UCLA
Boise State
Gymnastics Hosts Boise State in Home Opener Sunday
January 08, 2020 | Gymnastics
No. 3 UCLA vs. Boise State
Date/Time: Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020 โ 3 p.m. (PT)
Location: Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom)
Television: Pac-12 Network
TV Talent: Jim Watson, Samantha Peszek
Live Stats: uclabruins.com
Tickets: $20 reserved/$12 general admission (UCLA students are free)
Ticket Promos: Up to 4 free admissions for First Responders; Free admission w/ ticket stub from 1/11 UCLA MBB game
Giveaways: Team Poster (2,000)
Postmeet Photos: Dennis, Hano, Taubman, Sanchez, A. Glenn
BRUINS HOST BOISE STATE SUNDAY
No. 3-ranked UCLA (2-1) will host Boise State (0-0) on Sunday, Jan. 12 in the Bruins' home opener in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. The meet will take place at 3 p.m. and will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Network, with Jim Watson and Samantha Peszek calling the action. Doors open at 2 p.m., and fans are encouraged to arrive early for pre-meet festivities, including the premiere of the 2020 intro video.
TICKETS/PROMOTIONS
Tickets for the UCLA-Boise State meet, as well as season tickets for the Bruins' six-meet home schedule, are on sale now at the UCLA Central Ticket Office and at Ticketmaster. UCLA students are free with ID and eligible to win a raffle prize each home meet. This week's prize are Airpods. The UCLA-Boise State meet is First Responders Appreciation Day. All active or retired first responders can receive up to four free tickets to Sunday's meet. Additionally, fans who attend the Jan. 11 UCLA-USC men's basketball game can present their game ticket to the box office for free admission to Sunday's meet. The giveaway item for Sunday is the team poster for the first 2,000 fans. Following the meet, Bruins Nia Dennis, Felicia Hano, Sara Taubman, Mercedez Sanchez and Anna Glenn will be available for photos on the concourse.
BRUIN LIGHTS
Fans attending the home meets in 2020 can be part of a light show during the pre-meet festivities. To participate, download the UCLA Bruins app and select Bruin Lights in the dropdown menu. Hold up your phone during the intro video, and the lights will automatically sync to the music.
CLEAR BAG POLICY
Pauley Pavilion continues to implement a clear bag policy which limits the size and type of bags that may be brought into the arena. One large clear bag, either a one gallon Ziploc style bag or a 12' by 6" by 12" clear bag, or a small clutch may be allowed into the arena. Increased screening through the use of electronic security equipment will be used at all entry gates. For more information, visit uclabruins.com/pauleygamedayinfo.
FIRST RESPONDERS APPRECIATION DAY
UCLA will be honoring all active or retired first responders on Sunday by offering four free tickets to the meet. Tickets can be requested here. This meet has special meaning for senior Felicia Hano, whose father Ed is a corporal with the Downey Police Department. Felicia herself has future career interests in law enforcement and the FBI.
ROSS, SAKTI, FRAZIER EARN FIRST WEEKLY HONORS
UCLA won three of the four Pac-12 weekly awards after week one. Kyla Ross won Gymnast of the Week honors for the ninth time in her career after capturing the all-around with a 39.725 and winning three events (vault, beam and floor) at the Collegiate Challenge. Samantha Sakti received her first Pac-12 Specialist of the Week award after scoring a career-high 9.95 on beam in her UCLA debut. Margzetta Frazier received the first-ever Pac-12 Gymnastics Coaches Award for her strong all-around debut (39.475).
BRUINS PLACE SECOND AT COLLEGIATE CHALLENGE
UCLA opened the 2020 season with a second-place finish at the Collegiate Challenge. The No. 4 Bruins scored 196.575 to finish behind No. 1 Oklahoma, who totaled 197.350. California was third with 196.200, and Stanford was fourth with 195.475. The Bruins led after the first rotation thanks to a 49.425 on the uneven bars, but falls from the first two competitors on beam dropped the Bruins to second in the second rotation. UCLA rebounded to score meet-highs on floor (49.425) and vault (49.225), but it wasn't enough to unseat the Sooners. Kyla Ross won the all-aorund with a 39.725 and scored 9.9 or higher on all four events, including 9.95s on beam and floor.
ROSS IS STILL BOSS
Senior Kyla Ross picked up where she left off in 2019, winning the all-around at the Collegiate Challenge with a score of 39.725, the highest season-opening all-around total by a Bruin since 2004, when Kate Richardson and Jeanette Antolin started out with 39.825s. Ross, who has won every NCAA individual event title during her career, won three events last weekend, taking first on floor and tying for first on vault and beam en route to her 18th career all-around victory.
SAKTI STUNS IN DEBUT
Sophomore Samantha Sakti was stunning in her UCLA debut, tying Kyla Ross for first place on balance beam with a career-high score of 9.95. The Arcadia, Calif. native transferred to UCLA from William & Mary, where she was an all-conference honoree on floor exercise and a three-time conference gymnast of the week. After her performance at the Collegiate Challenge, Sakti was named the Pac-12 Specialist of the Week. She is far from just a beam specialist, however, as she owns William & Mary's school record on floor exercise with a 9.925.
MARZ'S STAR TURN
Sophomore Margzetta Frazier turned in star performances on all four events in the season opener, scoring 39.475 in her collegiate all-around debut. Frazier had the Bruins' top score on uneven bars with a career-high-tying 9.95 and also earned a 9.925 on her show-stopping disco-themed floor exercise routine. She also tied her career-high on vault with a 9.825 and earned 9.775 on her first counting beam routine. Frazier earned the first-ever Pac-12 Coaches' Choice Award for her efforts.
UCLA SHOWCASES DEPTH
The Bruins showcased their depth in the season opener, competing 12 gymnasts, including four underclassmen (freshman Kalyany Steele and sophomores Norah Flatley, Margzetta Frazier and Samantha Sakti) who competed a total of eight routines. Three other gymnasts - Mercedez Sanchez on bars and freshmen Emma Andres on beam and Chloe Lashbrooke on floor - also gained valuable podium experience with hit exhibition routines.
NEWCOMERS' SUCCESS HAS BRUINS BEAMING
The Bruins utilized an inexperienced beam lineup in the season opener, with four of the six beam workers combining for three competitive routines at UCLA between them. Margzetta Frazier was making her collegiate beam debut. Samantha Sakti was making her UCLA debut, having transfered from William & Mary, and Kendal Poston had competed on beam just once last season. Felicia Hano was the veteran of the quartet, having competed twice in 2018. Although Hano fell on her difficult flight series, the other three were solid, with Poston following two falls and scoring 9.65, Frazier scoring 9.775, and Sakti tying for first with a 9.95.
FRESHMEN LOOK STRONG IN COLLEGIATE DEBUTS
Three freshmen made strong collegiate debuts on Saturday. Kalyany Steele was the only freshman to break the competitive lineup, and she scored 9.8 on uneven bars to help the Bruins take the first rotation lead with a 49.425. Emma Andres and Chloe Lashbrooke performed exhibition routines on balance beam and floor exercise, respectively. Andres scored 9.7 on beam, while Lashbrooke posted a 9.8 on floor.
STREAKS STOPPED
UCLA's streak of 49+ rotations ended on Saturday at 124 after UCLA's 48.5 on beam. The last sub-49 score ad taken place in the first rotation of the 2018 season opener โฆ The Bruins had scored 49.5 or better on 44 of those 124 rotations during the streak โฆ UCLA's streak of 30 straight meets scoring 49+ on all four apparatus was tied for the second-longest streak in NCAA history behind Oklahoma (34 from 2016-18). LSU also had 30 from 2016-18 โฆ UCLA's 49+ streak on beam ended at 44, a new NCAA record โฆ UCLA's longest 49+ streak is now on floor exercise (39).
SCOUTING THE BRONCOS
Boise State opened the season ranked No. 18 in the preseason rankings. Sunday's meet is the Broncos' season opener. Boise State is coached by Tina Bird in her first season as the sole head coach. A member of the Boise State staff for 30 years, she was co-head coach for the previous 12 years before co-head coach Neil Resnick retired this summer. The Broncos, who finished fourth at the NCAA Regionals last season, are led by 2016 Olympians Courtney McGregor (New Zealand) and Isabella Amado (Panama).
NEW ERA BEGINS AT UCLA
UCLA Gymnastics has a new leader for the first time in 29 years. Following Hall of Fame head coach Valorie Kondos Field as head coach of the Bruins is Chris Waller, who was an assistant under Kondos Field for 17 years. Waller helped guide the Bruins to four NCAA titles during his time as an assistant. In his first season on staff in 2003, the Bruins swept through the postseason, winning Pac-10, NCAA Regional and NCAA Championships. Also that year, he was the acting head coach when UCLA snapped the longest home-court winning streak in NCAA history for any sport, handing Utah its first home loss in 23 years. Waller was voted by his peers the National Assistant Coach of the Year in 2004 and the West Region Assistant Coach of the Year in 2010 and 2018. A champion gymnast himself, Waller won three NCAA titles with the Bruin men's team, and he competed at the 1992 Olympics, where he placed fifth on pommel horse.
Joining Waller's staff are a few familiar faces. Associate Head Coach Kristina Comforte is a former UCLA All-American and Bruin record-holder on vault. Assistant Coach Dom Palange was a volunteer assistant coach for UCLA from 2014-16. Also on board is volunteer assistant coach and choreographer BJ Das, a former Washington Huskies gymnast who spent last season as a volunteer coach at Utah.
SOLID CORE RETURNS IN 2020
UCLA returns all but three routines from the NCAA Championships and has eight All-Americans on the roster - reigning NCAA vault and floor exercise co-champion Kyla Ross, Grace Glenn, Felicia Hano, Madison Kocian, Gracie Kramer, Nia Dennis, Margzetta Frazier and Norah Flatley.The Bruins lose 10.0-caliber routines on beam and floor from Katelyn Ohashi and consistent high marks on beam from All-American Brielle Nguyen but bring in seasoned routines from William & Mary transfer Samantha Sakti and redshirt senior Nicki Shapiro.
UCLA's strength lies in its depth. The Bruins have 22 gymnasts on the roster, including 11 who competed in at least 10 meets last season - Dennis, Flatley, Frazier, Grace Glenn, Hano, Kocian, Kramer, Ross, Samantha Sakti, Pauline Tratz and Sekai Wright. UCLA finished the 2019 regular season ranked in the Top 3 in the nation on all four events - No. 1 on bars and floor, No. 2 on beam and No. 3 on vault.
NEW FACES
The Bruins welcome in 2020 four freshmen (Emma Andres, Paige Hogan, Chloe Lashbrooke and Kalyany Steele), sophomore transfer Samantha Sakti, and redshirt senior Nicki Shapiro. Steele is a former elite who placed 13th at the 2017 USA Championships. Andres and Lashbrooke are both two-time Level 10 Nationals qualifiers. Hogan is a four-time Level 10 state champion. Sakti transferred from William & Mary, where she earned all-league honors on floor exercise and scored a school-record 9.925 on floor in her first meet. Shapiro returns to the Bruins after leaving the sport for three years. She competed for UCLA as a freshman in 2016 and scored a career-high 9.925 on beam.
SENIOR STRONG
The heart of UCLA's team lies in the nine-member senior class of Anna Glenn, Grace Glenn, Felicia Hano, Madison Kocian, Gracie Kramer, Kyla Ross, Mercedez Sanchez, Nicki Shapiro and Macy Toronjo. The senior class competed half of the team's routines at last year's NCAA Championships and have a combined 39 All-America honors between them. Ross has more than half of those 39 honors alone (a school-record-tying 19). She, Grace Glenn and Felicia Hano all won Pac-12 individual titles last season, with Ross winning the all-around, bars and floor, Glenn tying for the beam title, and Hano sharing the vault crown.
A LOOK BACK AT 2019
UCLA went 19-1 in 2019, scoring 197 or higher in every meet for the first time in school history. The Bruins lost just once in the regular season - at Oklahoma by two-tenths of a point - and won the Pac-12 and NCAA Ann Arbor Regional and placed first in the NCAA semifinal but finished in third place in the NCAA final. UCLA's season began with legendary head coach Valorie Kondos Field announcing her retirement at the end of the season. Two weeks into the season, Katelyn Ohashi blew up the internet with her perfect 10 floor exercise routine, making her a viral sensation and leading to unprecedented levels of media attention and to record-setting attendance around the country. Kyla Ross set records herself, going 10 straight meets with at least one perfect 10 and setting a new NCAA record with 14 10s in a single season. She became the first gymnast ever to record two Gym Slams in a single season and ended her year with NCAA championships on vault and floor, giving her NCAA titles on all four events in her career.
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 750,000. The Bruins rank first among all NCAA gymnastics teams on Instagram (342k), Facebook (348k) and Twitter (66.8k). 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.
BRUIN BANTER
Senior Felicia Hano returns as the host of Bruin Banter, UCLA's weekly interview series. The guest for the first episode, which is scheduled to premiere on Thursday, is sophomore transfer Samantha Sakti.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Bruins will compete at BYU on Saturday, Jan. 19 against the Cougars and Utah State. The meet will take place at 6 p.m. MT/5 p.m. PT and will be televised on BUYtv.
STAY CONNECTED
Download the UCLA Bruins Mobile App to your device, free of charge, to stay up-to-date on all things UCLA Athletics. The official app of UCLA Athletics allows fans to receive in-game stats and live updates during events, as well as participate in the Bruin Lights pregame light show at gymnastics and basketball events. Fans can also sign up to receive push notifications about gameday promotions, game times, results and more; shop for UCLA gear with one click; and get breaking news from UCLA Athletics. When searching iTunes or Google Play, use the term "UCLA Bruins" for more direct access.
Players Mentioned
