UCLA
Ohio State
Gymnastics Defeats Ohio State in Season Opener
January 06, 2018 | Gymnastics
Los Angeles - UCLA shined on bars and floor in its 196.250-193.200 season-opening win over Ohio State on Saturday. Kyla Ross won the all-around, scoring three 9.9s on her way to a 39.5 total. Christine Peng-Peng Lee picked up where she left off last season, winning uneven bars with a 9.975 and balance beam with a 9.925.
The Bruins (1-0) were competing without head coach Valorie Kondos Field, who was ill with the flu, but the team took inspiration from one of her life mottos.
"We talked about going out there for Val and how one of her biggest and most important things about life is to allow yourself to be as big and as bold as you can be and perform and have no fear of mistakes," said associate head coach Chris Waller. "I think overall, the team did an amazing job of doing that."
UCLA had a slow start to the meet, as two vaulters fell doing 10.0-start value vaults, dropping the Bruins' score to 48.500. Freshman Pauline Tratz in her Bruin debut led the team with a stuck Yurchenko full that scored 9.85 to place first overall. Felicia Hano hit her Yurchenko 1.5 vault for a 9.825 to tie for second place.
The Bruins rebounded on uneven bars in rotation two, scoring 49.300, led by Lee's near-perfect score of 9.975 and Ross' 9.9. JaNay Honest and Nia Dennis contributed 9.825s, and Katelyn Ohashi, in her first uneven bars performance since 2016, scored 9.775.
UCLA scored 49.025 on balance beam in the third rotation, with Lee and Ross again leading the way with scores of 9.925 and 9.900, respectively. Grace Glenn made her UCLA debut after redshirting last season with a torn labrum and contributed a 9.725.
The final rotation on floor exercise was UCLA's time to shine, and they did just that with a 49.425. Gracie Kramer and Kyla Ross led off with back-to-back career-highs of 9.9 to tie for first place with Ohio State's Alexis Mattern. Ohashi, Hano and Tratz each scored 9.875.
UCLA will be on the road for the next three weeks. The Bruins will next face Pac-12 foes Stanford, Utah and Washington at Elevate the Stage in Reno, Nev. on Sunday, Jan. 14.
Players Mentioned
