UCLA Gymnastics Coaching Staff Honored
April 08, 2018 | Gymnastics
UCLA's Valorie Kondos Field was voted the West Region Coach of the Year, and Chris Waller, Randy Lane and Jordyn Wieber were honored as the West Region Assistant Coaches of the Year for 2018. UCLA Senior Associate Athletic Director Dr. Christina Rivera was additionally named the West Region Administrator of the Year. The voting was conducted by their peers in the National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches/Women (NACGC/W).
The Bruin coaches have led UCLA to a No. 3 national ranking in 2018, their highest at this point in the season since 2010. UCLA began the year pre-season ranked No. 6 but have consistently maintained a Top 4 ranking since week one, jumping as high as No. 2 in week six and staying in the Top 3 every week since. The Pac-12 champion Bruins have scored 197 in each of the last 12 meets and have gone 198 twice this year, with a high of 198.275 set Mar. 13, UCLA's highest team score in 14 years. UCLA ranks in the Top 4 on every event, ranking No. 1 on floor, No. 2 on beam and No. 4 on vault and bars and qualified to the NCAA Championships for the 34th time after winning their 22nd NCAA Regional title.
A four-time National Coach of the Year and six-time NCAA champion coach, Kondos Field's impact on the sport is much more than just on the competition floor. In the midst of a scandal that threatened to tear apart the sport of gymnastics, Kondos Field put a strong voice to a frightening issue, calling for change in the culture of abuse while empowering athletes to use their voice to cultivate change. She put together the "Together We Rise" meet with Oklahoma in February, celebrating and showing love and support for the survivors of abuse.
Lane's vault squad is ranked No. 4 in the nation with a RQS of 49.435 improving by over two-tenths from last year. UCLA has three vaulters in the Top 25. Waller's uneven bars squad ranks No. 4 nationally with a RQS of 49.425, with two athletes in the Top 10, including top-ranked and Pac-12 co-champion Kyla Ross. Beam, which is coached by Kondos Field, ranked in the Top 2 in the nation most of the season and finished the year ranked No. 2 with a RQS of 49.570. Christine Peng-Peng Lee ranks No. 1 in the nation and has scored four perfect 10s on the event. Wieber's floor squad has seen massive improvements, ranking No. 1 with a 49.571 RQS and 49.471 average, up from last year's ranking of No. 7 with a RQS of 49.435 and season average of 49.161. The floor squad has earned four perfect 10s this year, including three from Katelyn Ohashi, who ranks No. 1 nationally, one of three Bruins in the Top 25.
