Saturday, March 23
West Valley City, UT
5:00 PM

UCLA

at

Pac-12 Championships - Session #2

Felicia Hano - 2019 UCLA Gymnastics
Felicia Hano (photo by Don Liebig, UCLA Photography)
Photo by: Don Liebig/ASUCLA

UCLA to Defend Pac-12 Gymnastics Title Saturday

March 21, 2019 | Gymnastics

UCLA COMPETES FOR 19TH PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIP
No. 2 UCLA (12-1) is the No. 1 seed at the Pac-12 Gymnastics Championships, which will take place on Saturday, Mar. 23 in West Valley City, Utah. The Bruins, who are seeking their 19th Pac-12 team title, will compete in the evening session at 6pm MT along with No. 2 seed Utah, No. 3 seed Oregon State and No. 4 seed California. Competing in the afternoon session at 1pm MT are No. 5 seed Washington, No. 6 Arizona State, No. 7 seed Stanford and No. 8 Arizona. Seeding is determined by national rankings, which are based on National Qualifying Score (NQS). The Pac-12 champion will be the team with the highest score from the two sessions. Individual champions will also be determined via combined sessions.

FOLLOW LIVE
Both sessions of the Pac-12 Championships will be televised live on Pac-12 Network, with Jim Watson and Amanda Borden on the call and UCLA alumna Samantha Peszek serving as a sideline reporter. Live stats will be available at pac-12.com, and live updates can be found on Twitter by following @UCLAGymnastics.

ROTATION ORDER
As the top seed, UCLA has chosen to start the meet on vault and end on floor exercise, giving the Bruins Olympic order, which they have had the last four seasons. Utah chose to start on uneven bars, Oregon State chose to begin on balance beam, and California will start on floor exercise. In Session 1, Washington starts on vault, Arizona State on bars, Stanford on floor and Arizona on beam.

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
UCLA has won the most conference championships among the eight member schools with 18 Pac-12 titles (1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2018) and 1 WCAA title (1981) in 31 years. Oregon State (1991, 1992, 1994, 1996, 2011, 2013), Stanford (1998, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2008) and Utah (2014, 2015, 2017) are the only other teams to win Pac-12 titles.

UCLA has dominated individually at the Pac-12 Championships, winning a conference-best 93 individual titles. The Bruins have been especially dominant in the all-around, winning 19 titles, including last year with Kyla Ross tying for first. UCLA gymnasts have won 22 titles on bars, 18 on beam and floor, and 16 on vault. There are five returning Pac-12 individual champions in the field: UCLA's Kyla Ross (2018 all-around and bars; 2017 beam) and Katelyn Ohashi (2018 floor); Utah's MyKayla Skinner (2018 all-around and floor; 2017 all-around, vault and floor) and Makenna Merrell-Giles (2018 vault); and California's Toni-Ann Williams (2016 floor), who is out with an injury.

LAST YEAR AT PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIPS
UCLA used a strong second half to win its 18th Pac-12 Gymnastics championship, outscoring defending champion Utah, 197.500-197.350. The Bruins overcame a nearly disastrous uneven bars rotation, roaring back on balance beam with a 49.600 and then clinching the victory with a 49.475 on floor exercise in the final rotation. Kyla Ross won a share of the all-around and uneven bars title. Christine Peng-Peng Lee won balance beam with her fourth perfect 10 on the year on beam. Katelyn Ohashi closed the meet with a 9.95 performance that got her a share of the floor exercise title.

OHASHI SELECTED AS FINALIST FOR AAI AWARD
Katelyn Ohashi has been selected as one of six finalists for the AAI Award, which is presented to the most outstanding senior female gymnast in the country. She joins Alicia Boren (Florida), Brenna Dowell (Oklahoma), Sarah Finnegan (LSU), Olivia Karas (Michigan), and Toni-Ann Williams (California) as finalists for the prestigious award, which will be announced at the NCAA Championship banquet in April. In its history, UCLA has had four winners โ€“ Vanessa Zamarripa in 2013, Jamie Dantzscher in 2004, Mohini Bhardwaj in 2001 and Donna Kemp in 1984. Ohashi has earned five perfect 10s in 2019, bringing her career total to 10, fourth-most in school history. She ranks No. 1 in the nation on floor exercise with an NQS of 9.995. She is averaging 9.975 for the year and is unbeaten on floor with 10 victories. On balance beam, she ranks No. 2 in the nation with an NQS of 9.965, and she has a season average of 9.925, with a high of 9.975 achieved four times. Ohashi set a new Pac-12 single-season record this season with six Specialist of the Week awards, giving her a career total of 10, also a new Pac-12 record.

ROSS ACHIEVES GYM SLAM
Junior Kyla Ross became the second Bruin, joining Kristen Maloney, and the 11th gymnast in NCAA history to achieve the Gym Slam, a perfect 10 on all four events. Ross achieved this feat in the last three weeks alone, earning 10s on vault and bars at Oklahoma on Mar. 3, a 10 on beam on Mar. 10 against Stanford, and her first career 10 on floor on Mar. 16 against Utah State. Ross is just the seventh gymnast ever to record the Gym Slam all in one season. The 2012 Olympic gold medalist has recorded a national-best nine perfect 10s this season, two away from the UCLA single-season record of 11 set by Jeanette Antolin in 2004. Ross also has a school record-tying seven consecutive weeks with a perfect 10, matching the mark set by Jamie Dantzscher in 2002.

PAC-12 RECORD-BREAKER
Senior Katelyn Ohashi broke a pair of Pac-12 records by winning the conference's Specialist of the Week award for the sixth time this season. Ohashi set a new single-season mark, breaking the record of five set by her former teammate Christine Peng-Peng Lee a year ago. The 2018 Pac-12 Specialist of the Year also broke Lee's all-time record, earning her 10th career award. Her latest honor was awarded after she earned her fifth perfect 10 of the season on floor exercise to remain unbeaten on floor in 2019 with 10 victories. With 10 career perfect 10s, she ranks No. 4 all-time on UCLA's career list.

KONDOS FIELD HONORED WITH NAMING OF FLOOR
In her final home meet at Pauley Pavilion Mar. 16, retiring head coach Valorie Kondos Field was surprised with a pre-meet ceremony during which UCLA Director of Athletics Dan Guerrero revealed the Valorie Kondos Field Floor. The Bruins proceeded to christen the floor with the highest floor exercise score in the nation this season, 39.825, a mark that ranks third in UCLA history. Kyla Ross scored the first perfect 10 on the new floor, the first of her career, and Katelyn Ohashi closed the meet with another perfect 10.

HOTTEST TICKET
UCLA set a new attendance record in Pauley Pavilion, averaging 10,242 fans for the 2019 season, which ranks No. 4 in the nation. The last two meets in Pauley attracted over 12,000 fans, including a school record 12,907 on Mar. 10. UCLA also draws huge crowds on the road. The Bruins have competed in front of at least 5,000 fans in every meet this year and helped set new attendance records at three schools - Oklahoma on Mar. 3 (10,177, nearly double the previous record), Washington on Feb. 10 (7,228 in a snowstorm), and Stanford on Jan. 27 (6,000, nearly double the previous record). Additionally, UCLA performed in front of a sell-out crowd of 15,558 at Utah on Feb. 23 and helped draw 6,505 fans to Oregon State on Feb. 2.

10.0 HOARDERS
Of the 27 perfect 10 routines around the nation this season, UCLA has earned 15 of them (56%). Kyla Ross leads the nation with nine (four on bars, three on vault, and one each on beam and floor) and is the only gymnast in the nation to have 10s more than two events. She earned the Gym Slam in three weeks with 10s on vault and bars on Mar. 3, on beam Mar. 10 and on floor Mar. 16. Katelyn Ohashi is the only other gymnast who has multiple 10s on one event, recording five on floor exercise. Madison Kocian has one perfect 10, on uneven bars. The only other schools with multiple perfect 10s are LSU (six) and Oklahoma (four). Denver and Michigan have one each. UCLA gymnasts have totaled 141 perfect 10s all-time. Ross ranks tied for second all-time at UCLA with 14 (seven on bars, three on vault, three on beam and one on floor). Ohashi ranks tied for fourth with 10 (eight on floor and two on beam). Kocian has two on bars, and Felicia Hano has one on floor.

ROSS IS BOSS
Olympic gold medalist Kyla Ross continues to show who's boss, holding steady at No. 1 in the national all-around rankings. She also ranks in the Top 6 on all four events - No. 1 on vault and bars, No. 3 on beam and No. 6 on floor. Ross holds the nation's top all-around score, a 39.850 set twice. That all-around mark ranks No. 4 all-time at UCLA. She has eight all-around vcitories this season and seven scores of 39.65 or higher. Ross has won Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week honors a Pac-12 record-tying seven times this season, including a record six in a row from Feb. 5-Mar. 12. She leads UCLA with 27 event titles, 31 scores of 9.9 or higher and 20 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 four more perfect 10s, including two 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. She received her fourth 10 at Oklahoma on Mar. 3 and made her final time performing in Pauley count with a perfect 10 on senior day Mar. 16. Ohashi, who is unbeaten on floor this year with 10 victories, ranks No. 1 in the nation on that event and holds an astonishing season average of 9.975. She ranks second on beam and averages 9.925 on the year.

Ohashi's Jan. 12 perfect 10 floor exercise routine is the most-watched sports video on social media so far this year, with over 117 million views across Twitter (43M), Facebook (39M) and YouTube (35M). 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.

LAST TIME OUT
UCLA gymnastics fans bid farewell to head coach Valorie Kondos Field and the senior class as the No. 2 Bruins defeated Utah State 197.575-194.850. Kyla Ross completed the Gym Slam with her first-career perfect 10 on floor exercise, while Katelyn Ohashi provided the grand finale to her Pauley career with a perfect score of her own on floor. Ross set a new school record with a 10 in her seventh-straight competition and now has nine this season and 14 for her career. Ohashi has earned five this year and 10 over the course of her time in Westwood. On the newly-named Valorie Kondos Field Floor, the Bruin floor squad posted a 49.825, the third-highest mark in school history, thanks to 10s from Ross and Ohashi, 9.95s from Pauline Tratz and Felicia Hano and a 9.925 from Gracie Kramer. Hano also contributed a 9.95 on vault, and Grace Glenn earned a leadoff 9.95 on beam.

PAC-12 AWARD DOMINATION
UCLA gymnasts dominated the Pac-12 weekly awards in 2019, winning 19 of the 33 awards (58%). Kyla Ross won Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week a record-tying seven times this season, including an unprecedented six weeks in a row Feb. 5-Mar. 12. Katelyn Ohashi set new records with six Pac-12 Specialist of the Week honors this year and 10 in her career. Also earning conference distinction this season were Specialist of the Week honorees Nia Dennis and Felicia Hano and Freshman of the Week winners Margzetta Frazier (three times) and Norah Flatley.

SO FRESH AND SO CLEAN
UCLA freshmen Norah Flatley, Margzetta Frazier and Sekai Wright have been on point for the Bruins this season with a nearly perfect combined hit rate of 98% (55-for-56). Flatley has hit 24 of 25 routines with 18 going 9.85 or higher. Frazier is 22-for-22 this year, with only one score under 9.8 (a 9.775 on vault). Wright is 9-for-9 on vault with six scores of 9.825 or higher. Flatley has highs of 9.975 on bars and 9.925 on beam. She currently ranks No. 12 nationally on bars and No. 23 beam and earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors on Feb. 26. Frazier has three Freshman of the Week awards to her credit and averages 9.884 on bars and 9.886 on floor. She ranks No. 25 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.

FOLLOW THE LEADER
Leading off a rotation is never easy, but the Bruins' leadoff performers have turned it into an art form, consistently starting the team off with high scores to set the table for their teammates. Nia Dennis has had leadoff 9.9s on vault (Mar. 10) and bars (Feb. 16) and has placed second on vault her last two meets leading off. Margzetta Frazier is the Bruins' regular leadoff on bars and has eight scores of 9.875 or higher in that first spot, including a pair of 9.925s. Since returning to the leadoff role on beam Feb. 16, Grace Glenn has scored two 9.875s, two 9.9s and a season-high 9.95 last week. On floor, Frazier has scored 9.9 or higher in the leadoff position twice, including a 9.95 on Mar. 10, and Gracie Kramer has a high of 9.925 in her four leadoff attempts.

BRUIN STREAKS
UCLA has scored 49+ in 103 straight rotations, the team's last sub-49 score coming in the first rotation of the 2018 season opener โ€ฆ The Bruins scored 49.5 or better on 37 of those 103 rotations โ€ฆ UCLA's streak of 25 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) โ€ฆ UCLA has scored 49+ on beam in its last 39 meets, breaking the NCAA record set by Oklahoma from 2016-18โ€ฆ The Bruins have gone 49+ on floor in their last 33 meets โ€ฆ Kyla Ross has scored a perfect 10 in seven consecutive meets, tying the school record set by Jamie Dantzscher in 2002 โ€ฆ Katelyn Ohashi has scored 9.925 or better on floor in 21 straight meets and has 51 straight routines without a fall.

RECORD-SETTING START FOR BRUINS
The Bruins have set a new standard by recording 197+ scores in the first 11 meets of the year for the first time ever. UCLA's previous best start came in 2003 when the team scored 197+ in its first two meets. UCLA has broken 198 three times this season, scoring 198.325 on Mar. 10 against Stanford and 198.025 on Feb. 16 against Arizona and on Feb. 23 at Utah. The last Bruin team to score at least three 198s in one season was the 2004 NCAA Championship squad, who totaled four that season. The school record for most 198s in a season is five set by the 2003 squad.

IN THE RANKINGS
In the fourth week of the National Qualifying Score (NQS), UCLA remains ranked No. 2 behind Oklahoma with a NQS of 197.885. The Bruins rank No. 1 in the nation on floor, No. 2 on bars and beam and No. 5 on vault. Kyla Ross ranks No. 1 in the all-around and is Top 6 on every event (No. 1 on vautl and bars, No. 3 on beam and No. 6 on floor). Katelyn Ohashi ranks No. 1 on floor and No. 2 on beam. The Bruins have four gymnasts ranked in the Top 20 on floor (No. 1 Ohashi, No. 6 Ross, No. 14 Felicia Hano and No. 16 Gracie Kramer). Four Bruins are ranked in the Top 25 on bars (No. 1 Ross, No. 6 Madison Kocian, No. 12 Norah Flatley and No. 25 Margzetta Frazier), three in the Top 25 on beam (No. 2 Ohashi, No. 3 Ross, and No. 23 Flatley) and on vault (No. 1 Ross, No. 10 Hano and No. 21 Nia Dennis).

FLOORED BY FLOOR
UCLA's floor exercise squad has been exceptional so far this season, averaging a national-best 49.607, with a high of 49.825 set Mar. 16 against Utah State on the newly-christened Valorie Kondos Field Floor. Five Bruins scored 9.925 or better, including Kyla Ross and Katelyn Ohashi, who each earned perfect 10s. Felicia Hano and Pauline Tratz contributed 9.95s. The Bruins also have a 49.750 (Feb. 16) under their belts this year, which stands as the fifth-highest in school history. The Bruins have scored 49.5 or better in nine of 11 meets and have scored 49+ in 33 consecutive meets. Four Bruins are nationally ranked this week - No. 1 Ohashi, No. 6 Ross, No. 14 Hano and No. 16 Gracie Kramer.

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. Five of UCLA's 15 perfect 10s this season have come on uneven bars - four from Kyla Ross and one from Kocian. The Bruins have 14 9.95+ uneven bars routines so far this season - six from Ross, four from Kocian, two from Norah Flatley, and one each from Margzetta Frazier and Nia Dennis. Four Bruins are ranked in the Top 25 nationally - Ross is No. 1, Kocian is No. 6, Flatley is No. 12 and Frazier is No. 25.

BEAMING ON BEAM
The Bruins unleashed a national season-best score of 49.700 on beam Mar. 10 against Stanford, marking the third-best score in school history. Kyla Ross led the way with a perfect 10, her first of the season on beam and her third in her career. Katelyn Ohashi nearly scored a 10 but had to settle for a 9.975, her fourth this season. The Bruins were aided by a pair of 9.9s from Grace Glenn and Brielle Nguyen to start the rotation and a career-high 9.925 from Norah Flatley. UCLA has scored 49+ on beam in an NCAA record 39 consecutive meets.

VAULTING UP
UCLA is No. 5 in the national rankings on vault and scored a season-best 49.450 on vault Mar. 10 against Stanford. The Bruins have three ranked in the Top 25 on vault - top-ranked Kyla Ross, 10th-ranked Felicia Hano and 21st-ranked Nia Dennis. Ross has three perfect 10s on vault this season, and Dennis also has a perfect mark under her belt this year, scoring a 9.95 on her 9.95-start valued Yurchenko full on Jan. 21. Hano, who vaults a Yurchenko 1.5, has scored a season-best of 9.95 three times.

MISS VAL'S FINAL BOW
Head coach Valorie Kondos Field is nearing the end of a legendary career, as she has announced her retirement 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. In 29 seasons as head coach, she holds a career record of 528-121-3. 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. She 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, in which she shares insights and advice on how to use uniqueness and authenticity to achieve success, and she has also become a highly sought-after public speaker.

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 660,000. The Bruins rank first among all NCAA gymnastics teams on Instagram (307k), Facebook (291k) and Twitter (62k). 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, Twitter and Snapchat and on Facebook at facebook.com/uclagymnastics.

LOOKING AHEAD
UCLA will compete at the NCAA Regionals, which will take place Apr. 4-6. Regional pairings will be annoucned on Monday, Mar. 25 at 2pm PT.

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