UCLA
Oregon State
Bruins Travel to Oregon State for Saturday Dual Meet
February 27, 2020 | Gymnastics
No. 3 UCLA at No. 18 Oregon State
Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020 โ 1 p.m. PT
Corvallis, Ore. (Gill Coliseum)
TV: Pac-12 Network (Jim Watson, Amanda Borden)
Live Stats: osubeavers.com
UCLA HEADS TO CORVALLIS
No. 3 UCLA (8-3, 3-2 in the Pac-12) will make its last regular season road trip this weekend when it faces Oregon State (8-5, 3-2) on Saturday, Feb. 29 at 1pm in Gill Coliseum. The meet will be televised live on Pac-12 Network with Jim Watson and Amanda Borden on the call.
BRUINS BREAK 198 BARRIER
In an electrifying down-to-the-wire battle against Utah, the Bruins recorded a season-high score of 198.025 yet fell to the Utes, who scored 198.075 after Abby Paulson scored a perfect 10 on beam on their final routine. The Bruins had tied the meet halfway through the final rotation, but when Utah finished with a 9.95, 9.975 and 10.0, it allowed the Utes to drop a 9.8 score, giving them a school record total of 49.775. UCLA did everything it could in the final rotation to snatch the victory, scoring 49.8 on floor, but the Bruins' total fell just short. As a team, UCLA posted season-high marks on vault (49.375), beam (49.525) and floor (49.8), and six Bruins earned career-high marks - Savannah Kooyman (9.9 on bars), Kalyany Steele (9.925 on bars), Grace Glenn (10.0 on beam), Felicia Hano (9.825 on beam), Chloe Lashbrooke (9.9 on floor), and Nia Dennis (9.975 on floor). Additionally, the Bruins received season-high marks from Gracie Kramer (9.85 on vault), Kyla Ross (9.95 on vault, 9.975 on beam and floor), Nicki Shapiro (9.9 on beam) and Hano (9.95 on floor).
GLENN EARNS HISTORIC LEADOFF
10 Senior Grace Glenn made NCAA history by becoming the first gymnast ever to record a leadoff perfect 10 on the balance beam. Glenn had been flirting with a perfect 10 all season, scoring 9.975 twice and 9.95 once, and this time, she was not denied. Perfect scores are extremely rare in the early part of the lineup and unprecedented on beam. UCLA's Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs scored a 10 as the No. 2 competitor on beam at Georgia in 2010, and Nia Dennis scored a 9.95 on her 9.95-start value vault against Utah in 2018.
FLOOR PARTY GOES NEXT LEVEL
UCLA became the first team in the nation this season to score 49.8 on any single apparatus, recording 49.8 on floor exercise in the Utah meet. The score was the fourth-highest floor total in school history and the highest team score on any event in the NCAA this year. The Bruins received 9.975 scores from Nia Dennis, Gracie Kramer and Kyla Ross, a 9.95 from Felicia Hano, a 9.925 from leadoff Norah Flatley and a 9.9 from Chloe Lashbrooke. UCLA has been ranked No. 1 in the nation on floor all season and remains No. 1 this week with a NQS of 49.565. The Bruins' season average of 49.569 is also best in the nation.
ROSS, GLENN EARN PAC-12 HONORS
For the second time this year, both Kyla Ross and Grace Glenn earned Pac-12 honors in the same week, with Ross receiving her fourth Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week award of the season and Glenn earning her second Pac-12 Specialist of the Week award. Ross, who was the Pac-12 Specialist of the Week last week, recorded a season-high 39.825 against Utah to remaining unbeaten in the all-around this season with seven victories. Ross earned a season-high 9.95 on vault, tied her season-bests on balance beam and floor exercise with 9.975s and tied for second on uneven bars with a 9.925. Her victories in the all-around and on vault and floor exercise give her 28 out of 37 individual wins this season.
Glenn made NCAA history on Sunday by becoming the first leadoff performer ever to score a perfect 10 on the balance beam. The 10 was her first career perfect mark, and she earned her third beam title of the year. Glenn's score paved the way for UCLA to score a season-high 49.525 on beam and a season-high team total of 198.025. The reigning Pac-12 beam champion ranks No. 6 in the nation on the event. Glenn is the first gymnast this season to earn multiple Specialist of the Week awards, having previously won the award on Jan. 29.
FRESHMEN CONTINUE TO SHINE
For the third-straight meet, UCLA's freshmen have had standout performances. Kalyany Steele recorded another career-high on uneven bars with a 9.925 that put her in a tie for second place on the event. Chloe Lashbrooke earned her second-straight career-best mark of 9.9 on floor exercise, contributing to the Bruins' season-high score of 49.8. Steele is averaging 9.875 on bars in her last three meets, and Lashbrooke is averaging 9.875 over five routines this season.
AMAZING GRACIE
Senior Gracie Kramer has captivated on floor exercise, ranking No. 3 in the nation and No. 1 in the Pac-12. She has won floor in four consecutive meets and in a team-leading five overall. Kramer, who scored her first career perfect 10 on Jan. 31, averages 9.939 and has scored 9.95 or higher in four-straight meets and in six of eight meets this season. Since the start of the 2018 season, she has hit 37 consecutive floor routines without a fall, with 24 of those routines going 9.9 or higher. Kramer's perfect 10 is still the only 10 on floor in the nation this season.
THE BOSS REMAINS UNBEATEN
Kyla Ross keeps rolling this season, winning the all-around in all seven meets in which she has competed all-around. The AAI Award nominee has racked up a total of 21 individual event wins (six on bars and vault, five on beam and four on floor). Ross is averaging 39.695 in the all-around this season, with five scores of 39.7 or higher and a season-best of 39.825 set last weekend. She ranks first in the nation in the all-around and on uneven bars, second on balance beam, fourth on floor exercise and 10th on vault. She is one of just two gymnasts, along with Denver's Maddie Karr, to rank in the Top 10 on all four events and the all-around.
FLOORED BY FLOOR
UCLA ranks No. 1 in the nation on floor exercise with a NQS of 49.565 and a season average of 49.569. The Bruins have two of the Top 4 gymnasts in the nation on floor in No. 3 Gracie Kramer and No. 4 Kyla Ross, plus another ranked in the Top 25 in No. 23 Nia Dennis. The Bruins have scored 49.425 or higher in every meet and 49.5 or higher in five meets, with a high of 49.8 set against Utah on Feb. 23. The 49.8 ranks as the fourth-highest floor score in school history and the highest score in the nation on any event this year. UCLA has the Top 3 team scores on floor in the nation - 49.8 (Feb. 23), 49.725 (Jan. 12) and 49.675 (Jan. 31). Kramer has the only perfect 10 on floor in the nation so far this season, while Ross has three 9.975s and Dennis one. Felicia Hano, Margzetta Frazier and Norah Flatley have each scored at least one 9.95 this season. Every Bruin who has competed on floor this year has a season-high of 9.875 or better.
RAISING THE BAR
UCLA has shown strong consistency on uneven bars, ranking second in the nation with a NQS of 49.430 and a season average of 49.400. The Bruins have scored 49.4 or higher in five meets, with a high of 49.525 on Jan. 18 at BYU. Two Bruins are ranked in the Top 10 nationally on bars - No. 1 Kyla Ross (9.960 NQS) and No. 8 Margzetta Frazier (9.915). Ross has scored 9.925 or higher on every routine and posted a pair of perfect 10s on Jan. 12 and Jan. 18. Frazier has scored 9.9 or better on all six of her performances, with a pair of 9.95s. Kocian has four 9.9+ scores and a season-high of 9.95. She also has two career perfect 10s on bars, achieved in 2017 and 2019. Kalyany Steele and Savannah Kooyman broke into the 9.9 range last week against Utah, with Steele tying for second place with a 9.925 and Kooyman scoring her career-best with a 9.9.
ROSS RECORD WATCH
Kyla Ross recorded her 21st career perfect 10 on uneven bars Jan. 18 at BYU, moving into a tie for fourth on the NCAA's all-time perfect 10 list. She is seven away from tying the all-time record of 28 held by UCLA's Jamie Dantzscher (2000-03) and Kentucky's Jenny Hansen (1993-96). Ross extended her NCAA record to 11 career perfect 10s on bars (10 of her 11 were scored on the road). Last season, Ross set NCAA records with 10 consecutive meets with a perfect 10 and 14 10s overall in the season. This year, she became the first gymnast in the nation to record multiple 10s, having scored two in a row on uneven bars in weeks two and three.
COMEBACK QUEEN
After a three-year layoff, redshirt senior Nicki Shapiro is officially back as a key contributor to the Bruin lineup. She made her season debut on Jan. 27 at Stanford and scored a team-counting 9.8 on beam, and on Feb. 23 against Utah, she scored a season-high 9.9 to help the Bruins achieve a season-best team total of 49.525. Shapiro competed in nine meets for the Bruins as a true freshman in 2016, hitting a career-high 9.925 on beam at the 2016 Pac-12 Championships, before leaving the sport. She returned to the team in the fall following a successful tryout and has competed in three meets and has also exhibitioned on bars twice this season.
UCLA SHOWCASES DEPTH
The Bruins have showcased their depth this season, competing anywhere from 12-14 gymnasts in each of their meets. Fourteen have competed in the Bruins' last two competitions. UCLA's depth has been especially strong on floor exercise, where 11 athletes (Emma Andres, Nia Dennis, Norah Flatley, Margzetta Frazier, Felicia Hano, Madison Kocian, Gracie Kramer, Chloe Lashbrooke, Kyla Ross, Macy Toronjo and Pauline Tratz) have shown floor routines either in competition or in exhibition.
BY THE NUMBERS
UCLA has scored 49+ on floor exercise in 46 consecutive meets, its last sub-49 score coming on Feb. 20, 2017 โฆ On bars, UCLA's 49+ streak stands at 42, with its last sub-49 coming at the 2017 Pac-12 Championships โฆ UCLA has scored 49+ on vault in 38-straight meets since the 2018 season opener โฆ In her last 22 meets, Nia Dennis is averaging 9.872 on vault, with nine scores of 9.9 or higher โฆ Norah Flatley has hit 23 consecutive uneven bars routines โฆ Margzetta Frazier has hit every routine she has competed in her career, with 45 of her 46 routines scoring 9.8 or higher โฆ Grace Glenn has scored 9.9 or higher on beam on 18 of 34 routines โฆFelicia Hano has hit 43 consecutive vaults โฆ Madison Kocian has hit 36 consecutive uneven bars routines, 20 of those going 9.9 or higher, and 22 consecutive floor exercise routines โฆ Gracie Kramer has hit 37 floor routines in a row, with 24 of those routines earning 9.9 or higher โฆ Kyla Ross has scored 39+ in the all-around 33 times in her career โฆ On balance beam, Ross has hit 41 consecutive routines, 31 of them for 9.9 or higher โฆ Pauline Tratz has hit 64 of 65 routines without a fall in her career, including 57 in a row.
GOLDEN BRUINS
UCLA seniors Kyla Ross and Madison Kocian remain the only Olympic gold medalists to compete in NCAA Gymnastics and the only female gymnasts to win NCAA, World and Olympic championships. Ross was a member of the 2012 U.S. Olympic team, the Fierce Five, that became just the second U.S. team to win team gold. She also won a World Championship team gold medal in 2014 and has won five NCAA Championships (2017 bars and beam, 2018 team, 2019 vault and floor). Kocian was a member of the 2016 U.S. Olympic squad, dubbed the Final Five, and took home a team gold medal and an uneven bars silver medal. She won three World medals - team golds in 2014 and 2015 and uneven bars gold in 2015 - and helped UCLA win the 2018 NCAA Championship.
SETTING NEW ACADEMIC STANDARDS
Fourteen members of the Bruin squad were part of the UCLA-record total of 415 student-athletes to make the Athletic Director's Honor Roll in Fall 2019. Sixty-two percent of all UCLA student-athletes earned honor roll recognition, with 28 earning perfect 4.0 GPAs, including Macy Toronjo and Pauline Tratz. The 12 other Bruins to make the Director's Honor Roll last quarter were Emma Andres, Norah Flatley, Anna Glenn, Felicia Hano, Madison Kocian, Gracie Kramer, Chloe Lashbrooke, Kendal Poston, Kyla Ross, Samantha Sakti, Mercedez Sanchez and Sara Taubman.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
Oregon State moved up to No. 18 in the national rankings with a NQS of 196.260. The Beavers have a season-high of 196.825, set Feb. 2 against Stanford, and a high event ranking of No. 9 on balance beam. The Beavers are also ranked No. 13 on floor exercise. Like UCLA, Oregon State is senior-heavy, with eight seniors competing a team-leading 84 routines (43.8% of the team routines). The Beavers are led by Kaitlyn Yanish, who ranks No. 10 on floor exercise, and seniors Lacy Dagen and Isis Lowery, who have scored 9.975 this year on beam and floor, respectively. Acting head coach Michael Chaplin and UCLA head coach Chris Waller were teammates on UCLA's 1987 team that won the NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championship.
NEW ERA 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.
Waller's staff has 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.
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 775,000. The Bruins rank first among all NCAA gymnastics teams on Instagram (350k), Facebook (358k) and Twitter (68.1k) and also have 578k subscribers on Snapchat. 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.
WATCH THE BRUINS OFF THE MATS
Felicia Hano returns as the host of Bruin Banter, UCLA's weekly interview series. The guest for Episode 7 this week will be Grace Glenn. UCLA also has a docuseries, UCLA Gymnastics: The New Era that gives fans a behind-the-scenes look at the team. Episode 3 of the docuseries is now available. The videos can be viewed on YouTube.com/UCLAAthletics.
LOOKING AHEAD
UCLA will close the regular season with two home meets, welcoming California on Sunday, Mar. 8 and Bridgeport for Senior Day on Saturday, Mar. 14.
Players Mentioned
