UCLA
BYU and vs. Utah State
Gymnastics Travels to BYU for Tri-Meet
January 15, 2020 | Gymnastics
No. 5 UCLA at No. 15 BYU, with No. 34 Utah State
Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020 โ 6 p.m. MT / 5 p.m. PT
Provo, Utah (Marriott Center)
TV: BYUtv
BRUINS TRAVEL TO BYU FOR TRI-MEET
No. 5-ranked UCLA (3-1) will travel to Provo, Utah to take on No. 15 BYU (3-1) and No. 34 Utah State (0-3) on Saturday, Jan. 18 at the Marriott Center on the BYU campus. The meet will take place at 6 p.m. MT / 5 p.m. PT and will be broadcast live on BYUtv.
MEET SETUP
The three teams will compete one at a time, similar to a dual meet. BYU will begin the meet on vault, Utah State will start on uneven bars, and UCLA will begin on balance beam.
BRUINS VS. BRUIN
Former UCLA All-American Amy Smith, who co-captained UCLA's first-ever NCAA Championship squad in 1997 and served on the Bruin coaching staff in 1988 and 2012, is the head coach of Utah State. The Aggies rank No. 34 overall and No. 16 on vault and No. 22 on floor.
UCLA WINS HOME OPENER
On the strength of a show-stopping floor exercise set, No. 3 UCLA won its home opener over Boise State, 196.800-195.475. The Bruins scored a national-best 49.725 on floor exercise, as five of six gymnasts scored 9.925 or higher. Kyla Ross was the high scorer on floor with a 9.975, and she also scored her first perfect 10 of the season on the uneven bars. Ross won the all-around for the second-straight meet with a score of 39.725. Also winning event titles were Kendal Poston on vault with a career-high 9.9 and Grace Glenn on beam with a career-best 9.975.
ROSS SETS NCAA RECORD ON BARS
Kyla Ross set a new NCAA record on Jan. 12 with her 10th career perfect 10 on bars, setting a new NCAA record on that event. Ross's perfect 10 was her first-ever on bars in Pauley Pavilion; the other nine were all scored on the road. With 20 career perfect 10s, Ross ranks fifth all-time in the NCAA and is eight away from the all-time record of 28 held by UCLA's Jamie Dantzscher (2000-2003) and Kentucky's Jenny Hansen (1993-96). Last year, Ross set NCAA records for most 10s in a single-season (14) and most consecutive meets with a perfect 10 (10).
FLOORED ON FLOOR
UCLA posted a national-high 49.725 on floor exercise against Boise State, the sixth-highest floor score in school history. Nia Dennis started the set with a bang, with her Beyonce Homecoming tribute igniting the Pauley Pavilion crowd of 7,147 and scoring 9.925. Pauline Tratz matched her score with a 9.925, and freshman Chloe Lashbrooke followed with a 9.875 in her collegiate debut. Gracie Kramer and Margzetta Frazier went back-to-back with 9.95s, and Kyla Ross finished the set with a 9.975. UCLA ranks first in the nation on floor, averaging 49.575, and is the only school in the nation with three athletes ranked in the Top 10 - No. 2 Ross (9.963 average), No. 4 Frazier (9.938) and No. 7 Kramer (9.925).
GLENN NEARLY GETS ELUSIVE LEADOFF 10
With a stunning routine on the balance beam against Boise State, senior Grace Glenn came ever so close to recording an elusive leadoff perfect 10, a feat that is believed to never have happened in NCAA Gymnastics. Glenn, the reigning Pac-12 beam co-champion, was picture-perfect on the event, showing off strong tumbling, impressive flexibility and jumps and an unmatched artistry that earned her a perfect 10 from one of the two judges and a final score of 9.975, a new career-high and the highest leadoff beam score ever recorded by a Bruin. Glenn has six scores of 9.95 or better on beam in her career.
POSTON WINS FIRST EVENT TITLE
Junior Kendal Poston recorded her first-ever event title, scoring a career-high 9.9 on vault to take first place in the dual meet against Boise State. Poston, who had totaled just four competitive routines in her career prior to this season, earned a 9.95 from one of the two judges on her handspring front pike half vault. She also hit her vault in the season opener, scoring 9.775, and averages 9.837 on the year. Additionally, Poston competed an exhibition routine on the balance beam and scored 9.875, tied for the second-highest mark on the squad.
DYNAMIC DUO
Senior Kyla Ross and sophomore Margzetta Frazier are among the best all-around duos in the country. averaging 39.619 between them in the Bruins' first two meets. Ross, the two-time reigning Pac-12 all-around champion, ranks No. 1 in the nation, having scored 39.725 in both of UCLA's meets. Frazier, in her first season competing all-around, ranks seventh with an average of 39.512. She scored 39.475 in her debut and improved to 39.550 last weekend. Ross and Frazier are ranked 1-2 in the nation on uneven bars, with Ross averaging 9.963 with a season-high of 10.0 and Frazier scoring career-best 9.950 in both meets, and 2-4 on floor exercise, with Ross averaging 9.963 and Frazier 9.938. Ross is one of two athletes with a 9.975 on floor, and Frazier tied her career-high last weekend with a 9.95.
SAKTI STUNS IN DEBUT
Sophomore Samantha Sakti was stunning in her UCLA debut Jan. 4, tying Kyla Ross for first place on balance beam with a career-high score of 9.95. The Arcadia, Calif. native transferred to UCLA from William & Mary, where she was an all-conference honoree on floor exercise and a three-time conference gymnast of the week. After her performance at the Collegiate Challenge, Sakti was named the Pac-12 Specialist of the Week. She is far from just a beam specialist, however, as she owns William & Mary's school record on floor exercise with a 9.925.
UCLA SHOWCASES DEPTH
The Bruins have been showcasing their depth in the first two meets, competing 12 gymnasts in the season opener and 14 in the home opener. Five underclassmen (freshmen Chloe Lashbrooke and Kalyany Steele and sophomores Norah Flatley, Margzetta Frazier and Samantha Sakti) competed a total of nine routines on Sunday. Adding on to the 14 who competed on Sunday, two others - redshirt seniors Nicki Shapiro (uneven bars) and Macy Toronjo (floor exercise) - performed exhibition routines, seeing their first action of the season.
FRESHMEN LOOK STRONG IN COLLEGIATE DEBUTS
Three freshmen made strong collegiate debuts on January 4 at the Collegiate Challenge. Kalyany Steele was the only freshman to break the competitive lineup, and she scored 9.8 on uneven bars to help the Bruins take the first rotation lead with a 49.425. Emma Andres and Chloe Lashbrooke performed exhibition routines on balance beam and floor exercise, respectively. Andres scored 9.7 on beam, while Lashbrooke posted a 9.8 on floor. Lashbrooke improved her mark on Jan. 12 in the scoring lineup, recording a mark of 9.875.
BRUINS PLACE SECOND AT COLLEGIATE CHALLENGE
UCLA opened the 2020 season with a second-place finish at the Collegiate Challenge. The No. 4 Bruins scored 196.575 to finish behind No. 1 Oklahoma, who totaled 197.350. California was third with 196.200, and Stanford was fourth with 195.475. The Bruins led after the first rotation thanks to a 49.425 on the uneven bars, but falls from the first two competitors on beam dropped the Bruins to second in the second rotation. UCLA rebounded to score meet-highs on floor (49.425) and vault (49.225), but it wasn't enough to unseat the Sooners. Kyla Ross won the all-aorund with a 39.725 and scored 9.9 or higher on all four events, including 9.95s on beam and floor.
STREAKS STOPPED
UCLA's streak of 49+ rotations ended at 124 on Jan. 4 after UCLA's 48.5 on beam. The last sub-49 score ad taken place in the first rotation of the 2018 season opener โฆ The Bruins had scored 49.5 or better on 44 of those 124 rotations during the streak โฆ UCLA's streak of 30 straight meets scoring 49+ on all four apparatus was tied for the second-longest streak in NCAA history behind Oklahoma (34 from 2016-18). LSU also had 30 from 2016-18 โฆ UCLA's 49+ streak on beam ended at 44, a new NCAA record โฆ UCLA's longest 49+ streak is now on floor exercise (40).
SCOUTING THE COUGARS
BYU enters the week ranked No. 15 in the nation with a season average of 195.663. The Cougars edged Nebraska in the season opener, 195.750-195.600 and placed second to Utah in the Best of Utah meet with a score of 195.575. Junior Abbey Miner won the all-around at the Best of Utah, scoring 39.250, collecting her second all-around win of the year. She currently ranks No. 17 in the nation in the all-around and was named the Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference Gymnast of the Week. Her sister Sadie Miner was awarded the MRGC Vault Specialist of the Week.
SCOUTING THE AGGIES
Utah State will match up against BYU for a second consecutive week. The Aggies were in second place after three rotations at the Best of Utah meet before dropping to fourth with a score of 194.150. Utah State ranks No. 34 in the nation overall and No. 16 on vault and No. 22 on floor exercise. Former UCLA All-American and NCAA champion Amy Smith is in her third year as head coach at Utah State.
NEW ERA BEGINS AT UCLA
UCLA Gymnastics has a new leader for the first time in 29 years. Following Hall of Fame head coach Valorie Kondos Field as head coach of the Bruins is Chris Waller, who was an assistant under Kondos Field for 17 years. Waller helped guide the Bruins to four NCAA titles during his time as an assistant. In his first season on staff in 2003, the Bruins swept through the postseason, winning Pac-10, NCAA Regional and NCAA Championships. Also that year, he was the acting head coach when UCLA snapped the longest home-court winning streak in NCAA history for any sport, handing Utah its first home loss in 23 years. Waller was voted by his peers the National Assistant Coach of the Year in 2004 and the West Region Assistant Coach of the Year in 2010 and 2018. A champion gymnast himself, Waller won three NCAA titles with the Bruin men's team, and he competed at the 1992 Olympics, where he placed fifth on pommel horse.
Joining Waller's staff are a few familiar faces. Associate Head Coach Kristina Comforte is a former UCLA All-American and Bruin record-holder on vault. Assistant Coach Dom Palange was a volunteer assistant coach for UCLA from 2014-16. Also on board is volunteer assistant coach and choreographer BJ Das, a former Washington Huskies gymnast who spent last season as a volunteer coach at Utah.
SOLID CORE RETURNS IN 2020
UCLA returns all but three routines from the NCAA Championships and has eight All-Americans on the roster - reigning NCAA vault and floor exercise co-champion Kyla Ross, Grace Glenn, Felicia Hano, Madison Kocian, Gracie Kramer, Nia Dennis, Margzetta Frazier and Norah Flatley.The Bruins lose 10.0-caliber routines on beam and floor from Katelyn Ohashi and consistent high marks on beam from All-American Brielle Nguyen but bring in seasoned routines from William & Mary transfer Samantha Sakti and redshirt senior Nicki Shapiro.
UCLA's strength lies in its depth. The Bruins have 22 gymnasts on the roster, including 11 who competed in at least 10 meets last season - Dennis, Flatley, Frazier, Grace Glenn, Hano, Kocian, Kramer, Ross, Sakti, Pauline Tratz and Sekai Wright. UCLA finished the 2019 regular season ranked in the Top 3 in the nation on all four events - No. 1 on bars and floor, No. 2 on beam and No. 3 on vault.
NEW FACES
The Bruins welcome in 2020 four freshmen (Emma Andres, Paige Hogan, Chloe Lashbrooke and Kalyany Steele), sophomore transfer Samantha Sakti, and redshirt senior Nicki Shapiro. Steele is a former elite who placed 13th at the 2017 USA Championships. Andres and Lashbrooke are both two-time Level 10 Nationals qualifiers. Hogan is a four-time Level 10 state champion. Sakti transferred from William & Mary, where she earned all-league honors on floor exercise and scored a school-record 9.925 on floor in her first meet. Shapiro returns to the Bruins after leaving the sport for three years. She competed for UCLA as a freshman in 2016 and scored a career-high 9.925 on beam.
SENIOR STRONG
The heart of UCLA's team lies in the nine-member senior class of Anna Glenn, Grace Glenn, Felicia Hano, Madison Kocian, Gracie Kramer, Kyla Ross, Mercedez Sanchez, Nicki Shapiro and Macy Toronjo. The senior class competed half of the team's routines at last year's NCAA Championships and have a combined 39 All-America honors between them. Ross has more than half of those 39 honors alone (a school-record-tying 19). She, Grace Glenn and Felicia Hano all won Pac-12 individual titles last season, with Ross winning the all-around, bars and floor, Glenn tying for the beam title, and Hano sharing the vault crown.
NO. 1 IN SOCIAL MEDIA FOLLOWERS
UCLA Gymnastics has the largest social media followings in all of women's collegiate sports, ranking No. 1 across all women's sports in combined followers on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, a total over 750,000. The Bruins rank first among all NCAA gymnastics teams on Instagram (343k), Facebook (351k) and Twitter (67k). Among all UCLA teams, gymnastics ranks first on Instagram and Facebook, and UCLA Gymnastics is the most followed collegiate women's team Instagram account in the nation. Follow the Bruins at @UCLAGymnastics on Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat and on Facebook at facebook.com/uclagymnastics.
BRUIN BANTER
Senior Felicia Hano returns as the host of Bruin Banter, UCLA's weekly interview series. The guest for the second episode, which is scheduled to drop on Friday, is junior Kendal Poston.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Bruins will compete at Stanford on Monday, Jan. 27 at Maples Pavilion.
Players Mentioned
