UCLA
NCAA Semifinals
UCLA Advances to NCAA Final After Semifinal Win
April 19, 2019 | Gymnastics
Fort Worth, Texas - UCLA won the first semifinal session at the NCAA Championships, scoring 197.6750 to advance to Saturday's team final. Also advancing to the final was LSU, who placed second with a 197.5125.
It was a tight race between each of the four semifinal teams heading into the final rotation, with just .0125 separating first-place LSU and second-place UCLA, .05 separating UCLA and third-place Michigan, and .20 separating the Bruins and fourth-place Utah. UCLA pulled away on floor exercise in the last rotation, scoring 49.6125 to secure the win.
"As a team we always say we perform our best under pressure," said junior Kyla Ross, who finished the first semifinal in the lead in the all-around, vault and floor. "We had a solid meet overall; I know there were still a few mistakes, but we've had this pressure all year. We've had so many people come to our meets and a lot of TV and press, but I feel we've been able to handle that. We've been able to train every day in that mindset knowing this was the routine I'm going to hit and translating that into competition. I think that's what we did today."
UCLA began the meet on vault with a team score of 49.2875, good for third place, just .025 behind first-place Utah, who scored 49.3125 on floor, and second-place Michigan, who went 49.3 on bars. The Bruins were led by Kyla Ross, who stuck a beautiful Yurchenko 1.5 vault for a 9.9500, receiving a perfect 10 from one of the six judges. Felicia Hano contributed a 9.8750 on her 1.5, taking just a small step on the landing. Pauline Tratz added a 9.8500 on her Yurchenko full.
The Bruins improved their standing in rotation two, moving into first place by 0.0625 over Michigan, 98.7000-98.6375, after scoring 49.4125 on uneven bars. The Bruins got three stuck dismounts in a row to start from Margzetta Frazier (9.9), Nia Dennis (9.9) and Felicia Hano (9.85) and a near-stick from Madison Kocian, who scored UCLA's third 9.9.
With just .1625 separating fourth place Utah from the Bruins, there was little room for error in rotation three on balance beam. Grace Glenn started with a 9.8 after taking a step out of her backhandspring layout series. Brielle Nguyen was solid as always, scoring 9.85. Kocian brought out her best beam routine of the year, scoring 9.875. After a 9.8125 from Norah Flatley, the Bruins closed it out with a 9.925 from Katelyn Ohashi and a 9.9 from Ross. The Bruins' 49.3625 was not enough to maintain the lead, however, as LSU scored 49.4500 on vault to take over first place, 148.0750-148.0625 over the Bruins. UCLA's lead over Michigan slipped to just 0.05 after the Wolverines scored 49.375 on floor.
But with UCLA ending on floor exercise, its highest-scoring event, the Bruins were in prime position to score enough to maintain a Top 2 finish. They did that and more, posting a 49.6125 to pass LSU, despite the Tigers' 49.4375 on bars. Tratz led off with a 9.8125, followed by a strong 9.8875 from Dennis. From there, every remaining competitor scored 9.9 or higher, with Gracie Kramer grabbing hold of a share of the lead on floor with a 9.9375. Her lead was temporary, though as Ross grabbed the lead with a 9.9500. Hano followed with a 9.9125, and Ohashi closed with a 9.925.
Ross finished the meet with the top all-around score (39.6625) for the second consecutive year. She is also in the lead on floor exercise and tied for the lead on vault with 9.95s and will need to wait out the results of the second session to see if her leads hold up.
UCLA will begin on balance beam in Saturday night's team final, which will be televised live on ESPNU at 6 pm CT/4 pm PT.
Team Results – Semifinal 1
1. UCLA 197.6750
2. LSU 197.5125
3. Michigan 197.2000
4. Utah 1967.7250
Players Mentioned
