UCLA COMPETES AT MASTERS CLASSIC
No. 2 UCLA (10-2) heads back on the road to compete at the Masters Classic in Lincoln, Neb. on Sunday, Mar. 4 at 2pm CT/12pm PT. The Bruins will face No. 16 Nebraska (6-1), No. 23 Iowa State (15-2) and Kent State (5-4). The meet will be streamed on huskers.com. Live stats will also be available.
SCOUTING THE FIELD
Nebraska holds a season-high score of 196.875 and ranks No. 16 in the national rankings. The Huskers, who will compete at Elevate the Stage in Augusta, Ga. on Friday, are led by All-American Sienna Crouse, who ranks 12th in the nation on vault. No. 23 Iowa State's season-high is 196.450, set last weekend. The Cyclones are led by Meaghan Sievers, who ranks 19th nationally on vault, and Haylee Young, a 2017 NCAA Championships qualifier. Kent State ranks 37th overall but 14th on uneven bars. The Golden Flashes are led by senior Rachel Stypinski, who ranks 11th in the nation in the all-around, seventh on beam, 13th on floor, and 18th on bars. Stypinski scored 39.55 in the all-around last weekend, including a 9.975 on floor.
ROTATION ORDER
As the host team, Nebraska gets Olympic order, starting on vault. The Bruins will begin the meet on balance beam and end on uneven bars. The Bruins had this same rotation at Elevate the Stage on Jan. 14 and scored 197.2 to take first place in the meet. Kent State begins on uneven bars, and Iowa State starts on floor exercise.
BACK AT NO. 2
National rankings are now based on Regional Qualifying Score (RQS), which takes teams' Top 6 scores, three of which must be on the road, throwing out the high and averaging the remaining five. UCLA moved up one spot to No. 2 nationally, the second time this season that the Bruins have been ranked second. The Bruins remain ranked No. 1 on balance beam and moved up to No. 3 on vault and floor exercise and No. 4 on uneven bars.
BRUINS BREAK 198 BARRIER
UCLA broke through the 198 barrier for the first time this season on Feb. 25, defeating Oregon State, 198.075-196.525. The Bruins actually got off to a slow start, trailing the Beavers after one rotation, 49.15-49.125. After rallying with a 49.45 on bars in rotation two, UCLA scored an astronomical 99.5 points in the final two rotations, going 49.725 on beam despite a fall in the leadoff position and 49.775 on floor. The beam score tied UCLA's all-time record, set on Feb. 16, 2003 at Arizona State, and the floor score was the third-highest in school history and the highest in the nation on floor so far this season. UCLA scored four 9.975s during the meet (Kyla Ross on bars; Katelyn Ohashi and Christine Peng-Peng Lee on beam; and Nia Dennis on floor) and closed the competition with a 10.0 on floor by Ohashi.
BEAM QUEENS
UCLA remains at No. 1 in the national rankings on balance beam with a RQS of 49.520 and season average of 49.422. The Bruins have two gymnasts ranked in the Top 3 - No. 2 Christine Peng-Peng Lee (9.935), No. 3 Katelyn Ohashi (9.925). Addtionally, Grace Glenn ranks No. 20 (9.885). Reigning NCAA beam champion Kyla Ross has not competed in enough road meets on beam to be eligible for rankings yet, but her season average is 9.896. All six gymnasts who have been regulars in the beam lineup have scored at least 9.9 this year. Brielle Nguyen has a career-best of 9.9 in the leadoff position. Madison Kocian has a season-high of 9.925 and career-high of 9.95. Grace Glenn has scored 9.95 three times this year. Ohashi has scored two perfect 10s in her career and has a season-high of 9.975. Ross also has two career perfect 10s and a season-best of 9.975, and Lee has scored three beam 10s, including two this year.
FLOORS UP
UCLA's highest season average on any one event is 49.431, on floor exercise. The Bruins have scored 49.4 or higher in five meets, with a national season-high of 49.775 set Feb. 25 vs. Oregon State. That mark was the third-highest floor score in school history and the highest since the Bruins scored a school record 49.875 on Feb. 22, 2004. Every Bruin in the lineup scored 9.9 or above to achieve the 49.775 team score - Madison Kocian with a 9.9 leadoff on her first floor routine of the season, Gracie Kramer with a career-high 9.95, Kyla Ross with a career-high-tying 9.9, Nia Dennis with a career-high 9.975, Felicia Hano with a 9.95 and Katelyn Ohashi with her second perfect 10 of the year. Four Bruins have season averages of 9.875 or better on floor this year - Hano (9.929), Ohashi (9.904), Napualani Hall (9.9), Kocian (9.9) and Ross (9.888). UCLA tumbling on floor has been impressive, with Gracie Kramer doing a front double full-punch front, Kocian with a front double full, Ross starting with a whip-double back, Hall a 1.5 through to a double back, Hano and Ohashi starting with double layouts, Dennis with a piked full-in and Pauline Tratz with a tucked full-in.
LEE TIES RECORD NAMED PAC-12 SPECIALIST OF WEEK
UCLA senior Christine Peng-Peng Lee was named Pac-12 Specialist of the Week for the fourth time this season and for a record-tying eighth time in her career. Lee helped lead UCLA to a season-high team total of 198.075 against Oregon State and also anchored the team to a school record-tying balance beam score of 49.725, recording a 9.975 to capture her sixth individual victory on the event. Lee also scored 9.875 on uneven bars to tie for third place. She now ranks second in the nation on beam and 10th on uneven bars. UCLA has won all eight Pac-12 Specialist of the Week awards this season and the last 13 in a row dating back to last year. The eight wins is already the most by any program ever in one season. In addition to Lee's four awards, Katelyn Ohashi, Napualani Hall, Grace Glenn and Felicia Hano have each won once. PERFECT 10 NOTES Katelyn Ohashi is the first Bruin to score two 10s on floor in a season since Tasha Schwikert in 2005 … Ohashi is just the fourth Bruin ever to score a perfect 10 on both beam and floor, joining Kristen Maloney, Mohini Bhardwaj and Kate Richardson … The three 10s scored by the Bruins' Christine Peng-Peng Lee (beam), Felicia Hano (floor) and Ohashi (floor) on Feb. 4 were the most in a single meet since three were scored on Mar. 7, 2004 by Jeanette Antolin (vault and floor) and Yvonne Tousek (bars) … Hano and Ohashi became the first pair of Bruins to score back-to-back 10s on floor since Richardson and Antolin on Feb. 22, 2004 … The six 10s were the most in Pauley Pavilion since there were eight scored by five gymnasts at the 2002 UCLA Invitational, including three by UCLA's Jamie Dantzscher … Lee scored her second consecutive perfect 10 on beam, joining Ohashi as the only Bruins ever to record perfect 10s on beam in consecutive meets … Lee has three perfect 10s on beam in her career, one off the school record of four set by Richardson … Lee's five overall perfect 10s is tied for sixth-most in school history … Around the country, Hano had the first perfect 10 of the season on floor, and Ohashi is the first gymnast to record multiple 10s on floor this year … Lee was the first gymnast in the nation to record multiple 10s on beam this season.
HONORING A LEGACY
Felicia Hano's floor exercise routine this season is a legacy routine originally performed by All-American Sydney Sawa in 2014 and passed down to Hano. Sawa scored a perfect 10 on that routine on Feb. 22, 2014 and was, in fact, the last UCLA gymnast to score a perfect 10 on floor until Hano did it with the same routine on Feb. 4, 2018. Hano leads UCLA this season with a 9.929 season average on floor.
DENNIS GOES FULL IN
Freshman Nia Dennis had a breakthrough on floor exercise last Sunday, scoring a career-high 9.975 after changing her first tumbling pass to a piked full-in. Dennis had been competing a double Arabian for her opening pass but had problems with consistency on the landing. She changed to a piked full-in a few days later in training and then hit it successfully in competition. In her last two meets, Dennis has scored career-highs on vault (perfect 9.95), bars (9.925) and floor (9.975).
SEEING DOUBLE
Identical twins Anna and Grace Glenn competed in a meet together for the first time as Bruins on Feb. 10 at Cal. Anna made her collegiate competitive debut on vault, scoring 9.8. Grace, who has competed on beam in every meet this year, tied for first place on beam with a career-high-tying 9.95 to capture her second beam victory of the season. Both competed again on Feb. 18 against Utah, with Anna scoring 9.8s on vault and on exhibition bars and beam performances and Grace scoring 9.875 on beam. Anna made her competitive debut on bars on Feb. 25, scoring 9.875 to tie for third place. The twins sat out all of last season with torn labrums, which were injured on the same skill in preseason.
KOCIAN BACK ON TWO EVENTS
Two-time Olympic medalist and three-time World champion Madison Kocian took another big step forward in her recovery process, competing on floor exercise for the first time on Feb. 25 and scoring 9.9. Kocian, who has been competing on beam since Jan. 20, is also now cleared to train on uneven bars. The four-time All-American has competed in the last six meets on balance beam and scored 9.875 or higher four times, with a season-high of 9.925 at Cal on Feb. 10. Kocian had an impressive freshman campaign despite competing with a torn labrum that she suffered at the 2016 Olympic Trials. She competed in the all-around in all but two meets in 2017 and amassed a total of 16 individual victories, including the NCAA Regional bars and floor titles.
FOLLOW THE LEADOFF
Nia Dennis put the lead in leadoff against Utah Feb. 18, starting the Bruins out on both vault and uneven bars with meet-winning scores of 9.95 and 9.925, respectively. Dennis kicked off the meet with a perfect score on her Yurchenko layout full vault, which has a start value of 9.95, helping the Bruins take the first rotation lead with a 49.45. On uneven bars in rotation two, she led off with a career-high 9.925 to take first place and lead UCLA to a team score of 49.3. The event wins were the first of her career. Dennis also led off on bars on Feb. 25 against Oregon State and scored 9.9 to place second.
KONDOS FIELD EARNS CAREER WIN 500
UCLA head coach Valorie Kondos Field surpassed 500 career coaching victories with the Bruins' win at Metroplex Jan. 27. The Pac-12 Gymnastics Coach of the Century now holds a career coaching record of 504-120-3 (.806) in 28 years as UCLA's head coach. Kondos Field has won six NCAA Championships and four national coach of the year honors, and in 2010, she became the second active coach ever to be inducted into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame.
FRESH FACES
UCLA's newcomers have been strong this season. Nia Dennis has averaged 39.233 in the all-around, with a high of 39.425 set Feb. 10 at Cal, where she also recorded career-highs on bars (9.9) and beam (9.875). She had a standout meet on Feb. 18 against Utah, scoring career-highs of 9.95 on vault and 9.925 on bars to win her first two career events, and she scored a career-high 9.975 on floor against Oregon State on Feb. 26. Pauline Tratz averages 9.850 on vault and 9.854 on floor and has career-highs of 9.925 on each event. Redshirt freshman Grace Glenn has competed on beam in each meet, averaging 9.856, and won Pac-12 Specialist of the Week honors after scoring a career-high 9.95 at Arizona. Junior transfer Brielle Nguyen tied for second on beam with a 9.825 leadoff routine at Elevate the Stage in her UCLA competitive debut and tied her career-high with a 9.9 vs. Oklahoma. Savannah Kooyman made her competitive debut at the Metroplex Challenge and contributed a clutch 9.825 as the anchor on bars. Kooyman competed in two events at Cal, scoring a career-high 9.875 on bars and 9.825 in her floor debut. Anna Glenn also made her UCLA competitive debut at Cal, scoring 9.8 on vault and hit a 9.875 in her first competitive routine on uneven bars vs. Oregon State.
ROLLING IN THE DEEP
UCLA continues to showcase its depth, competing 14 gymnasts against Utah and at Metroplex and a season-high 15 in the win at Cal. A total of 17 Bruins performed at Cal, with Mercedez Sanchez and Kendal Poston performing exhibition routines. At Arizona, 13 Bruins competed, with six different gymnasts taking home individual titles (Katelyn Ohashi in the all-around with a career-high 39.45 and on beam with a 9.95; Felicia Hano on vault and floor with 9.9s; Kyla Ross on bars with a 9.925, Grace Glenn and Christine Peng-Peng Lee tying for first with Ohashi on beam, and Pauline Tratz tying Hano for first on floor).
BY THE NUMBERS
UCLA has scored 49+ on beam in its last 21 meets and 49+ on floor in its last 15 meets … The Bruins have scored 49.525 or better on beam in five of their last six meets … Sonya Meraz's competitive streak was stopped at 45 straight meets last Sunday. JaNay Honest now leads the team, having competed in 36 straight meets … Christine Peng-Peng Lee has won beam in seven of her last eight meets, dating back to last season … Kyla Ross has scored 9.9 or higher on bars in 16 of her last 18 meets … Associate head coach Chris Waller improved to 3-1 in his career as acting head coach when he led the Bruins to a season-opening win over Ohio State as head coach Valorie Kondos Field was out with the flu.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Bruins will compete at Stanford on Sunday, Mar. 11 at 1pm.