UCLA
Oklahoma
Nation's Top Two Teams Face Off Sunday in Norman
March 01, 2019 | Gymnastics
No. 2 UCLA at No. 1 Oklahoma
Sunday, Mar. 3, 2019 โ 12:00 p.m. (CT)/10:00 a.m. (PT)
Location: Norman, Okla. (Lloyd Noble Center)
Television: ESPN
TV Talent: Bart Conner, Kathy Johnson-Clarke, Holly Rowe
Live Stats: soonersports.com
NATION'S BEST COMPETE SUNDAY
No. 2 UCLA (10-0) competes at No. 1 Oklahoma (13-0) in a head-to-head rematch between the Top 2 finishers at last year's NCAA Championships. The Bruins and Sooners are both undefeated heading into the competition, which will take place on Sunday, Mar. 3 at 12pm CT/10am PT. The meet will be televised live on ESPN, marking the second consecutive year the matchup has been broadcast on the station.
HOTTEST TICKET
UCLA Gymnastics continues to draw crowds everywhere they go. The Bruins have competed in front of at least 5,000 fans in every meet this season, including 10,323 at home on Feb. 17 and 10,270 at home on Jan. 21, a record 7,228 at Washington in a snowstorm on Feb. 10, and sell-out crowds of 15,558 at Utah and 6,000 at Stanford, a total that nearly doubled Stanford's previous record attendance. UCLA's also helped draw 6,505 fans to Oregon State on Feb. 2.
CHAMPIONSHIP MATCHUP
UCLA and Oklahoma have combined to win the last three NCAA titles and five of the nine titles this decade. UCLA's NCAA titles came in 2018, 2010, 2004, 2003, 2001, 2000 and 1997. Oklahoma won in 2017, 2016 and 2014. Sunday's meet features five gymnasts who have won nine NCAA individual titles - UCLA's Kyla Ross (2017 bars and beam) and Katelyn Ohashi (2018 floor) and Oklahoma's Maggie Nichols (2017 bars; 2018 all-around, bars, floor), Nicole Lehrmann (2017 bars) and Brenna Dowell (2018 vault).
LOOKING BACK
Last season's matchups between UCLA and Oklahoma were epic showdowns, with the margin of victory a tenth of a point or less each time. The two teams first met in a February dual meet in Pauley Pavilion. On Super Bowl Sunday, over 9,000 fans witnessed a super showdown between the top-ranked Sooners and fourth-ranked Bruins. The two teams combined for six perfect 10s, including four in a row in the final rotation. Felicia Hano kicked it off with her first career 10 on floor, then Oklahoma's Anastasia Webb followed with her first 10 on beam. Katelyn Ohashi answered with her first 10 on floor, only to see Maggie Nichols follow with her 10 on beam that clinched the 198.050-197.950 win for the Sooners. Also scoring 10s in the meet were UCLA's Christine Peng-Peng Lee on beam and Oklahoma's Brenna Dowell on vault.
At the NCAA Championships, the Bruins trailed the Sooners by .175 heading into the final rotation - bars for Oklahoma and beam for UCLA. The Sooners scored 49.5375 on their event and looked to be in good position to capture their third-straight title, but the Bruins went into beast mode on beam, scoring a NCAA Championships and UCLA school record 49.750 to complete the dramatic comeback from fourth at the halfway mark to first at the end. Christine Peng-Peng Lee needed a 9.975 on the final routine to clinch the win for the Bruins and scored a perfect 10 to give the Bruins a winning score of 198.0750, .0375 ahead of second-place Oklahoma, who totaled 198.0375.
PERFECT 10s
There have been 14 perfect 10 routines around the nation this season, and UCLA and Oklahoma have combined for 12 of them. UCLA leads the nation with nine perfect 10s, with Kyla Ross scoring five (three on bars, two on vault), as many as all the other teams combined. Katelyn Ohashi has three, all on floor exercise, and Madison Kocian has one, on ueven bars. Oklahoma has three perfect 10s, one each from Maggie Nichols (vault), Nicole Lehrmann (bars) and Olivia Trautman (floor).
ROSS IS BOSS
Olympic gold medalist Kyla Ross continues to show who's boss, moving into No. 1 in the national all-around rankings and into the Top 5 on all four events (No. 1 on bars, No. 3 on vault, No. 4 on beam, No. 5 on floor). Ross holds the nation's top all-around score, a 39.850 set Feb. 16, a mark that ranks No. 4 all-time at UCLA. She is averaging 39.693 in the all-around and is unbeaten in all-around competition this year, winning seven times with six scores of 39.65 or higher. Ross has won Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week honors five times this season, including the last four weeks in a row. She leads UCLA with 20 event titles, 23 scores of 9.9 or higher and 13 scores of 9.95 or higher.
KATE THE GREAT
After going viral the second week of the season, Katelyn Ohashi has continued to prove she wasn't a one-hit wonder. She has since picked up two more perfect 10s, in back-to-back weeks, on Feb. 10 in front of a hometown crowd in Seattle, and on Feb. 16 in front of her home crowd in Pauley Pavilion. Ohashi, who is unbeaten on floor this year with seven victories, ranks No. 1 in the nation on floor and holds an astonishing season average of 9.971. She also ranks first on beam and averages 9.929 on that event.
Ohashi's Jan. 12 perfect 10 floor exercise routine is the most-watched sports video on social media so far this year, with over 110 million views across Twitter (43M), Facebook (38M) and YouTube (34M). The reach of Ohashi's routine extended world-wide, and her video was shared by celebrities such as Janet Jackson, Sara Bareilles, and Sophia Bush; politicians like Kamala Harris, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jesse Jackson; and athletes like Troy Aikman and Laurie Hernandez. Her routine was also imitated by comedienne Ali Wong and talk show host Stephen Colbert. Ohashi was interviewed on Access Hollywood and on the Ryan Seacrest Show, where she discussed her dream of being on Dancing with the Stars and was surprised with a phone call on-air with the show's casting director. Ohashi and UCLA head coach Valorie Kondos Field also made an appearance on Good Morning America, where Ohashi recited some of her poetry and talked about rediscovering her joy in gymnastics. She also made appearances on Steve Harvey's talk show, Home and Family and E!'s Busy Tonight, and was a guest speaker at the Makers Conference.
PAC-12 AWARD DOMINATION
UCLA gymnasts have dominated the Pac-12 weekly awards, winning 15 of the 24 awards so far this season. Kyla Ross has won Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week five times, including the last four weeks in a row. Ross is only the third gymnast in Pac-12 history to win four-straight Gymnast of the Week awards, joining Utah's MyKayla Skinner (2017) and Oregon State's Makayla Stambaugh (2013). Also receiving Pac-12 acclaim this week was Norah Flatley, who earned her first Freshman of the Week honor after scoring 9.925 on uneven bars and a clutch 9.9 on balance beam in the win at Utah.
PERFECT TRIO
UCLA leads the nation with nine perfect 10s this season. Kyla Ross leads the nation with five perfect 10s and is the only gymnast this season with a perfect 10 on multiple events. She scored the first 10.0 of the season on Jan. 12 on uneven bars, earned another on bars on Feb. 2 and then recorded back-to-back 10s on vault on Feb. 10 and Feb. 16. She earned a 10 in her fourth consecutive meet with a 10 on bars at Utah on Feb. 23. Ross has 10 career 10s overall, six on bars, two on beam and two on vault. Katelyn Ohashi joins Ross as the only gymnasts in the nation to record multiple 10s. She has scored three on floor this season - scoring her first on Jan 12 and going back-to-back on Feb. 10 and 16. Ohashi has six in her career on floor and eight 10s overall. Madison Kocian notched her second career 10.0 on uneven bars on Jan. 21. UCLA gymnasts have totaled 135 perfect 10s all-time. Ross ranks tied for third all-time at UCLA with 10, and Ohashi is tied for sixth with eight.
LAST TIME OUT
The No. 2 Bruins scored a season-high 198.025 for the second-straight week, defeating No. 4 Utah in front of a sold-out crowd in Salt Lake City on Feb. 23. UCLA led from start to finish, scoring 49.55 on bars in rotation one, led by a 9.95 from Madison Kocian and a 10.0 from Kyla Ross and closing it out with a 49.55 on beam in the final rotation to clinch the win, UCLA's first in Utah in dual-meet action since 2003.
SO FRESH AND SO CLEAN
UCLA freshmen Norah Flatley, Margzetta Frazier and Sekai Wright have been on point for the Bruins. Flatley has scored 9.825 or higher on 11 of her last 10 routines and has highs of 9.975 on bars and 9.900 on beam. She currently ranks No. 13 nationally on bars and beam and is this week's Pac-12 Freshman of the Week. Frazier has three Freshman of the Week awards to her credit and has scored 9.825 or higher on every routine this season. She averages 9.894 on bars and 9.892 on floor and ranks No. 17 on bars. Wright made her collegiate debut on Jan. 21 after sitting out the first two meets with an ankle injury and has scored 9.875 on her Yurchenko 1.5 vault in three meets, capturing her first event victory on Jan. 27 at Stanford. She debuted her floor routine on Feb. 2 in an exhibition performance, scoring 9.775.
RECORD-SETTING START FOR BRUINS
The Bruins have set a new standard by recording 197+ scores in the first eight meets of the year for the first time ever. UCLA began the year with a 197.250, scored 197.700 in week two, 197.775 in week three, 197.225 in week four, 197.900 in week five, 197.600 in week six and a season-high 198.025 in weeks seven and eight. The previous best start came in 2003 when the team scored 197+ in its first two meets.
IN THE RANKINGS
In the first week of the National Qualifying Score (NQS), UCLA ranks No. 2, just .125 behind No. 1 Oklahoma with a NQS of 197.825. The Bruins rank No. 1 in the nation on bars, beam and floor and No. 5 on vault. Kyla Ross ranks No. 1 in the all-around and Top 5 on every event (No. 1 on bars, No. 3 on vault, No. 4 on beam and No. 5 on floor). Katelyn Ohashi ranks No. 1 on beam and floor. The Bruins have four gymnasts ranked in the Top 25 on bars (No. 1 Ross, No. 5 Madison Kocian, No. 13 Norah Flatley and No. 17 Margzetta Frazier and three in the Top 12 on floor (No. 1 Ohashi, No. 5 Ross, and No. 12Gracie Kramer). Felicia Hano and Flatley are No. 13 on vault and beam, respectively.
FLOORED BY FLOOR
UCLA's floor exercise squad has been exceptional so far this season, averaging 49.559, with a high of 49.750 set last weekend against Arizona. The 49.750 was the fourth-highest in school history and was highlighted by Katelyn Ohashi's third perfect 10 floor routine of the year, plus 9.95s from Kyla Ross and Felicia Hano and leadoff 9.925s from Margzetta Frazier and Gracie Kramer. The Bruins have scored 49.5 or better in six of eight meets and have scored 49+ in 30 consecutive meets.
RAISING THE BAR
The Bruin bar squad has posted big numbers as well, including a season-high score of 49.700 against Arizona State on Jan. 21, a 49.650 at Oregon State on Feb. 2 and a 49.625 against Arizona on Feb. 16. The 49.700 was the fourth-highest bars score in school history, and it was highlighted by a perfect 10 from Madison Kocian. The 49.650 ranks fifth, and the 49.625 ranks seventh all-time. Four of UCLA's nine perfect 10s this season have come on uneven bars - three from Kyla Ross and one from Kocian. The Bruins have 11 9.95+ uneven bars routines so far this season - five from Ross, three from Kocian, two from Norah Flatley, and one from Margzetta Frazier. All four are ranked in the Top 20 nationally - Ross is No. 1, Kocian is No. 5, Flatley is No. 13, and Frazier is No. 17.
WIN STREAK IMPROVES TO 16 MEETS, 38 OPPONENTS
Following the victory at Utah, UCLA has now outscored 38 straight opponents over its last 16 meets. The Bruins have not lost a meet in over a year, its only losses a year ago coming by a combined total of .225 points (.1 loss to Oklahoma Feb. 4, .125 loss to Utah Feb. 18).
MORE STREAKS
UCLA has scored 49+ in 91 straight rotations, the team's last sub-49 score coming in the first rotation of the 2018 season opener โฆ The Bruins scored 49.5 or better on 33 of those 91 rotations โฆ UCLA's streak of 22 straight meets scoring 49+ on all four apparatus is the longest active streak in the nation and the third-longest in NCAA history behind Oklahoma (34 from 2016-18) and LSU (30 from 2016-18) โฆ UCLA has scored 49+ on beam in its last 36 meets (the longest active streak in the nation and the second-longest in NCAA history behind Oklahoma's 37 from 2016-18) and 49+ on floor in its last 30 meets โฆ Kyla Ross has scored 9.9 or better on 11 straight routines โฆ Katelyn Ohashi has scored 9.925 or better on floor in 18 straight meets.
SCOUTING THE SOONERS
Oklahoma has been ranked No. 1 in the nation for eight-straight weeks and is tops on vault, second on bars and beam and third on floor. The Sooners have three 198 scores this season, including a national season-high of 198.325. Three NCAA individual champions (Maggie Nichols, Brenna Dowell and Nicole Lehrmann) and six All-Americans (Nichols, Dowell, Lehrmann, Jade Degouveia, Bre Showers and Anastasia Webb) grace the Sooner roster.
FAREWELL SEASON
The 2019 season will be the swan song for legendary head coach Valorie Kondos Field, who will retire from coaching at the conclusion of the season. Kondos Field has led UCLA to all seven of its NCAA Championships, along with 14 conference and 19 NCAA Regional championships. She enters her 29th and final season with a career record of 516-120-3. In 2010, Kondos Field became just the second active coach ever inducted into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame, and she was also named the Pac-12 Gymnastics Coach of the Century and was selected by her peers as the National Coach of the Year four times in her career. Kondos Field recently wrote her first book, Life is Short, Don't Wait to Dance, which is available in bookstores nationwide, as well as digitally. Through personal stories and anecdotes, she shares insights and advice on how to use uniqueness and authenticity to achieve success.
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 followers on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, a total over 630,000. The Bruins rank first among all NCAA gymnastics teams on Instagram (295k), Facebook (284k) and Twitter (61k). 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.
LOOKING AHEAD
UCLA closes out the regular season at home with meets against Stanford Mar. 10 and Utah State Mar. 16.
Players Mentioned
