University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Chiles, McDonald Earn Big Ten Individual Awards
March 23, 2026 | Gymnastics
Chiles dominated the conversation in the Big Ten and the nation in 2026, winning a record 10 of the 11 Gymnast of the Week awards and capturing the Big Ten all-around title with a championship-record score of 39.825. She also won the floor exercise title with a perfect 10 for the second consecutive year, a feat no one has accomplished on floor in the history of the conference, and claimed the balance beam title and a share of the uneven bars crown. Her four individual championships this season tied the Big Ten's single-season record. The Olympic, World and NCAA champion has either ranked first or second nationally in the all-around every week this season and has totaled seven perfect 10s on the year. She had a stretch from Jan. 17-Feb. 14 where she scored a perfect 10 in five-straight meets, and she currently has 18 10s in her career to rank No. 9 all-time in the NCAA. The AAI Award finalist has totaled 43 event wins this year and 125 in her career. Chiles is the first Bruin to win gymnast of the year honors in the Big Ten, and she earned UCLA's 22nd all-time conference gymnast of the year award.
The Big Ten Coach of the Year award is McDonald's second consecutive. The fourth-year head coach led UCLA to back-to-back regular season and conference championships. The Bruins posted a 9-0 record in conference play for the second-straight year and have not lost to a Big Ten opponent in any competition since joining the league a year ago. McDonald graduated more than half of the team's routines from last year's NCAA runner-up squad but took a young squad to a 26-2 overall record and the No. 4 NCAA seed. The Bruins have won 10 consecutive meets since placing third at the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad on Jan. 10. At the conference championships, UCLA won the team title with a 198.100, and three gymnasts - Chiles (all-around, uneven bars, balance beam, floor exercise), Riley Jenkins (vault) and Sydney Barros (uneven bars) โ combined to win six individual titles. Under McDonald's guidance, four Bruins earned All-Big Ten honors in 2026 with Chiles, Ashlee Sullivan and Tiana Sumanasekera on the first team and Ciena Alipio on the second team. UCLA was the only school with multiple all-freshman team selections in Sullivan and Sumanasekera.
2026 Big Ten Women's Gymnastics Individual Awards
Gymnast of the Year: Jordan Chiles, UCLA
Event Specialist of the Year: Carly Bauman, Michigan
Freshman of the Year: Arianna Ostrum, Minnesota
Coach of the Year: Janelle McDonald, UCLA
Players Mentioned
