UCLA
Elevate the Stage (vs. Stanford, Utah and Washington)
UCLA to Compete on Podium in Reno Sunday
January 10, 2018 | Gymnastics
No. 4 UCLA at Elevate the Stage
Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018 โ 2 p.m. (PT) @ Reno, Nev. (Reno Event Center)
vs. Stanford, Utah, Washington
UCLA FACES PAC-12 FOES IN RENO SUNDAY
No. 4 UCLA (1-0) will travel to Reno, Nevada for Elevate the Stage, a quad meet against Pac-12 foes Stanford (3-1), No. 2 Utah (1-0) and Washington (0-0). The meet will take place on Sunday, Jan. 14 at the Reno Event Center. FloGymnastics will stream the meet for PRO subscribers. Live scoring will be found on MeetScoresOnline.com.
ROTATION ORDER
UCLA will begin the meet on balance beam and end on uneven bars. Washington starts on vault, Utah starts on uneven bars, and Stanford begins on floor.
BRUINS COMPETE IN FIRST REGULAR SEASON PODIUM MEET
UCLA will compete on a podium for the first time ever in a regular season meet at Elevate the Stage and will also compete on podium later in the month at the Metroplex Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas. The Bruins' only previous podium meets have come at the NCAA Championships.
SCOUTING THE FIELD
Utah is the highest-ranked team in the field at No. 2, two spots ahead of the No. 4 Bruins. Neither Washington nor Stanford are in this week's rankings, as they did not compete last weekend, but Washington was ranked No. 15 in the preseason poll, and Stanford was ranked No. 18. Stanford opened its season on Monday by placing second in the NorCal Classic with a 194.925, while Washington travels to Sacramento State on Friday to open its season before heading to Reno. Utah won its season opener over BYU, 197.000-194.275, with MyKayla Skinner and MaKenna Merrell-Giles tying for first in the all-around with scores of 39.475.
UCLA WINS SEASON OPENER
UCLA shined on bars and floor in its 196.250-193.200 season-opening win over Ohio State on Jan. 6. Kyla Ross scored three 9.9s en route to winning the all-around with a 39.5. Christine Peng-Peng Lee won uneven bars with a 9.975 and balance beam with a 9.925. Freshman Pauline Tratz won vault in her collegiate debut, and Ross and Gracie Kramer each scored career-highs of 9.9 to win floor. After a slow start that saw the Bruins count a fall on vault, UCLA rebounded with a 49.3 on bars and closed the meet with a show-stopping 49.425 on floor, counting no score lower than 9.875.
FRESH FACES
UCLA's freshmen had strong showings in the season opener. Nia Dennis placed second in the all-around with a 39.050 and tied for third on bars with a 9.825. Pauline Tratz won vault with a 9.85 and tied for fourth on floor with a 9.875. Redshirt freshman Grace Glenn tied for sixth on beam with a 9.725, and junior transfer Brielle Nguyen, made her UCLA debut in an exhibition beam performance, scoring 9.775.
IN THE RANKINGS
After week one, UCLA stands at No. 4 in the national rankings with the fourth-highest team score in the nation, 196.250. The Bruins top the rankings on floor exercise with a 49.425 and are third on bars (49.300), sixth on beam (49.025) and 24th on vault (48.5). Christine Peng-Peng Lee ranks first in the nation on bars (9.975) and beam (9.925). Kyla Ross is third in the all-around (39.5), fourth on beam (9.9), sixth on floor (9.9) and seventh on bars (9.9). Pauline Tratz ranks 14th on vault (9.85), and Felicia Hano is 25th (9.825). UCLA has five gymnasts in the Top 15 on floor - Ross and Gracie Kramer are tied for sixth, and Katelyn Ohashi, Hano and Tratz are tied for 15th.
WEEKLY HONORS
Christine Peng-Peng Lee was named the Pac-12 Specialist of the Week for the fifth time in her career after scoring 9.975 on bars and 9.925 on beam to win both events she competed against Ohio State. Kyla Ross was selected the UCLA/Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week for the third time in her career after scoring three 9.9s and winning the all-around with a 39.5 in the season opener.
ABOUT THE BRUINS
UCLA returns 13 competitors from last year's fourth-place NCAA Championship squad, including 2017 NCAA bars and beam champion Kyla Ross and All-Americans Madison Kocian, Christine Peng-Peng Lee, Katelyn Ohashi and Felicia Hano. Lee was named the 2017 West Region Gymnast of the Year and Pac-12 Specialist of the Year, while Ross earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors. The Bruins lose high-scoring routines from Madison Preston (vault), Mikaela Gerber (beam), Angi Cipra (floor) and Hallie Mossett (beam and floor) but bring in national team freshmen Nia Dennis (U.S.) and Pauline Tratz (Germany) and return the services of Anna and Grace Glenn, who redshirted in 2017. UCLA also retains all four gymnasts who scored perfect 10s last season - Ross (four), Lee (three), Ohashi (two) and Kocian (one). UCLA is coached by Pac-12 Gymnastics Coach of the Century Valorie Kondos Field, Associate Head Coaches Chris Waller and Randy Lane, and volunteer coach and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Jordyn Wieber.
BY THE NUMBERS
UCLA has scored 49+ on beam in its last 14 meets and 49+ on floor in its last eight meets โฆ Sonya Meraz has competed in 39-straight meets, and JaNay Honest has competed in 29-straight โฆ Madison Kocian has hit 45 consecutive routines without a fall โฆ Christine Peng-Peng Lee has scored 9.9 or higher on bars in 11 of her last 14 meets โฆ Kyla Ross has scored 9.9 or higher on bars in 10 of her last 11 meets โฆ Associate head coach Chris Waller improved to 3-1 in his career as acting head coach, as he led the Bruins to a win over Ohio State as head coach Valorie Kondos Field was out with the flu.
BRUINS SHINE IN SEASON PREVIEW
UCLA displayed big skills and impressive performance quality in its Meet the Bruins event in Pauley Pavilion Dec. 9. KThe blue team, led by freshman Nia Dennis and sophomore Felicia Hano, won the blue vs. gold intrasquad, 117.800-116.375. Dennis scored 9.8 or higher on all four events and scored 39.4 in her UCLA debut. Hano had the meet-high score on all three events in which she competed, scoring 9.9 on vault and 9.85 on beam and floor. Hano, Dennis and Kyla Ross tied for first on vault with 9.9s, and Dennis and Ross tied for first on bars with 9.85s. On beam, Dennis again tied for first place, with Hano, with a 9.85. Hano recorded the highest score on floor with a 9.85.
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITORS
UCLA's roster is filled with international competitors, led by Olympic gold medalists Madison Kocian and Kyla Ross. Kocian is a three-time World Champion, having won a share of the uneven bars title in 2015 and team titles in 2014 and 2015. Ross was also part of the 2014 World Championship team and won a total of four individual medals in 2013 and 2014. Stella Savvidou, Giulianna Pino and Pauline Tratz competed at the 2015 Worlds along with Kocian, with Savvidou representing Cyprus, Pino representing Ecuador and Tratz competing for Germany. Christine Peng-Peng Lee competed at the 2011 World Championships for Canada. Katelyn Ohashi has American Cup (2013) and Pacific Rim Championship (2012 juniors) all-around championship titles to her credit. The 2012 Pacific Rim Championship podium had a decidedly UCLA-flavor to it, as Jordyn Wieber, Ross and Lee went 1-2-3 in the senior competition, and Ohashi won the all-around, bars, beam and floor titles in the junior competition. Nia Dennis and Ross both competed at the 2014 Pacific Rim Championship, with Dennis winning team gold and all-around and vault silver in the junior competition and Ross winning beam and team gold and all-around silver in the senior division.
INJURY UPDATE
UCLA begins the season with Madison Kocian on the sidelines after undergoing shoulder surgery in August. Senior Rechelle Dennis will have to sit out this season with a ruptured Achilles but is expected to return next year for a fifth season.
BRUINS SIGN FRAZIER, WRIGHT FOR 2019 SEASON
U.S. National Team member Margzetta Frazier (Erial, N.J.) and Level 10 vault champion Sekai Wright (Paramount, Calif.) signed national letters of intent with UCLA in November and will join the Bruin squad in 2019. Frazier, who trains at Parkettes, is a rising star coming off a fifth-place national all-around finish at the P&G Championships in August. Her Top 6 all-around finish placed her on the U.S. National Team for the first time in her career. Wright, who trains at American Gymnastics Academy, is a two-time Level 10 National vault champion, winning the Junior E division in 2016 and the Junior B division in 2015. She also won the Region 1 vault title and the State all-around, vault, and floor titles in 2017 and the Region 1 vault and State beam titles in 2016.
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 340,000. The Bruins rank first among all NCAA gymnastics teams on both Instagram (168k) and Facebook (148k) and third on Twitter (21.5k). Among all UCLA teams, gymnastics ranks first on Instagram and Facebook, and UCLA Gymnastics is the most followed collegiate women's team Instagram account 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.
STAY CONNECTED
Download the UCLA Bruins Mobile App to your device, free of charge, to stay up-to-date on all things UCLA Athletics. The official app of UCLA Athletics allows fans to receive in-game stats and live updates during events. Fans can also sign up to receive push notifications about gameday promotions, game times, live scoring and more. When searching iTunes or Google Play, use the term "UCLA Bruins" for more direct access.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Bruins continue their three-week road swing with a dual meet against Arizona in Tucson on Saturday, Jan. 20.
Players Mentioned
