LOS ANGELES — The UCLA athletics staff piled into Yates Gym on Monday morning, pom poms in hand. The group assembled for a thunderous 8-clap as a sendoff for the Bruins gymnastics team as it prepares for the NCAA championships.
The team huddled afterward for a chant even more powerful. At the end of it all, a singular voice shouted: “Who’s winning nationals?”
“BRUINS,” the team shouted in reply.
@haleymsawyer The UCLA athletics staff came to gymnastics practice on Monday to send the team off to the NCAA championships with an eight clap. #sportsreporter #journalism #reporter #sports #gymnastics #ucla
♬ Stay Fly (Instrumental) – Three 6 Mafia
The fifth-seeded UCLA gymnastics team is staying within its “Bruin Bubble” as it travels to Forth Worth, Texas, for the NCAA Championships, one season after failing to qualify for the event as a team.
“I really think this team can take it all,” graduate student Chae Campbell said. “We just have to stay in our bubble. If we just focus on what we’re doing and focus on what we’ve been working on all week, we’re going to take the win. That’s what I truly believe.”
UCLA will compete in the second semifinal session at 6 p.m. PT Thursday and will need to finish in the top two in order to advance to Saturday’s finals. Top-seeded and defending national champion LSU, fourth-seeded Utah and eighth-seeded Michigan State will be the Bruins’ competition. The other semifinal, at 1:30 p.m. PT, features second-seeded Oklahoma, third-seeded Florida, seventh-seeded Missouri and unseeded Alabama.
Floor exercise will be UCLA’s first event, providing a chance to start on a high note with an event in which it ranks second in the country.
“I like starting on floor,” senior Emma Malabuyo said. “Just because we do our best when we’re loose and when we’re having fun. We can get any of those jitters out and be able to perform and set the standard and the tone.”
Balance beam will be last, which is another one of the Bruins’ best events.
They finished the regular season fourth in the nation in that event. It’s also the event that secured UCLA its most recent NCAA title in 2018 – Peng-Peng Lee scored a perfect 10 to help the Bruins edge Oklahoma by 0.0375.
The Bruins’ team scores have steadily risen since recording a 195.250 to start the season. They went on to record 14 consecutive scores of 197 or above and reached a season-high 198.100 to win the Big Ten Championships.
It was the highest score ever recorded by a Big Ten team and the second-highest away score of the season.
Ciena Alipio hit a perfect 10 on balance beam in that meet and Brooklyn Moors and Jordan Chiles, who won individual national titles on bars and floor in 2023, each scored a 10 on floor exercise.
“After Big Ten championships, we proved to ourselves that we’re one of the best teams in the nation,” Malabuyo said. “That’s our mentality. And we don’t think too much about winning. It’s more of the actions surrounding it of your effort that you’re putting in and the attitude that you have every day.”
Landings have been an emphasis throughout the days leading up to the NCAA Championships. Even on Monday, gymnasts were seen repeatedly practicing dismounts from uneven bars, whether they were expected to be in the lineup or not.
Those small details are wrapped up in the big-picture goals of third-year UCLA coach Janelle McDonald, the Big Ten Coach of The Year.
“This year, they started to understand the importance of team culture and being on the same page and working for a common goal together,” McDonald said. “It’s really become a team that can fight for a national championship.
“That was one check mark we had to focus on first. When the team is in it together, working together, pushing each other – then the gymnastics start to fall in place really strong, too.”
NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Who: UCLA vs. LSU, Utah and Michigan State in semifinal 2
When: 6 p.m. Thursday
Where: Dickies Arena, Fort Worth, Texas
TV: ESPN2
