UCLA
NCAA Regional - Semifinal #2
UCLA Vies for NCAA Championship Berth at Ann Arbor Regional
April 02, 2019 | Gymnastics
MEET INFORMATION
Venue: Crisler Center
Schedule:
Round 1 - Apr. 4, 3 p.m. ET
Semifinal 1 - Apr. 5, 2 p.m. ET
Semifinal 2 - Apr. 5, 7 p.m. ET
Final - Apr. 6, 7 p.m. ET
Streaming: FloGymnastics ($)
Live Stats: mgoblue.com
UCLA VIES FOR NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP BERTH AT ANN ARBOR REGIONAL
No. 2 UCLA (19-1) is the No. 1 seed at the NCAA Ann Arbor Regional and will compete for one of two available berths in the NCAA Championships, which will be held in Fort Worth, Texas Apr. 19-20. The NCAA Regional meet will take place Apr. 4-6 at the University of Michigan's Crisler Center, beginning with a first-round play-in dual meet between Illinois and Central Michigan on Thursday, Apr. 4 at 3 pm ET. The winner of that dual will advance to the semifinals on Friday, Apr. 5. The first semifinal with Michigan, Alabama, Penn State and Ohio State will take place at 2 pm, followed by the second semifinal with UCLA, Nebraska, West Virginia and the winner of Illinois/Central Michigan at 7 pm. The top two teams from each semifinal will advance to the regional final on Saturday, Apr. 6 at 7 pm. The top two finishers in the final will advance to the NCAA Championships, along with the top individual all-arounder and event finishers not on a qualifying team.
FOLLOW LIVE
All four sessions of the NCAA Regional will be streamed on FloGymnastics. Live stats will be available at mgoblue.com, and live updates can be found on Twitter by following @UCLAGymnastics.
ROTATION ORDER
The rotation order for the Regional was determined by blind draw prior to the selections. The No. 1 seed Bruins will begin the semifinals on vault in rotation one and will end on floor exercise. The Illinois/Central Michigan winner will start on bars, Nebraska will begin on beam, and West Virginia stars on floor.
REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
The Bruins have won 23 NCAA Regional titles, including wins the last two seasons. UCLA took first at the 2018 Columbus Regional, scoring 197.650, their fourth-highest Regional score ever. Bruins took first place on every event, with Pauline Tratz and Anna Glenn winning vault, Kyla Ross winning bars and beam, and Katelyn Ohashi winning floor.
PROGRAM-RECORD 12 EARN REGULAR SEASON ALL-AMERICA HONORS
A total of six Bruins combined for a program-record 12 regular season All-America honors in 2019, led by junior Kyla Ross, the only gymnast in the nation to earn first-team honors on all four events and the all-around. Ross now has 15 All-America honors in her career, fourth-most in UCLA history. Also receiving multiple first-team honors was Katelyn Ohashi on beam and floor, bringing her career All-America total to eight. Felicia Hano received All-America honors on two events, earning first-team acclaim on vault and second-team honors on floor. Madison Kocian was UCLA's fourth first-team All-American, receiving honors on uneven bars. Earning second-team honors for their first-ever All-America distinctions were Norah Flatley on uneven bars and Gracie Kramer on floor exercise.
BACK-TO-BACK PAC-12 CHAMPIONS
UCLA posted a Pac-12 Championship record and season-high 198.400 to capture its 19th Pac-12 title. The Bruins led Utah by just .050 going into the final rotation but used an electrifying floor exercise rotation to pull away. Kyla Ross and Katelyn Ohashi scored perfect 10s, and Gracie Kramer and Pauline Tratz added 9.95s to help UCLA record a floor total of 49.775, well ahead of Utah's 49.450 on vault. Bruins won all four events and the all-around, with Ross winning her second all-around title and first outright, defending her bars championship with a perfect 10 and sharing the floor exercise title with Ohashi and Utah's MyKayla Skinner with a 10.0. Ohashi tied with teammate Grace Glenn for the balance beam title, and Felicia Hano tied with Skinner for first on vault with a 9.95.
ROSS SELECTED PAC-12 GYMNAST OF THE YEAR
After a dominating season during which she scored 11 perfect 10s, recorded a Gym Slam, and twice posted the nation's top all-around score of 39.850, junior Kyla Ross was named the Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year. Ross becomes UCLA's 19th Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year and first since Vanessa Zamarripa in 2013. The No. 1-ranked gymnast in the nation in the all-around, vault and uneven bars, Ross posted nine all-around victories this season, including her second-straight Pac-12 all-around crown. She also won the uneven bars and floor exercise titles with perfect 10s and has six career Pac-12 individual titles, fourth-most in conference history. Ross also dominated the Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week awards, winning a Pac-12 single-season record-tying seven, including a new conference record six in a row.
OHASHI REPEATS AS PAC-12 SPECIALIST OF THE YEAR
For the second-straight year, Katelyn Ohashi was selected the Pac-12 Specialist of the Year, becoming the first-ever repeat winner of the award. The Pac-12 record-holder with 10 career Specialist of the Week awards, Ohashi captured six weekly awards this season, another record. Ohashi has scored six perfect 10s on floor in 2019, including one at the Pac-12 Championship to successfully defend her title. She also tied for the Pac-12 title on beam. Ohashi finishes the season ranked No. 1 nationally on floor with a National Qualifying Score of 10.0, becoming just the fourth gymnast in NCAA history to achieve a perfect NQS, and No. 2 on beam. She is a finalist for the AAI Award, which is presented to the most outstanding female senior gymnast in the nation..
KONDOS FIELD NAMED PAC-12 COACH OF THE YEAR
For the fifth and final time in her illustrious career, Valorie Kondos Field has been voted the Pac-12 Coach of the Year. Kondos Field has led UCLA to a 19-1 regular season record and No. 2 national ranking in her 29th and final season as head coach. The Pac-12 Gymnastics Coach of the Century announced her retirement following the season. Kondos Field's 2019 Bruins went undefeated in Pac-12 play and enter the postseason with a season average of 197.781 with four scores of 198+, including a national season-best 198.4 to win the Pac-12 title. She has led UCLA to all seven of its NCAA Championships, along with 15 conference and 19 NCAA Regional championships. In 29 seasons as head coach, she holds a career record of 535-121-3. This is her fifth conference Coach of the Year award in her career and first since 2012.
SCHOOL RECORD NINE EARN ALL-PAC-12 ACCLAIM
A school record nine UCLA gymnasts earned a total of 16 All-Pac-12 honors in 2019, the most ever by a Bruin team and the most in the conference this season. Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year Kyla Ross was the only gymnast to receive first-team honors on all four events and the all-around, bringing her career total to 12 all-conference honors, third-most in Pac-12 history. Pac-12 Specialist of the Year Katelyn Ohashi was a first-team honoree on beam and floor, the two events on which she won Pac-12 titles. Also receiving first-team honors were Pac-12 co-champions Felicia Hano on vault and Grace Glenn on beam, along with Madison Kocian on bars. Earning second-team acclaim were Nia Dennis on vault, Norah Flatley on bars and beam, Margzetta Frazier on bars, and Gracie Kramer and Hano on floor.
PUTTING THE STUDENT IN STUDENT-ATHLETE
A total of six gymnasts from UCLA's Pac-12 Championship squad earned Pac-12 All-Academic honors in 2019. Leading the charge were first-team member Madison Kocian and second-team honoree Pauline Tratz. Receiving honorable mention acclaim were Anna Glenn, Gracie Kramer, Brielle Nguyen and Kyla Ross. Kocian, a junior psychology major who hopes to go into the medical field, holds an overall GPA of 3.81 and has been on the Director's Honor Roll every quarter at UCLA. An undeclared sophomore, Tratz earned second-team honors with a 3.80 GPA and has also been on the Director's Honor Roll every quarter.
GYM SLAM ACHIEVED
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 a three-week span, 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 11 perfect 10s this season, which ties Jeanette Antolin's single-season record of 11, set in 2004. Ross also has a school record eight consecutive weeks with a perfect 10, breaking Jamie Dantzscher's 2002 record of seven.
10.0 HOARDERS
Of the 32 perfect 10 routines around the nation this season, UCLA has earned 18 of them (56%). Kyla Ross leads the nation with 11 (five on bars, three on vault, two on floor and one on beam) and earned the Gym Slam in a three-week span with 10s on vault and bars on Mar. 3, on beam Mar. 10 and on floor Mar. 16. Ross has scored a perfect 10 in eight consecutive meets and in all but three meets this season. Katelyn Ohashi is the only other gymnast who has multiple 10s on one event, recording six on floor exercise. Madison Kocian has one perfect 10 this year, on uneven bars. The only other schools with multiple perfect 10s are LSU (seven) and Oklahoma (four). Denver, Utah and Michigan have one each. UCLA gymnasts have totaled 144 perfect 10s all-time. Ross is second all-time at UCLA with 16 (a school-record eight on bars, plus three on vault, three on beam and two on floor). Ohashi ranks fourth with 11 (nine 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 showed who was boss this year, finishing the regular season ranked No. 1 in the national all-around rankings. She is also the only gymnast in the nation to rank in the Top 5 on all four events - No. 1 on vault and bars, No. 3 on beam and No. 4 on floor - and was the only gymnast in the nation this year to earn first-team All-America honors on all four events and the all-around. Ross posted a national season-high all-around score of 39.850 twice, a score that ranks No. 4 all-time at UCLA. She has nine all-around victories this season and eight scores of 39.65 or higher. The Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year, Ross won Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week honors a record-tying seven times this season, including an unprecedented six in a row from Feb. 5-Mar. 12. She leads UCLA with 30 event titles, 35 scores of 9.9 or higher and 22 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 five 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. She made it back-to-back 10s with another perfect routine to successfully defend her Pac-12 Championship. Ohashi, who is unbeaten on floor this year with 11 victories, ranks No. 1 in the nation on that event with a 10.0 NQS and holds an astonishing season average of 9.977. She ranks second on beam and averages 9.927 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 featured everywhere from Good Morning America to CBS This Morning, Access Hollywood, the Ryan Seacrest Show, Rolling Stone Magazine, and was a featured guest speaker at the Makers Conference. Ohashi's new floor routine, featuring all female artists, also has millions of views on YouTube and social media.
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% (60-for-61). Flatley has hit 26 of 27 routines, with 20 going 9.85 or higher. Frazier is 25-for-25 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 earned second-team regular season All-America honors on bars and second-team All-Pac-12 honors on bars and beam. Frazier won three Pac-12 Freshman of the Week awards this season and averages 9.890 on bars and 9.880 on floor. She earned second-team All-Pac-12 acclaim 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 three times, 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 nine scores of 9.875 or higher in that first spot, including a 9.95 at the Pac-12 Championships. Since returning to the leadoff role on beam Feb. 16, Grace Glenn has scored two 9.875s, two 9.9s and back-to-back 9.95s in the Bruins' last two meets. She earned a share of the Pac-12 beam title with her 9.95. 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 107 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 40 of those 107 rotations โฆ UCLA's streak of 26 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 40 meets, breaking the NCAA record of 37 set by Oklahoma from 2016-18โฆ The Bruins have gone 49+ on floor in their last 34 meets โฆ Kyla Ross has scored a perfect 10 in eight consecutive meets, breaking the school record of seven set by Jamie Dantzscher in 2002 โฆ Katelyn Ohashi has scored 9.925 or better on floor in 22 straight meets and has 53 straight routines without a fall.
ALL 197S TO START
The Bruins have set a new standard by recording 197+ scores in the first 12 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 four times this season, scoring a national season-high 198.4 at the Pac-12 Championships, 198.325 on Mar. 10 against Stanford and 198.025s on Feb. 16 against Arizona and on Feb. 23 at Utah. The last Bruin team to score four 198s in one season was the 2004 NCAA Championship squad. The school record for most 198s in a season is five set by the 2003 NCAA Championship squad.
TOP FINAL MARKS
The Bruins posted a final National Qualifying Score (NQS) of 198.010, marking just the second time a UCLA team has posted a final qualifying score of 198. Only two schools have ever done it - UCLA in 2004 (198.055) and Oklahoma in 2019 (198.115), 2018 (198.120) and 2017 (198.010). UCLA's floor exercise NQS of 49.720 is an all-time best on any event, and the Bruins' uneven bars mark of 49.590 is the highest qualifying score on bars since the 2001 Bruins finished with a 49.615. Katelyn Ohashi's 10.0 NQS on floor is just the fourth perfect qualifying score in history, joining Jamie Dantzscher (2002, floor), Jeanette Antolin (2004, vault) and Courtney Bumpers (2004, floor). Kyla Ross just missed out on a 10.0 NQS on bars but did finish with a NCAA record 9.995 on the event.
IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA finished the regular season ranked No. 2 overall behind Oklahoma with a NQS of 198.010. The Bruins rank No. 1 in the nation on bars and floor, No. 2 on beam and No. 3 on vault. Kyla Ross ranks No. 1 in the all-around, vault and bars, No. 3 on beam and No. 4 on floor. Her No. 1 ranking on bars marks the third-straight year she has finished No. 1 on the event. Katelyn Ohashi finished No. 1 on floor for the second-straight year and No. 2 on beam. The Bruins have four gymnasts ranked in the Top 20 on floor (No. 1 Ohashi, No. 4 Ross, No. 13 Gracie Kramer and No. 16 Felicia Hano) and on bars (No. 1 Ross, No. 6 Madison Kocian, No. 14 Norah Flatley and No. 19 Margzetta Frazier), three in the Top 25 on beam (No. 2 Ohashi, No. 3 Ross, and No. 18 Grace Glenn) and on vault (No. 1 Ross, No. 6 Hano and No. 23 Nia Dennis).
FLOORED BY FLOOR
UCLA's floor exercise squad has been exceptional so far this season, averaging a national-best 49.621, 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 in that meet, including Kyla Ross and Katelyn Ohashi, who each earned perfect 10s. Felicia Hano and Pauline Tratz contributed 9.95s. The Bruins also have a 49.775 (Mar. 23) and 49.750 (Feb. 16) under their belts this year, which stand as the fourth and fifth-highest floor marks in school history. The Bruins have scored 49.5 or better in 10 of 12 meets and have scored 49+ in 34 consecutive meets. Four Bruins earned regular season All-America honors on floor - Ohashi, Ross, Gracie Kramer and Hano.
RAISING THE BAR
The Bruin bar squad finished the regular season ranked No. 1 with a NQS of 49.590, the second-highest bars qualifying score in NCAA history. UCLA has posted big numbers, including a season-high score of 49.700 against Arizona State on Jan. 21, 49.650s at the Pac-12 Championships Mar. 23 and 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. Six of UCLA's 18 perfect 10s this season have come on uneven bars - five from Kyla Ross and one from Kocian. The Bruins have 16 9.95+ uneven bars routines so far this season - seven from Ross, four from Kocian, two each from Norah Flatley and Margzetta Frazier, and one from Nia Dennis. Four Bruins are ranked in the Top 20 nationally - Ross is No. 1, Kocian is No. 6, Flatley is No. 14 and Frazier is No. 19.
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 40 consecutive meets and five scores of 49.5 or higher.
VAULTING UP
UCLA moved up to No. 3 in the final 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, sixth-ranked Felicia Hano and 23rd-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 four times.
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 final 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.
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 535-121-3. 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.
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.
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 673,000. The Bruins rank first among all NCAA gymnastics teams on Instagram (314k), Facebook (296k) and Twitter (63k). 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.
Players Mentioned
