Welcome to senior-season Jordan Chiles – and an upcoming season where a new-look UCLA gymnastic team greets a potentially impactful freshman class.
Following a 2025 campaign, in which now-fourth-year coach Janelle McDonald led the Bruins to her best finish as runner-up to Oklahoma by four-tenths in the national championship – UCLA has to replace longtime veterans Chae Campbell, Emma Malabuyo (now a graduate student assistant coach) and Emily Lee.
Six incoming freshmen – three of whom have competed for the United States national team – will attempt to fill that void.
The Southern California News Group sat down with McDonald ahead of Saturday’s Meet the Bruins intrasquad meet at 1 p.m. at Pauley Pavilion to talk about the 2026 season, before the Bruins officially begin the season Jan. 3 at the Washington Quad meet. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: It’s the start of your fourth year at UCLA. Instead of asking what you’ve learned so far, how do you feel you’ve applied your third season as UCLA head coach into preparation for your fourth?
A: “One of the things that has helped me is having upfront communication about everything. When the student athletes know what to expect, my staff knows what to expect, we’re all on the same page a lot more and everything goes a lot more smoothly. And I think that’s one of the things an area I’ve grown in, but also one that’s helped our team show up every day on the same page and moving forward positively together.”
Q: From a coach’s perspective, what is it about Jordan Chiles – juggling “Dancing with the Stars,” practice and school – that makes her so successful at multitasking and succeeding in not just one category, but many?
A: “Jordan has this desire to really be great in everything she does. She’s a highly motivated individual, and she loves what she gets to do. She loves the opportunities that are in front of her. She loves being able to meet new people, and show up in different spaces, bring her energy and her talents, and learn from every space that she gets to enter. When she has these opportunities come up, she wants to make the most of them, and she wants to show up as her best self in those moments. I think that’s what drives her to be super successful in all of these things; her time management has become excellent, which it has to be when you have so many different things on your plate. And watching her balance everything and give her heart and her energy to the opportunities she has been inspiring to watch.”
Q: You’ve brought in arguably your most accomplished incoming freshman class: 2024 Olympic alternate and five-time U.S. National Team member Tiana Sumanasekera, five-time U.S. National Team member Nola Matthews, four-time U.S. National Team member Ashlee Sullivan, senior elite gymnast Jordis Eichman, and three-time Development Program Nationals qualifiers Ava Callahan and Kai Mattei. What are you most looking forward to seeing out of your crop of first-year Bruins?
A: “I’m really excited to see these athletes transition to NCAA gymnastics, and what I mean by that is four of them — Nola, Tiana, Ashlee, and Jordis — have a lot of competition experience competing internationally for Team USA, being a part of the national team scene, and everything that comes with that. But they get to transition into the team environment. And all of them are excited about that they love that the work they’re putting in is not just for themselves anymore, but it’s for something bigger than themselves, to represent those four letters and each other; that’s something that’s driving them. I can’t wait to see them get out there and really enjoy competing, be excited about the opportunities that the team has in front of us, and to own those moments. They’ve been putting in the work. They’re a great group, not only gymnastically, but as human beings. They’re coachable and hardworking, and they’re a fun group, and I can’t wait to see them get out there.”
Q: Just a few years ago, Katelyn Rosen was the standout freshman on the roster. Now, she’s one of your older gymnasts on the 2026 team. After an up-and-down 2025 season, how has Rosen evolved as a gymnast and grown as a voice in the room for her teammates?
A: “Katelyn is all heart. She puts her entire heart into what she does. Whether that’s training, whether that’s showing up as a teammate or a friend or a support system or energy in the room, she does it all. And she’s become such an incredible leader. She’s somebody that the coaches look to to get a tone of the team, or to ask her opinion about things and direction. She’s just been somebody who shows up very steady for our team day in and day out. She puts in the work, she brings the energy, but she also helps us a lot, too, in being able to know the tone of the team and be able to lead in that way. Kate put in the work all summer long. She stayed in L.A., and in addition to doing internships, she wanted to be coached all summer long. She wanted to be here to make sure that she could start preseason in a really positive way, and she’s done just that. I’m excited for the year she’s going to have, but I’m excited to see her step into that leadership role as well.”
Q: Ciena Alipio has been as consistent as a gymnast on the balance beam as you could have asked for across her three seasons at UCLA. The senior teased a potential uneven bars debut on Instagram a few weeks ago – what’s in store for Alipio outside of beam in 2026?
A: “We’re really excited for Ciena, because the last couple of years she’s had some setbacks in the preseason, and so this year, she decided after the season ended last year that she wanted to work really hard to make sure that she could be ready to help her team in all the events she was capable of doing. She’s very prepared, full-routine ready on both floor and bars, which is very exciting. It’s a place she hasn’t been in her entire collegiate career, and to be a senior and to be adding events, to be able to help your team, is inspiring. It’s a testament to the work she’s put in and the heart she has for this team. I’m excited for her to be able to be in the picture on those events, and to be able to rely on her in moments that we need to.”
Q: You lose Malabuyo, the gymnast, from your roster. Yet, you gain Malabuyo as a graduate student assistant coach. What has Malabuyo added to the coaching staff since she transitioned roles at UCLA?
A: “It’s been really fun having Emma as a student coach; she brings that perspective of what the girls go through day in and day out, and so we’ve been able to utilize that perspective on the coaching side even more so, and that’s been fun. She brings a great energy, same as she always did as an athlete, but she brings it in a different way. She’s willing to be a great support system, to be a bridge through conversations for us, and bring the energy to help the team be the best that they can be. She’s such a mature, hardworking and driven person. Having her around is inspiring to everyone, and we’re grateful to have her around for another year.”
Q: Sasha Fujisaka’s preseason knee injury forced her to redshirt her first year as a Bruin. How has Fujisaka recovered, and what events can fans expect the sophomore to create an impact on?
A: “Sasha is doing great in her recovery. She’s not even a year removed from the injury, actually. And to be at this point and to be doing so well, we’re pretty excited about it. Bars is definitely an event that we expect her to make an impact in. The dismount, we haven’t done too many on the hard landings yet, because we’re trying to make sure she’s as strong as possible to handle the season when it comes, but aside from that, the technique and the dynamics and the strength of her bar routine – it stands out. It’s an absolutely beautiful routine. I’m excited for her to be in the picture there and definitely part of our depth and lineups. She’s also training a full beam routine right now. We’re going to take floor a little bit slower, to make sure her knees are as strong as possible moving forward, because we still have a lot of years with her, and we want to make sure that she’s confident and strong when we put her out on that competition floor.”
Q: Sydney Barros appears primed for a bigger role on the roster ahead of her junior season. What have you seen from Barros, remaining patient for her opportunity after the past two seasons, and her multi-event potential?
A: “You said it. It’s been patience. Prior to coming to UCLA, Sydney had quite a few injuries that she had to work her way back from. Getting her back to full strength has been a journey, and she’s needed to rely on that patience that you spoke of. But now she’s as strong as probably she’s ever been. Her gymnastics is so fun to watch. It’s dynamic, it’s exciting. It has energy and passion in it, and that’s why she stands out as somebody who can help us on multiple events. She’s training three events every single day, and is in the picture on all three of those events: bars, floor, and beam. And I definitely see her playing a bigger role this year. She has a lot of competition experience under her belt. She’s somebody who’s qualified for the World Championships, and she’s competed internationally for Team USA and Puerto Rico. She has a lot of experience, and I’m excited for her to be able to bring that experience to the team this year out on the competition floor.”
Q: What has the sophomore class – including the likes of Mika Webster-Longin and Macy McGowan after their breakout seasons – done, developmentally, to improve ahead of their second years as Bruins?
A: “Mika is one who, the confidence she gained from competing so much last year, has shown up in this preseason for her. Technically, she’s more sound in her gymnastics, and the technique is more dialed in, and mixed that with the confidence she built from competing so much last year. and she can be a strong all-arounder for us. Macy’s kind of been dealing with a setback since last season, but she’s moving in the right direction, and that overall, it’s given her a different perspective that is going to actually help her, in the long run, be an even stronger, more steady competitor for us. Riley (Jenkins) has worked hard this offseason, to be a stronger, more confident gymnast, and that’s somebody that we’re seeing show up every day in the gym. She’s becoming more of a leader for us. She’s working hard to expand her gymnastics repertoire, and I’m excited to see her, of course, on vault again. She’s training full bars and beam, and we’re working to get floor back going again, too, because in her developmental career, she was very strong on floor as well. I couldn’t be prouder of those girls in the work they’re putting in to continue to grow in their gymnastics.”
Q: Is McGowan’s setback going to hold her out of the beginning of the season?
A: “Probably. She’s moving in a good direction and is building things back up each week. We want to make sure that she’s feeling as good as possible so that we can continue to move forward and not have any additional setbacks. So she’s doing well, she’s getting better, and we’ll see what her timeline looks like as we start adding more things back in.”
Q: How is vault looking at this point in the preseason, and then for you, is the emphasis on getting the 10.0 start value vaults into the lineup or getting just consistent, clean vaults into the lineup?
A: “It’s both, right? I mean, you want the 10.0 vaults, but you also want to make sure that they are able to land them really cleanly, so that you can maximize that scoring potential, and that’s what it’s about. I think vault will be a stronger event for us this year, and I’m excited to see our depth continue to grow. As we get Macy back in there, that’s going to be game-changing for us, but overall, it’s going to be a strong event for us. And the team has worked hard to make sure that their technique is locked in, so the landings are a little bit more consistent and clean this year. That’s been an area of emphasis for us as a team this preseason, and I’m excited to see those results pay off in the season.”
Q: Lastly, what has the Southern California News Group not asked that you would like to share about your team or individual gymnasts ahead of the upcoming season?
A: “Our team looks very different this year. We graduated a lot of impactful athletes this past season. But we’re bringing in this great freshman class. Our sophomores are continuing to grow, and having Sydney be ready to go as depth on several events for us, we can expect to go out there and have a really successful season, and that’s where our mindset is at, that’s what we’re training for, and that’s what we’re excited about. The team looks different this year, but they can be just as strong competitively, and we’re excited about that.”
Meet the Bruins
When: 1 p.m. Saturday
Where: Pauley Pavilion
TV: Big Ten Network
