymnast of the Year and becoming UCLA's first-ever Pac-12 Specialist of the Year winner. Lee, who competes on bars and beam, ranks in the Top 20 in the nation on both events, checking in at No. 3 on bars and No. 17 on beam. She has two perfect 10s on bars, along with three other scores of 9.95 or higher. On beam, she has six scores of 9.9 or better, including a 9.975. Lee was selected as a finalist for the AAI Award, which is presented to the top senior gymnast in the nation.

Ross Voted Pac-12 Freshman of the Year
Kyla Ross became the eighth Bruin and first since 2011 to win Pac-12 Freshman of the Year. The 2012 Olympic gold medalist has consistently provided big scores for the Bruins this season, leading the team with four perfect 10s, two each on bars and beam. She leads the team with 10 scores of 9.95 or higher and 17 scores of 9.9 or higher and has the most individual victories on the team with 15, although she has competed mainly on three events. Ross ranks No. 1 in the nation on uneven bars No. 4 on beam and No. 19 on vault and won the Pac-12 title with the first-ever perfect 10 on beam at the Championship meet.

Five Earn Regular Season All-America Honors
Five Bruins - Madison Kocian, Christine Peng-Peng Lee, Hallie Mossett, Katelyn Ohashi and Kyla Ross - have earned regular season All-America honors for 2017. Receiving first-team honors are Kocian in the all-around, Ross and Lee on bars, Ohashi and Ross on bars and Kocian on floor. Second-team honorees are Kocian and Mossett on floor. UCLA has now produced 68 All-Americans who have totaled 331 All-America honors.

Five Bruins Named to All-Pac-12 Team
Five Bruin gymnasts earned a total of 12 All-Pac-12 honors in 2017, tying with Utah for the most in the conference. UCLA honorees were Madison Kocian (1st team AA, FX,; 2nd team V, BB), Kyla Ross (1st team V, UB, BB), Christine Peng-Peng Lee (1st team UB, 2nd team BB), Katelyn Ohashi (1st team BB, 2nd team FX) and Hallie Mossett (1st team FX).

Scholar Athletes
A total of six Bruin gymnasts earned Pac-12 All-Academic honors, led by first-team selection Mikaela Gerber (3.68, Psychology) and second-team honoree Sonya Meraz (3.53, Biochemistry). Receiving honorable mention acclaim were Angi Cipra, Napualani Hall, Christine Peng-Peng Lee and Hallie Mossett.

10.0 Club
Four Bruins have joined the 10.0 club this season, as Kyla Ross (Jan. 28, Feb. 18, Feb. 20, Mar. 18), Madison Kocian (Feb. 11), Christine Peng-Peng Lee (Feb. 11, Mar. 12) and Katelyn Ohashi (Mar. 5, Mar. 12) have all scored perfect 10s. The four perfect 10 scorers this season are the most by a Bruin team since 2004, when five different gymnasts scored 10s (Jeanette Antolin, Jamie Dantzscher, Kristen Maloney, Kate Richardson and Yvonne Tousek). The nine perfect 10 routines are tied with Oklahoma for the most in the nation this year, and they are the most by a Bruin squad since the 2004 team scored a school-record 20, including 11 alone by Jeanette Antolin.

Twenty-nine different UCLA gymnasts have scored a total of 113 perfect 10s over the years. Twelve have totaled 25 perfect 10s on uneven bars, and seven have scored 13 perfect 10s on balance beam. Ross, Kocian and Lee are the first Bruin trio to score perfect 10s on the same event in one year since Richardson, Antolin and Maloney all did so on vault in 2004. Ross and Ohashi are the first pair of Bruins to score perfect 10s on beam in the same season since Maloney and Mohini Bhardwaj in 2001. And Ohashi and Ross are just the second and third Bruins ever to score multiple 10s on beam in the same year, joining Kate Richardson who did it in 2003 and 2004. Ohashi was the first Bruin ever to score back-to-back perfect 10s on beam.

Perfect Scores Abound for Ross
Freshman Kyla Ross, a member of the gold medal-winning 2012 U.S. Olympic team and a five-time World medalist, has performed nine routines in her last nine meets that have earned at least one perfect score. Ross has scored four perfect 10s (two each on bars and beam). Three of those perfect 10s have come on the road. Ross has the second-most 10.0s in the nation this season, behind only Oklahoma's Maggie Nichols, who has six.

Ross' first perfect 10 came on Jan. 28 at Oregon State on uneven bars, and her second was earned on bars again at Utah on Feb. 18. She nabbed her first 10 on beam in the Bruins' tri-meet on Feb. 20, giving her two 10s in less than 48 hours. Her most recent 10, on beam on Mar. 18, gave her the Pac-12 beam title and was the first-ever perfect 10 on beam at the Pac-12 Championships. Ross also has three 9.975s - one on beam on Feb. 4 and two on bars (Feb. 11 and Mar. 5) - and has also scored 9.925 on her 9.95 start-valued vault in two meets, receiving the maximum 9.95 score from one of the two judges. Ross is the first Bruin gymnast to score four 10s in a season since Tasha Schwikert in 2005.

High Marks
UCLA has posted 33 9.95 scores this season, including 13 each on bars and beam. Seven different Bruins have 9.95 or higher scores, led by Kyla Ross, who has 10 (six on bars and four on beam), including four perfect 10s. Madison Kocian is the only Bruin to have 9.95s or higher on three events (three on floor and two each on bars and beam). Christine Peng-Peng Lee has five on bars, including two perfect 10s, and two on beam. Katelyn Ohashi has totaled five on beam, including two perfect 10s. Hallie Mossett has two on floor, both 9.975s. Madison Preston and Macy Toronjo have one each, on vault and floor, respectively. Lee leads the team with 16 9.95+ scores in her career (nine on bars, seven on beam). Angi Cipra has five on floor, Mossett has three on floor, and JaNay Honest has one on bars. The Bruins have also totaled 84 scores of 9.9 or higher this year, led by Ross' 19, and had a season-high 12 9.9+ scores against North Carolina.

In the Rankings
UCLA finished the regular season ranked No. 5 in the nation with a Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) of 197.500. UCLA ranked second on bars, third on beam, seventh on floor and eighth on vault. Kyla Ross ranked No. 1 on bars for the fourth-straight week and was also Top 20 on her other two events, tying for fourth on beam and 19th on vault. Madison Kocian tied for fifth in the all-around, tied for 10th on floor, and tied for 17th on beam. UCLA has two of the Top 3 on bars - No. 1 Ross and No. 3 Christine Peng-Peng Lee. On beam, four Bruins ranked in the Top 20 - No. 1 Katelyn Ohashi, No. 4 Ross, No. 17 Kocian and Lee. Hallie Mossett moved up to No. 16 on floor. National rankings are based on Regional Qualifying Score, which takes the team's Top 3 away scores plus three other scores, drops the high and averages the remaining five scores.

Ross, Ohashi Finish Regular Season No. 1
Two Bruins finished the regular season atop the national rankings on bars and beam. Freshman Kyla Ross took over the top spot on bars on Feb. 27 and never relinquished it. She finished with a Regional Qualifying Score (RQS) of 9.965. Ohashi made a late run for the No. 1 ranking on beam, nabbing it in the final week with a RQS of 9.960. Ohashi finished the regular season with seven-straight scores of 9.9 or higher, including two 10.0s, a 9.975 and three 9.95s.

Streaks
UCLA has scored 49+ on vault in every meet this season. Dating back to last year, the Bruins have gone 49+ on vault in 13 straight meets โ€ฆ UCLA has scored 49+ on beam in its last 11 meets, with three 49.5+ marks in its last five meets โ€ฆ Mikaela Gerber has a streak of 35 consecutive hit routines dating back to 2015. She hit all 19 of her routines last year, including 14 as the leadoff on beam, and she is 9-for-9 this year on beam โ€ฆ Sonya Meraz has competed in 36-straight meets, and JaNay Honest has competed in 26-straight โ€ฆ Madison Kocian competed on 24 consecutive events to start the season, going all-around in the first six meets before being held to just bars and beam at the Bruins' tri-meet on Feb. 20 โ€ฆ Kocian has hit 37 consecutive routines without a fall.

Vaulting Upwards
Although the Bruins have only thrown a total of eight 10.0 start-value vaults all season (five by Gracie Kramer and three by Napualani Hall), the team holds a solid season average of 49.210 and a high of 49.5 set Feb. 11. UCLA has scored 49+ on vault in every meet this season. Madison Preston has the team's highest vault score of the season with a 9.95. Kyla Ross has two 9.925s and two 9.9s and averages 9.873. Kramer scored a career-high 9.925 on her Yurchenko 1.5 on Feb. 11 and went 9.875 on Mar. 12. Six Bruins are averaging 9.8 or higher on vault this season - Ross (9.873), Angi Cipra (9.836), Preston (9.844), Madison Kocian (9.840), Hall (9.821) and Stella Savvidou (9.8).

Raising the Bar
UCLA scored the highest uneven bars total in the nation on Feb. 11 with a 49.725 that included two perfect 10s and a 9.975. Three Bruins have scored five perfect 10s this year. Kyla Ross (Jan. 28 at Oregon State, Feb. 18 at Utah), Madison Kocian (Feb. 11 vs. Stanford) and Christine Peng-Peng Lee (Feb. 11 vs. Stanford, Mar. 12 vs. UNC). Lee leads the team in uneven bars victories with seven, followed closely by Ross, who has six. Ross, a World silver medalist on bars, ranks No. 1 in the nation on this event and has scored 9.95 or higher six times. Lee, who is right behind at No. 3 in the nation, also has two perfect 10s and a routine that is widely considered one of the most dynamic in the NCAA. She performs three difficult release moves in her routine - a Ray (toe-on Tkatchev), a Bhardwaj (full-twisting Pak salto) and a Shaposh half. Kocian is the reigning World co-champion and Olympic silver medalist on the event and has a perfect 10 to her credit this year. She won the NCAA Regional bars title with a 9.95. Additionally, JaNay Honest won the Pac-12 title in 2016 and holds a career-high of 9.95, and Stella Savvidou has scored a career-high 9.9 three times this year. Sonya Meraz has twice scored a career-high of 9.875 this season and has added difficulty to her routine this year, upgrading her Tkatchev to a toe-on Tkatchev (Ray). The Bruins rank second in the nation on bars and are averaging 49.398, with eight meets of 49.4 or higher.

Bruins are Beaming
UCLA's balance beam lineup is stacked with consistent, difficult and elegant routines from start to finish. Leadoff performer Mikaela Gerber has hit 26 consecutive beam routines and posted a season-high of 9.9 at the Pac-12 Championships. Her career-best of 9.925 came at the 2016 Pac-12 Championships. Hallie Mossett has two 9.9s to her credit this year and has consistently hit her unique dismount, a side somi to layout full. Kyla Ross ranks fourth nationally and has two perfect 10s (Feb. 20 and Mar. 18). She was the U.S. beam champion in 2013 and 2014, the world silver medalist in 2013 and now the 2017 Pac-12 beam champion. Madison Kocian averages 9.841 and has two 9.95s to her credit, both on the road. She finished the regular season ranked 17th in the nation. Christine Peng-Peng Lee tied her career-high of 9.975 Mar. 5 and has five scores of 9.925 or better this year. Lee does some of the most unique skills in NCAA, including the Homma flairs mount, a backhandspring-layout two feet, and a double turn. Anchor Katelyn Ohashi ranks No. 1 in the nation on beam and has scored 9.9 or higher in seven of her last eight meets, including two perfect 10s. Earlier in the season, she performed possibly the most difficult flight series in NCAA history, a backhandspring-backhandspring-layout full but has scored perfect 10s doing "just" a backhandspring-backhandspring two feet-layout two feet. Sonya Meraz, who scored 9.85 or higher eight times last year, earned a season-best 9.875 at Utah on Feb. 18 and owns a career-high of 9.9. The Bruins average 49.342, with a high of 49.575 set Mar. 18 at the Pac-12 Championships and have scored 49.25 or higher in 10 of the last 11 meets.

Show-Stoppers
UCLA's floor exercise routines are not to be missed. Hallie Mossett went viral with her Beyonce-inspired routine that she helped choreograph with head coach Valorie Kondos Field. Mossett just missed out on a perfect 10 twice (Feb. 25 and Mar. 12), instead scoring a career-high 9.975. Madison Kocian holds the team's highest season average with a 9.915 and a high of 9.95, set three times. She has a team-best four event titles on floor this season. Angi Cipra, who earned All-America and All-Pac-12 honors a year ago, won her first NCAA Regional title this season and is averaging 9.871. Last season, she scored 9.9 or higher seven times, with a high of 9.975. Katelyn Ohashi has won floor twice this season and has scored career-highs of 9.925 twice. She averages 9.881 on the year. Macy Toronjo made her floor debut on Feb. 20 and hit 9.9 to capture first place. She bettered her mark in the Bruins' next meet, scoring 9.925 and posted a career-best 9.95 on Mar. 12. Stella Savvidou and Napualani Hall each scored new career-highs on Feb. 11 with scores of 9.925 and 9.875, respectively. Sonya Meraz has a season-high of 9.85, and JaNay Honest has a season-high of 9.875. UCLA earned a season-high of 49.65 on floor on Mar. 12.

No. 1 in Social Media Followers
UCLA Gymnastics has the largest social media followings in all of women's collegiate sports, ranking No. 1 across all women's sports in combined likes/followers on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, a total that is approaching 300,000. The Bruins rank first among all NCAA gymnastics teams on both Instagram (137k) and Facebook (138k) and second on Twitter (18.6k). Among all UCLA teams, gymnastics ranks first on Instagram and Facebook, and UCLA Gymnastics is the most followed Instagram team account in any sport in the Pac-12 and the most followed collegiate women's team in the nation. Follow the Bruins at @UCLAGymnastics on Instagram and Twitter and on Facebook at facebook.com/uclagymnastics. The team's Snapchat name is also uclagymnastics.

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