UCLA gymnastics wins 2nd straight Big Ten regular-season crown

LOS ANGELES — The fifth-ranked UCLA gymnastics team protected its turf Friday night at Pauley Pavilion and repeated as Big Ten regular-season champions.

The Bruins defeated No. 18 Iowa, No. 19 Ohio State and No. 25 Maryland in a Big Four meet designed to prepare them for postseason competition. UCLA completed a perfect 9-0 record against Big Ten opponents en route to the program’s 23rd conference title.

Paced by another dominant performance from Jordan Chiles, UCLA led from start to finish and posted a team total of 196.950. Iowa finished second at 196.475, while Ohio State (196.425) was third and Maryland (195.025) was fourth.

“I’m celebrating with pizza and Wingstop,” two-time Olympian Chiles said after putting on her Big Ten championship hat at the post-meet press conference, adding that the team will celebrate together.

“This isn’t the end. This is the regular season. We still have Big Ten championships, we have (NCAA) regionals and we have NCAAs. It’s just going up from here. Allowing the freshmen to see what a postseason meet could look like, they definitely showed up and did what they needed to do. Now, let’s just keep pushing forward.”

Chiles won the all-around title with a 39.625 and took first place on vault and floor exercise while tying for first on the uneven bars in a meet format that mimicked postseason conditions – no choosing events, no exhibitions and four teams competing at once, which can be its own distraction.

While UCLA led all night, Iowa and Ohio State both kept within a few tenths throughout the meet. The Bruins had a slim first rotation lead after scoring 49.300 on the uneven bars thanks to a trio of 9.900s from Nola Matthews, Sydney Barros and Chiles. The score was .075 ahead of Iowa, which totaled 49.225 on the floor, led by JerQuavia Henderson’s 9.900. Ohio State finished the rotation in third with a 49.000 on the balance beam.

Ciena Alipio’s 9.950 on the beam in the second rotation helped keep the Bruins on top with a 49.200 on the event and a two-event score of 98.500, two-tenths ahead of Iowa (98.300) and .225 ahead of Ohio State (98.225).

UCLA had a shaky start on the floor, with two marks under 9.700, but a 9.875 from Tiana Sumanasekera, a 9.900 from Ashlee Sullivan and a 9.950 from Chiles kept the team in first with a 49.225 on the floor and a three-event total of 147.725. Ohio State moved into second at 147.575 after scoring 49.350 on vault, and Iowa kept within .175 after scoring 49.250 on the bars.

Needing a solid vault rotation to maintain the lead, the Bruins scored 49.225, bolstered by the return of Mika Webster-Longin, who made her season debut on vault and hit her Yurchenko 1.5 for a 9.800. A pair of 9.850s from Sumanasekera and Sullivan gave the Bruins more breathing room, and Chiles slammed the door with a 9.950 on her Lopez vault.

Matthews, Barros and Iowa’s Aurelie Tran tied Chiles on the bars, while Alipio took first place on the beam.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing for UCLA. Junior Katelyn Rosen, who has shown poise and consistent growth throughout the season, was in the lineup for three events: beam, floor and vault. She completed her beam routine well enough (9.750) to be one of the five scores that counted toward the team total, but she felt enough discomfort while warming up for the floor to determine that she could not continue.

UCLA coach Janelle McDonald had to switch gears, going with Mathews, a freshman. After the meet, McDonald said it was an especially quick turnaround for Nola, who had to compete shortly after being told because Rosen was scheduled to be the first one up. McDonald said Matthews handled the challenge really well.

Alipio, a senior, also praised her young teammate.

“She was just ready to step up and take on the challenge, and I think that just goes to show everything she’s been doing in the gym,” Alipio said. “She is one to kind of always just put her head down and work, and I’m really really proud of her to see her step up today and just start us off on floor.”

UCLA had its lowest team score of the season, but did extend a streak. The Bruins have now turned in 184 consecutive routines without a fall.

“We fought for sure until the end, but we also know we’re going into the gym on Monday and we’re putting our heads down and working,” Alipio said, “because this wasn’t our best, and we have more to show everybody.”

UP NEXT

UCLA next competes at Stanford on March 7 at 2 p.m.