Saturday, January 3
Seattle, WA
3:00 PM PT
UCLA
at
Washington
Katelyn Rosen
Photo by: Ross Turteltaub
UCLA Gymnastics Opens 2026 Season Saturday
December 30, 2025 | Gymnastics
No. 4 UCLA at Best of the West Quad
vs. No. 17 Oregon State, No. 20 California, No. 34 Washington
Date/Time: Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026 – 3 pm PT
Location: Seattle, Wash. (Alaska Airlines Arena)
Tickets: gohuskies.com
Ticket Prices: $15
Broadcast: Big Ten Plus
Live Stats: virti.us
SEASON OPENER SATURDAY
UCLA begins the 2026 season on Saturday, Jan. 3 at the Best of the West Quad in Seattle, Wash. The quad will reunite former Pac-12 Conference members UCLA, Washington and California with Oregon State. All four teams are ranked in the preseason Top 36, with UCLA ranked No. 4, Oregon State No. 17, California No. 20 and Washington No. 34. The meet will be held at Alaska Airlines Arena on the University of Washington campus at 3pm and broadcast on Big Ten Plus.
ROTATION ORDER
The Bruins will have a very familiar rotation order on Saturday, starting the meet on floor exercise and ending on balance beam. Last season, UCLA had this rotation for each of its last four meets - two rounds at NCAA Regionals and two rounds at the NCAA Championships. Washington will have Olympic order, starting on vault. Cal will begin on uneven bars, and Oregon State will start on beam.
HOMECOMING FOR FOUR BRUINS
The Bruins have several team members with Washington ties, including head coach Janelle McDonald, who is from the Seattle area. McDonald got her start in coaching while in high school, coaching at Gymnastics Unlimited in Federal Way. Assistant coach BJ Das is also from Seattle (Roosevelt HS) and competed in club gymnastics at Cascade Elite before joining the University of Washington gymnastics team in 2003. Senior Jordan Chiles grew up in Vancouver, Wash. and graduated from Prairie HS. Sophomore Macy McGowan calls Seattle home and graduated from Juanita HS.
PRESEASON POLLS AND LISTS
UCLA enters the 2026 season ranked No. 4 in the preseason rankings, as voted upon by the coaches of the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA). The Bruins have received a Top 10 preseason ranking in every preseason poll of record since 1997. The Bruins are ranked No. 1 in the Big Ten Conference preseason coaches' poll, with Jordan Chiles and Tiana Sumanasekera being named to the Watch List.
DANCING AND GYMNASTICS QUEEN
Senior Jordan Chiles returns for her senior season after a third-place showing on Season 34 of "Dancing with the Stars" this fall. Dancing with pro Ezra Sosa, Chiles became the first female gymnast to make the show's finale since Laurie Hernandez in season 23 in 2016. Chiles competed on the show while simultaneously training for the 2026 season with the Bruins and taking a full set of classes at UCLA. The two-time Olympian and 2024 gold medalist enters her senior year as a three-time NCAA Champion, 16-time All-American and reigning Big Ten floor exercise champion. Chiles has scored 11 perfect 10s in her career - six on floor exercise and five on uneven bars. She holds career-highs of 10.0 on uneven bars and floor exercise, 9.975 on vault and balance beam and 39.900 in the all-around.
ALIPIO TAKES LEAP TO THREE EVENTS
After competing exclusively on balance beam her first three seasons due to injuries, senior Ciena Alipio has made the leap to becoming a multi-event gymnast, adding strong uneven bars and floor exercise routines for 2026. Alipio is a two-time first-team All-American on beam and won the Big Ten balance beam title in 2025 with her first career perfect 10. Her only other non-beam routine that she has performed in college came in an exhibition on floor exercise in the 2025 season opener. As an elite gymnast, Alipio placed third in the all-around at her last international event, the 2022 Arthur Gander Memorial in Switzerland. She was also ninth in the all-around and sixth on floor exercise at the 2022 U.S. Classic.
FABULOUS FRESHMEN
UCLA welcomes a strong six-member freshman class in 2026, led by U.S. National Team members Tiana Sumanasekera, Ashlee Sullivan and Nola Matthews. Sumanasekera, a five-time National Team member, was an alternate for the 2024 U.S. Olympic team and a bronze medalist on floor exercise at the 2024 U.S. Championships. She has seen great success in international competition, winning team gold at the 2023 Pan American Games, a total of eight gold medals at the Pan American Championships and five gold medals at the 2022 City of Jesolo Trophy. Sullivan had an impressive 2025 elite season, beginning the year with the Winter Cup all-around title, winning balance beam at the U.S. Classic, placing fourth in the all-around at the U.S. Championships and then ending with the all-around title at the Arthur Gander Memorial in November. She is now a four-time National Team member. Matthews has been honored as USA Gymnastics' Sportsperson of the Year award three consecutive years (2023-25) and is a five-time National Team member. In 2025, she won the floor exercise title and was fifth in the all-around at the Winter Cup and won a team gold medal at the DTB Mixed Cup and uneven bars and floor exercise gold at the Varna World Challenge Cup. In 2022, she won team and uneven bars gold at the 2023 Pan American Championships. All three competed at the 2025 U.S. Championships alongside classmate Jordis Eichman, who finished eighth on uneven bars. Eichman earned Top 10 all-around finishes at the 2025 U.S. and American Classics, along with the Winter Cup.
Along with the elite freshmen, the Bruins also welcome Level 10 standouts Ava Callahan and Kai Mattei. Callahan was a three-time Development Program Nationals qualifier who won bronze on uneven bars at the 2023 Development Program Nationals. Mattei is a three-time DP Nationals qualifier who finished sixth on floor at the 2023 Nationals and is also a member of the Puerto Rican National Team.
ABOUT THE BRUINS
UCLA returns three-time NCAA Champion Jordan Chiles, All-American and Big Ten beam champion Ciena Alipio, all-conference performers Katelyn Rosen and Macy McGowan, and Big Ten All-Championships team member Mika Webster-Longin while welcoming U.S. National Team members in freshmen Nola Matthews, Ashlee Sullivan and Tiana Sumanasekera. The Bruins, under the direction of 2025 Big Ten Coach of the Year Janelle McDonald, are coming off a second-place finish at the NCAA Championships and an unbeaten Big Ten Conference season, complete with sweeps of the regular season and Conference Championship titles.
INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS
The Bruin roster is filled with gymnasts who have not only represented their countries in international competition but won multiple medals. Jordan Chiles is a two-time Olympian and three-time medalist, winning team gold in 2024. She also won three medals at the 2023 World Championships, taking team gold and vault and floor exercise silver. Ciena Alipio placed third in the all-around at the 2021 Arthur Gander Memorial in Switzerland and won team and balance beam silver and vault bronze at the 2019 Jesolo Trophy in Italy. Lauren Little won silver on vault at the 2018 International Gymnix Challenge Cup. Nola Matthews won gold on uneven bars and with the U.S. team at the 2023 Pan American Championships and uneven bars and floor exercise gold at the 2025 Varna World Challenge Cup. Ashlee Sullivan won the all-around at the 2025 Arthur Gander Memorial and team gold at the 2025 DTB Mixed Cup and also has team gold at the 2022 and 2023 DTB Pokal Cups. Tiana Sumanasekera has totaled eight gold medals at the Pan American Championships, five gold medals at the City of Jesolo Trophy in 2022 and team gold at the 2023 Pan American Games. Additionally, Sydney Barros qualified for the 2023 World Championships for Puerto Rico and placed eighth in the all-around at the 2023 Pan American Championships, and Mika Webster-Longin competed with Belgium at the 2024 European Championships.
SCHOLAR-ATHLETES
Six returners and a program-record 13 Bruins overall earned WCGA Scholastic All-America honors in 2025. Senior Madisyn Anyimi (applied mathematics) and graduate Carissa Clay (education) received their third Scholastic All-America distinctions, while junior Katelyn Rosen (communication) earned her second. Freshmen Sasha Fujisaka (physiological science), Riley Jenkins (psychology) and Mika Webster-Longin (history) each earned their first honors. The WCGA Scholastic All-America team recognizes gymnasts who carry a 3.5 or higher cumulative grade point average or a 3.5 grade point average for the academic year. UCLA also set a new program record with 11 academic all-conference honorees, with Ciena Alipio (sociology) joining Anyimi and Rosen as returning Bruins to receive distinction.
UCLA SIGNS FOUR STANDOUTS FOR 2027
The Bruins signed four standouts for the 2027 season – two-time U.S. National Team member Zoey Molomo, Mexican National Team member Michelle Pineda, two-time Development Program National champion Cami Tassone and three-time Development Program Nationals competitor Brooke Katz. Molomo was a member of the 2024 and 2022 U.S. National Teams and competed at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, earning an eighth-place finish on beam. She has won five medals in her career at the Winter Cup and three at the City of the Jesolo Trophy, including team gold in 2022. She also captured team gold at the 2022 Pan American Championships. Pineda won four medals with Mexico at the 2024 Pan American Championships, taking gold in the all-around and on balance beam, silver on floor exercise and bronze in the team competition. She also won bronze on floor at the Antalya World Cup in 2025. Tassone is one of the top Level 10 gymnasts in the nation who has won two titles at Development Program Nationals, capturing the 2025 vault title and 2024 all-around crown. She was also the all-around and uneven bars runner-up in 2025 and finished second on floor and third on bars and beam in 2024. Katz has qualified for the last three Development Program Nationals, placing fourth on bars and fifth on floor in 2025, sixth on bars and floor in 2024 and fifth on bars in 2023. In 2024, she won her second consecutive uneven bars title and placed second in the all-around at the Level 10 Region 1 Championships.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Bruins will compete on podium on the biggest regular season stage, facing No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 LSU and No. 5 Utah on Saturday, Jan. 10 at the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah. The meet will be televised live on ABC at 2pm MT/1pm PT. UCLA's first home meet will take place on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 3pm against Nebraska. Tickets for UCLA home meets can be purchased at uclabruins.com/tickets.
vs. No. 17 Oregon State, No. 20 California, No. 34 Washington
Date/Time: Saturday, Jan. 3, 2026 – 3 pm PT
Location: Seattle, Wash. (Alaska Airlines Arena)
Tickets: gohuskies.com
Ticket Prices: $15
Broadcast: Big Ten Plus
Live Stats: virti.us
SEASON OPENER SATURDAY
UCLA begins the 2026 season on Saturday, Jan. 3 at the Best of the West Quad in Seattle, Wash. The quad will reunite former Pac-12 Conference members UCLA, Washington and California with Oregon State. All four teams are ranked in the preseason Top 36, with UCLA ranked No. 4, Oregon State No. 17, California No. 20 and Washington No. 34. The meet will be held at Alaska Airlines Arena on the University of Washington campus at 3pm and broadcast on Big Ten Plus.
ROTATION ORDER
The Bruins will have a very familiar rotation order on Saturday, starting the meet on floor exercise and ending on balance beam. Last season, UCLA had this rotation for each of its last four meets - two rounds at NCAA Regionals and two rounds at the NCAA Championships. Washington will have Olympic order, starting on vault. Cal will begin on uneven bars, and Oregon State will start on beam.
HOMECOMING FOR FOUR BRUINS
The Bruins have several team members with Washington ties, including head coach Janelle McDonald, who is from the Seattle area. McDonald got her start in coaching while in high school, coaching at Gymnastics Unlimited in Federal Way. Assistant coach BJ Das is also from Seattle (Roosevelt HS) and competed in club gymnastics at Cascade Elite before joining the University of Washington gymnastics team in 2003. Senior Jordan Chiles grew up in Vancouver, Wash. and graduated from Prairie HS. Sophomore Macy McGowan calls Seattle home and graduated from Juanita HS.
PRESEASON POLLS AND LISTS
UCLA enters the 2026 season ranked No. 4 in the preseason rankings, as voted upon by the coaches of the Women's Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA). The Bruins have received a Top 10 preseason ranking in every preseason poll of record since 1997. The Bruins are ranked No. 1 in the Big Ten Conference preseason coaches' poll, with Jordan Chiles and Tiana Sumanasekera being named to the Watch List.
DANCING AND GYMNASTICS QUEEN
Senior Jordan Chiles returns for her senior season after a third-place showing on Season 34 of "Dancing with the Stars" this fall. Dancing with pro Ezra Sosa, Chiles became the first female gymnast to make the show's finale since Laurie Hernandez in season 23 in 2016. Chiles competed on the show while simultaneously training for the 2026 season with the Bruins and taking a full set of classes at UCLA. The two-time Olympian and 2024 gold medalist enters her senior year as a three-time NCAA Champion, 16-time All-American and reigning Big Ten floor exercise champion. Chiles has scored 11 perfect 10s in her career - six on floor exercise and five on uneven bars. She holds career-highs of 10.0 on uneven bars and floor exercise, 9.975 on vault and balance beam and 39.900 in the all-around.
ALIPIO TAKES LEAP TO THREE EVENTS
After competing exclusively on balance beam her first three seasons due to injuries, senior Ciena Alipio has made the leap to becoming a multi-event gymnast, adding strong uneven bars and floor exercise routines for 2026. Alipio is a two-time first-team All-American on beam and won the Big Ten balance beam title in 2025 with her first career perfect 10. Her only other non-beam routine that she has performed in college came in an exhibition on floor exercise in the 2025 season opener. As an elite gymnast, Alipio placed third in the all-around at her last international event, the 2022 Arthur Gander Memorial in Switzerland. She was also ninth in the all-around and sixth on floor exercise at the 2022 U.S. Classic.
FABULOUS FRESHMEN
UCLA welcomes a strong six-member freshman class in 2026, led by U.S. National Team members Tiana Sumanasekera, Ashlee Sullivan and Nola Matthews. Sumanasekera, a five-time National Team member, was an alternate for the 2024 U.S. Olympic team and a bronze medalist on floor exercise at the 2024 U.S. Championships. She has seen great success in international competition, winning team gold at the 2023 Pan American Games, a total of eight gold medals at the Pan American Championships and five gold medals at the 2022 City of Jesolo Trophy. Sullivan had an impressive 2025 elite season, beginning the year with the Winter Cup all-around title, winning balance beam at the U.S. Classic, placing fourth in the all-around at the U.S. Championships and then ending with the all-around title at the Arthur Gander Memorial in November. She is now a four-time National Team member. Matthews has been honored as USA Gymnastics' Sportsperson of the Year award three consecutive years (2023-25) and is a five-time National Team member. In 2025, she won the floor exercise title and was fifth in the all-around at the Winter Cup and won a team gold medal at the DTB Mixed Cup and uneven bars and floor exercise gold at the Varna World Challenge Cup. In 2022, she won team and uneven bars gold at the 2023 Pan American Championships. All three competed at the 2025 U.S. Championships alongside classmate Jordis Eichman, who finished eighth on uneven bars. Eichman earned Top 10 all-around finishes at the 2025 U.S. and American Classics, along with the Winter Cup.
Along with the elite freshmen, the Bruins also welcome Level 10 standouts Ava Callahan and Kai Mattei. Callahan was a three-time Development Program Nationals qualifier who won bronze on uneven bars at the 2023 Development Program Nationals. Mattei is a three-time DP Nationals qualifier who finished sixth on floor at the 2023 Nationals and is also a member of the Puerto Rican National Team.
ABOUT THE BRUINS
UCLA returns three-time NCAA Champion Jordan Chiles, All-American and Big Ten beam champion Ciena Alipio, all-conference performers Katelyn Rosen and Macy McGowan, and Big Ten All-Championships team member Mika Webster-Longin while welcoming U.S. National Team members in freshmen Nola Matthews, Ashlee Sullivan and Tiana Sumanasekera. The Bruins, under the direction of 2025 Big Ten Coach of the Year Janelle McDonald, are coming off a second-place finish at the NCAA Championships and an unbeaten Big Ten Conference season, complete with sweeps of the regular season and Conference Championship titles.
INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS
The Bruin roster is filled with gymnasts who have not only represented their countries in international competition but won multiple medals. Jordan Chiles is a two-time Olympian and three-time medalist, winning team gold in 2024. She also won three medals at the 2023 World Championships, taking team gold and vault and floor exercise silver. Ciena Alipio placed third in the all-around at the 2021 Arthur Gander Memorial in Switzerland and won team and balance beam silver and vault bronze at the 2019 Jesolo Trophy in Italy. Lauren Little won silver on vault at the 2018 International Gymnix Challenge Cup. Nola Matthews won gold on uneven bars and with the U.S. team at the 2023 Pan American Championships and uneven bars and floor exercise gold at the 2025 Varna World Challenge Cup. Ashlee Sullivan won the all-around at the 2025 Arthur Gander Memorial and team gold at the 2025 DTB Mixed Cup and also has team gold at the 2022 and 2023 DTB Pokal Cups. Tiana Sumanasekera has totaled eight gold medals at the Pan American Championships, five gold medals at the City of Jesolo Trophy in 2022 and team gold at the 2023 Pan American Games. Additionally, Sydney Barros qualified for the 2023 World Championships for Puerto Rico and placed eighth in the all-around at the 2023 Pan American Championships, and Mika Webster-Longin competed with Belgium at the 2024 European Championships.
SCHOLAR-ATHLETES
Six returners and a program-record 13 Bruins overall earned WCGA Scholastic All-America honors in 2025. Senior Madisyn Anyimi (applied mathematics) and graduate Carissa Clay (education) received their third Scholastic All-America distinctions, while junior Katelyn Rosen (communication) earned her second. Freshmen Sasha Fujisaka (physiological science), Riley Jenkins (psychology) and Mika Webster-Longin (history) each earned their first honors. The WCGA Scholastic All-America team recognizes gymnasts who carry a 3.5 or higher cumulative grade point average or a 3.5 grade point average for the academic year. UCLA also set a new program record with 11 academic all-conference honorees, with Ciena Alipio (sociology) joining Anyimi and Rosen as returning Bruins to receive distinction.
UCLA SIGNS FOUR STANDOUTS FOR 2027
The Bruins signed four standouts for the 2027 season – two-time U.S. National Team member Zoey Molomo, Mexican National Team member Michelle Pineda, two-time Development Program National champion Cami Tassone and three-time Development Program Nationals competitor Brooke Katz. Molomo was a member of the 2024 and 2022 U.S. National Teams and competed at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, earning an eighth-place finish on beam. She has won five medals in her career at the Winter Cup and three at the City of the Jesolo Trophy, including team gold in 2022. She also captured team gold at the 2022 Pan American Championships. Pineda won four medals with Mexico at the 2024 Pan American Championships, taking gold in the all-around and on balance beam, silver on floor exercise and bronze in the team competition. She also won bronze on floor at the Antalya World Cup in 2025. Tassone is one of the top Level 10 gymnasts in the nation who has won two titles at Development Program Nationals, capturing the 2025 vault title and 2024 all-around crown. She was also the all-around and uneven bars runner-up in 2025 and finished second on floor and third on bars and beam in 2024. Katz has qualified for the last three Development Program Nationals, placing fourth on bars and fifth on floor in 2025, sixth on bars and floor in 2024 and fifth on bars in 2023. In 2024, she won her second consecutive uneven bars title and placed second in the all-around at the Level 10 Region 1 Championships.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Bruins will compete on podium on the biggest regular season stage, facing No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 LSU and No. 5 Utah on Saturday, Jan. 10 at the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah. The meet will be televised live on ABC at 2pm MT/1pm PT. UCLA's first home meet will take place on Saturday, Jan. 17 at 3pm against Nebraska. Tickets for UCLA home meets can be purchased at uclabruins.com/tickets.
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