UCLA to Defend Big Ten Gymnastics Championship Saturday

Saturday, March 21

Champaign, IL

3:00 PM PT

UCLA

Big Ten Championships

Reigning Big Ten beam champion Ciena Alipio

Photo by: Jesus Ramirez

UCLA to Defend Big Ten Gymnastics Championship Saturday

March 19, 2026 | Gymnastics

Meet Notes (PDF)

No. 5 UCLA at Big Ten Championships
Date/Time: Saturday, March 21, 2026 – 5pm CT/3pm PT
Location: Champaign, Ill. (State Farm Center)
Broadcast: Big Ten Network
Talent: Dean Linke, Olivia Karas
Live Stats: statbroadcast.com

UCLA TO DEFEND BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP
Big Ten regular season champion UCLA (15-2, 9-0 in Big Ten) will defend its conference title on Saturday, March 21 at 5 p.m. CT/3 p.m. PT at the 2026 Big Ten Women's Gymnastics Championships. The Championships will take place March 20-21 at the University of Illinois' State Farm Center. The top-seeded Bruins will compete in the last of three sessions, along with No. 2 seed Minnesota, No. 3 seed Michigan and No. 4 seed Michigan State. Competing in Session I on Friday, March 20 at 6 p.m. CT are Nebraska, Washington, Rutgers and Illinois. Session II will take place on Saturday, March 21 at Noon CT and will feature Iowa, Penn State, Ohio State and Maryland. All three sessions of the Championships will be televised live on Big Ten Network.

ROTATION ORDER
UCLA will start on balance beam, then floor exercise and vault and will finish on uneven bars. No. 2 seed Minnesota begins on vault. No. 3 seed Michigan starts on floor, and No. 4 seed Michigan State begins on bars.

A LOOK AT THE FIELD
UCLA went unbeaten in regular season conference play for the second consecutive year, with head-to-head wins over Michigan State, Minnesota and Illinois on the road and home wins over Nebraska, Washington, Michigan, Iowa, Ohio State and Maryland. The Bruins did not compete against Penn State or Rutgers this season. Seven Big Ten teams are ranked in the Top 25 - No. 5 UCLA, No. No. 10 Michigan, No. 11 Michigan State, No. 13 Minnesota, No. 17 Penn State, No. 17 Ohio State and No. 21 Iowa.

BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
Each team in the final session of the Big Ten Championships have won a Big Ten title this decade - Minnesota in 2021, Michigan in 2022 and 2023, Michigan State in 2024 and UCLA in 2025. Michigan leads all schools 27 Big Ten Championship titles. Eight returning gymnasts have won Big Ten individual titles - UCLA's Jordan Chiles on floor (2025) and Ciena Alipio on beam (2025); Michigan State's Olivia Zsarmani on vault (2025) and Sage Kellerman on vault (2023); Michigan's Carly Bauman on bars (2023); Minnesota's Sarah Moraw on beam (2024) and floor (2024); Ohio State's Tory Vetter on beam (2024); and Iowa's JerQuavia Henderson on floor (2021, 2023).

UCLA'S CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
UCLA won 18 Pac-12 Championship meets, most recently in 2019, the Big Ten Championship in its first year in the conference in 2025, and the WCAA Championship in 1981. The Bruins dominated the Pac-12 record books, winning the most team titles and the most individual titles with 109. Jordan Chiles has won a total of three conference championships - 2023 Pac-12 titles on bars and floor and the 2025 Big Ten title on floor with a perfect 10. Ciena Alipio won the Big Ten beam title in 2025 with a perfect 10.

BRUINS WIN SECOND-STRAIGHT BIG TEN REGULAR SEASON TITLE
For the second consecutive year, UCLA ran the table in the conference, going unbeaten with a 9-0 record to capture the Big Ten regular season title. The Bruins are 18-0 all-time in Big Ten play and have not lost to any Big Ten opponent in non-conference or postseason play since joining the conference a year ago. UCLA Gymnastics has now won 23 conference titles, including three in the Big Ten.

BRUINS CLAIM ALL-BIG TEN HONORS
A total of four UCLA gymnasts earned All-Big Ten honors in 2026. Three gymnasts – senior Jordan Chiles and freshmen Ashlee Sullivan and Tiana Sumanasekera – placed on the first team, and senior Ciena Alipio earned second-team acclaim. UCLA was the only school with multiple All-Freshman Team honorees - Sullivan and Sumanasekera. Additionally, junior Katelyn Rosen was UCLA's honoree for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award.

CONSISTENCY IS KEY
UCLA has been a consistent force all season, averaging 197.491 as a team, with nothing under 196.950. The Bruins have scored over 197.500 in six of its last seven meets and joins Oklahoma as the only two teams who have scored over 49.000 on every event in every meet this season. The Bruins have hit 263 of 264 routines without a fall this year, a 99.6% hit percentage, including 232 consecutive.

IN THE RANKINGS
UCLA remains ranked No. 5 for the fourth-straight week and has been ranked in the Top 5 for nine weeks in a row. The Bruins rank in the Top 10 on all four events - No. 4 on beam, No. 5 on bars, No. 6 on vault and No. 8 on floor. Jordan Chiles remains No. 1 on floor exercise and also ranks No. 2 in the all-around, No. 3 on vault and bars and No. 7 on beam. Tiana Sumanasekera is tied for the highest all-around ranking by a freshman at No. 22 and also ranks No. 25 on beam. Ciena Alipio is No. 4 on beam and has been in the Top 5 for eight-straight weeks.

LAST TIME OUT
A school record crowd of 13,089 came out to Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial to bid farewell to UCLA's senior class of Jordan Chiles, Ciena Alipio, Madisyn Anyimi and Carissa Clay. All four seniors delivered show-stopping performances to help the No. 5 Bruins defeat No. 12 Utah, 197.850-197.400. Chiles won the all-around for the ninth consecutive week, scoring 39.800 with 9.950s across the board. She took first place on balance beam and floor exercise and was second on vault and uneven bars. Freshman Ashlee Sullivan took home the other event title for UCLA, winning vault with a nearly-perfect 9.975, a new career high. Alipio finished second on balance beam with a 9.925 and recorded leadoff scores of 9.850 on uneven bars and 9.800 on floor exercise. Clay made her UCLA competitive debut on balance beam and hit her routine for a 9.775. Anyimi scored 9.875 on uneven bars in an exhibition performance.

The Bruins were consistent throughout the meet, hitting all 24 routines and scoring 49.400 or better on all four events. They started the meet with a season-high 49.475 on vault after Mika Webster-Longin and Riley Jenkins hit their Yurchenko 1.5s for 9.900 each, followed by Sullivan's 9.975 and Chiles' 9.950. The Utes kept it close with a 49.425 on uneven bars and closed the gap slightly after scoring 49.450 on vault in the second rotation while UCLA scored 49.425 on bars, with all six routines scoring 9.850 or higher. UCLA extended its lead from .025 to .175 in the third rotation after scoring 49.400 on beam, and the Bruins' 49.550 on floor secured the victory.

THROWBACK FLOORS
Jordan Chiles brought back her sophomore year 90's hip hop floor exercise routine for Senior Day on March 14, making it her third different floor routine performed this season. When the Bruins competed in Minnesota on Feb. 7, she brought back her junior year Prince tribute and scored a perfect 10. She has scored a 10 on her regular season routine, featuring music from R&B icons Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Tina Turner, three times this year.

CHILES, SULLIVAN EARN BIG TEN WEEKLY AWARDS
UCLA's Jordan Chiles was awarded the Big Ten Gymnast of the Week for a conference-record 10th time in 11 weeks, and Ashlee Sullivan was named the Co-Event Specialist of the Week. Chiles won the all-around for the ninth consecutive week and 10th time this season, scoring 39.800 to help No. 5 UCLA defeat No. 12 Utah, 197.850-197.400. It was UCLA's ninth consecutive meet victory and its first over Utah in a dual meet since 2019. Chiles scored 9.950 on all four events, good for first-place on beam and floor and second-place on vault and bars. Her vault score helped the Bruins record a season-high total of 49.475, and her marks on all four events helped propel UCLA to its second-highest team score of the year. Sullivan's event specialist award is the first of her career and marks just the sixth time ever that a freshman has earned this award. The three-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week recipient won vault with a near-perfect 9.975 for her first career vault win and earned third-place finishes on bars and floor with 9.900s in the Bruins' win over Utah.

PERFECT 10 WATCH
For five consecutive weeks from Jan. 17 through Feb. 14, Jordan Chiles found perfection. Her first career 10 on vault on Jan. 17 against Nebraska started the streak, and she went on to roll off four-straight perfect 10s on floor on Jan. 25 at Michigan State, Jan. 30 vs. Washington, Feb. 7 at Minnesota and Feb. 14 vs. Michigan. She currently has 17 career 10s - one on vault, six on uneven bars and 10 on floor exercise - and ranks in the Top 10 nationally and Top 3 at UCLA for career perfect 10s. Chiles' 10 floor 10s rank second all-time at UCLA behind only Jamie Dantzscher, who had 14. Chiles' six bars 10s rank third behind Kyla Ross (11) and Dantzscher (7). Chiles is looking to become just the 15th gymnast in NCAA history to achieve a Gym Slam, which is a perfect 10 on all four events. Only two Bruins have done this - Kristen Maloney in 2005 and Ross in 2019. Chiles just needs a 10.0 on balance beam to join the exclusive group. She has earned a 10 from one beam judge three times this season.

BEST SHOW IN LA AND NATION-WIDE
UCLA Gymnastics is proving to be not only the Best Show in LA, but also nation-wide. Every campus UCLA has visited this season has seen record-setting attendance with the Bruins in town - at Washington Jan. 2 (8,403), at Michigan State Jan. 25 (9,887), at Minnesota Feb. 7 (5,081), at Illinois Feb. 22 (6,813) and at Stanford March 7 (7,024). The Bruins set a school record of their own in the home finale on March 14, with 13,089 fans in attendance. UCLA had also set program records for home opener attendance (7,814 on Jan. 13) and for Friday night home meets (7,567 in attendance at the Big Four meet on Feb. 27). Last season, the Bruins competed in front of school record crowds at Maryland (7,287) and Ohio State (3,695) and in front of a sold-out crowd of 15,558 at Utah, as well as a crowd of 11,314 at Michigan.

DANCING AND GYMNASTICS QUEEN
Fresh off a third-place showing on Season 34 of "Dancing with the Stars" this fall, Jordan Chiles has dominated the NCAA Gymnastics season, ranking No. 1 in the nation in the all-around for the first eight weeks of the season and earning Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honors in nine consecutive weeks and 10 of 11 weeks overall. She is a finalist for the AAI Award, which honors the top senior gymnast in the nation, and she received first-team All-Big Ten honors for the second-straight year.

Chiles kicked off her senior season on Jan. 3 with a show-stopping performance at the Best of the West Quad, placing first on all four events and winning the all-around with a 39.725, UCLA's highest all-around score in a season opener since Kyla Ross also recorded that score in 2020. Chiles has not slowed down since. She scored her first perfect 10 of the season and first career 10 on vault on Jan. 17 then recorded the nation's highest all-around score with a 39.875 on Jan. 25 at Michigan State, including a perfect 10 on floor and a 9.975 on vault. Just five days later, she matched that 39.875 all-around score and added another 10 on floor while leading UCLA to a season-high 198.150 in a win over Washington. Chiles made it four meets in a row with a 10 on Feb. 7, bringing back her 2025 Prince floor routine at Minnesota for her 15th career perfect 10, and then hit her 10th career 10 on floor on Feb. 14 against Michigan. On March 7, she scored her first 10 of the season on uneven bars.

Paired with pro dancer Ezra Sosa this fall, Chiles became the first female gymnast to make the "Dancing with the Stars" finale since Laurie Hernandez in season 23 in 2016. Chiles competed on the show while simultaneously training for the 2026 gymnastics season and taking a full set of classes at UCLA. The two-time Olympian and 2024 gold medalist entered her senior year as a three-time NCAA Champion, 16-time All-American and reigning Big Ten floor exercise champion. Chiles has scored 17 perfect 10s in her career - 10 on floor exercise, six on uneven bars and one on vault - and 27 9.975s. She holds career-highs of 10.0 on vault, uneven bars and floor exercise, 9.975 on balance beam and 39.900 in the all-around. Chiles' high-level consistency has been incredible, as she has scored 9.800 or higher on all 44 of her routines this year and 9.900 or higher on 34. She also has 22 scores of 9.950 or higher. Chiles has hit 82 routines in a row without a fall, with 59 straight routines scoring 9.800 or higher.

FROM BEAMER TO THREE-EVENT STAR
After competing exclusively on balance beam her first three seasons due to injuries, senior Ciena Alipio has taken the leap to multi-event star during her senior season, competing on floor exercise and uneven bars this season for the first time in her collegiate career. She has become a mainstay in the lineup on those three events, competing in all 11 meets on beam, 10 on floor and eight on bars. She made her floor debut at the Sprouts Collegiate Quad on Jan. 10 and scored 9.800. She won two events a week later against Nebraska, scoring 9.975 on beam and 9.875 on floor. At Michigan State on Jan. 25, Alipio competed on three events for the first time, making her collegiate debut on uneven bars. She tied for third place on bars with a score of 9.875, scored 9.850 on floor exercise, then completed her day with a meet-winning beam score of 9.950. She improved on those marks five days later against Washington, scoring a leadoff 9.950 on bars, a meet-winning 9.950 on beam and a career-high 9.900 on floor to earn Big Ten Event Specialist of the Week honors for the third time. Alipio scored a career-high 9.950 on floor on Feb. 14, receiving a 10.0 from one judge. In the national rankings, she is currently ranked No. 4 on beam, where she has not scored lower than 9.900 all season. She was also ranked as high as No. 7 on bars in early February. Alipio leads the team with seven beam victories.

Alipio is a two-time first-team All-American on beam and won the Big Ten balance beam title in 2025 with her first career perfect 10. Prior to her senior season, the only other non-beam routine that she had performed in college came in an exhibition on floor exercise in the 2025 season opener. As an elite gymnast, Alipio placed third in the all-around at her last international event, the 2022 Arthur Gander Memorial in Switzerland. She was also ninth in the all-around and sixth on floor exercise at the 2022 U.S. Classic.

SULLIVAN STRENGTH
Freshman Ashlee Sullivan continues to provide three strong routines in the five spot on vault, bars and floor. She has also competed in the all-around twice, most recently on March 7 at Stanford, scoring her season-high of 39.325. Since February, over her last six meets, 14 of her 24 scores have gone 9.875 or higher, including 10 of 9.900 or higher. She has scored 9.900 or higher on six of her last seven floor routines, with three 9.950s. Sullivan has won Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors three times this season, and she earned Event Specialist of the Week in the final week of the regular season after winning vault with a 9.975 and scoring two other 9.900s in the win over Utah. Sullivan is averaging over 9.85 on her three main events - 9.857 on vault, 9.864 on bars and 9.880 on floor.

TIANA TOPS FRESHMEN
Freshman Tiana Sumanasekera is tied for the highest national ranking among freshmen, ranking No. 22 with a NQS of 39.375. Sumanasekera has been superb for the Bruins this year, competing 41 of a possible 44 routines and going all-around in eight of the team's 11 meets. She has won Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors a conference-best four times and scored a career-high in the all-around with a 39.475 against Michigan on Feb. 14. Sumanasekera scored three 9.900s in the meet and won vault for the first time in her career. She has scored 9.900 as the leadoff vaulter in three meets this season. The five-time U.S. National Team member and 2024 Olympic alternate has season-bests of 9.9 or higher on every event - 9.950 on beam, 9.925 on floor and 9.900 on vault and bars. In the season opener, Sumanasekera scored 9.950 on beam, the highest by a UCLA freshman in her collegiate debut in over 20 years, matching Tasha Schiwkert in 2005. Sumanasekera also became the first Bruin ever to win Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors with her season-opening performance.

MIKA MAGIC
Sophomore Mika Webster-Longin returned to competition in a big way on Feb. 27, making her 2026 vault debut at the Big Four meet in a pivotal moment. With the Bruins clinging to a .150 lead in the final rotation, the sophomore stepped in for injured teammate Katelyn Rosen and hit her Yurchenko 1.5 vault for a 9.800. It was her first vault since last season's NCAA semifinal, and the Big Four meet was her first time in the competition lineup since an illness kept her out for three meets (Jan. 25-Feb. 7). Webster-Longin made her all-around debut at Stanford and earned a career-high 39.425 to place third overall. She also tied for first on floor with a career-best 9.925 and added a season-high 9.900 on bars. She one-upped her performance a week later against Utah, scoring a career-high 39.450 in the all-around and recording a season-high 9.900 on vault She holds career-highs of 9.950 on vault, 9.925 on bars and floor and 9.875 on beam. The Belgian National Team member had a strong freshman season, being selected to the Big Ten All-Championship team after contributing a 9.925 on vault and 9.900 on bars to the Bruins' title run.

RAISING THE BAR-ROS
Junior Sydney Barros, who missed all of 2024 while rehabbing a knee injury and competed just once in 2025, has made a huge splash this season. A total of 21 of her 24 routines have scored 9.800 or higher, and nine have scored 9.900 or higher. She has not scored lower than 9.825 on either bars or beam all season. In her first extensive action of her career at Michigan State on Jan. 25, she scored a pair of 9.900s on uneven bars and floor exercise and added a 9.850 in a beam exhibition. In the Bruins' home meet against Washington Jan. 30, she competed on three events and scored a career-highs on bars (9.925) and floor (9.900) and earned a 9.850 in her beam debut. On Feb. 7 at Minnesota, she contributed a third-place career-high mark of 9.900 and also scored 9.850 on uneven bars. She scored a pair of 9.90s against Michigan on Feb. 14, tying for second on beam and floor, and she picked up her first career victory at the Big Four meet on Feb. 27, tying for first on bars with a 9.900. Barros was the all-around champion at the 2023 Puerto Rican National Championships and placed eighth in the all-around at the 2023 Pan American Championships, qualifying to the World Championships. She was unable to compete at Worlds, however, after suffering a knee injury at the Central American Games.

NO ONE LIKE NOLA
Freshman Nola Matthews is dialed in on uneven bars this season, competing in 10 of 11 meets and averaging 9.860. She has scored 9.900 or higher in three of her last five meets, including a career-high 9.950 at Stanford on March 7 and a first-place mark of 9.900 at the Big Four Meet Feb. 27. The five-time U.S. National Team member won gold on uneven bars and floor exercise at the 2025 Varna World Challenge Cup and also won gold on bars at the 2023 Pan American Championships and 2022 Winter Cup. Matthews has also competed on floor exercise three times this year, with a high of 9.875, and balance beam three times, scoring a high of 9.850.

JENKINS LOCKED IN
Sophomore Riley Jenkins has locked in on vault her last two meets, sticking her Yurchenko 1.5 at Stanford for a career-high and second-place mark of 9.900. She matched that score a week later against Utah to help the Bruins record a season-high team total of 49.475. Jenkins competed in seven meets as a freshman, including the last three postseason meets. This year, she has competed on vault in every meet and is averaging 9.818.

LEADOFF QUEEN
Junior Katelyn Rosen sets the tone for the Bruins as the leadoff performer on vault and floor and has excelled in that role. On Jan. 30 against Washington, she led off on floor exercise with a season-high 9.925, paving the way for a team season-high total of 49.700, at the time the highest floor score in the NCAA this season. Rosen also has lead-off high marks of 9.900 on balance beam twice and 9.875 on uneven bars. Her 9.900 on beam on Jan. 17 led to a team season-high of 49.625, and her 9.875 on bars on Jan. 10 led to a 49.425. Rosen has competed on at least three events in seven meets this season and competed in the all-around in the Bruins' first four meets, with a season-high of 39.325 and season average of 39.150. She holds a career all-around average of 39.332 and has hit 39+ in all 11 all-around attempts.

FABULOUS FRESHMEN
UCLA's acclaimed freshman class has accounted for 37% (98 of 264) of the Bruins' routines so far in 2026, with Tiana Sumanasekera competing 41 routines, Ashlee Sullivan 35, Nola Matthews 16 and Jordis Eichman six. Sumanasekera, a 2024 U.S. Olympic alternate, has contributed 34 9.8+ scores, including highs of 9.950 on beam, 9.925 on floor and 9.900 on vault and bars. She is averaging 39.359 in her eight all-around appearances. Sullivan has competed at least three events in every meet and has had two all-around opportunities, with a high of 39.325 set at Stanford March 7. She has four event victories and holds season-bests of 9.975 on vault, 9.950 on floor, 9.925 on bars and 9.775 on beam. Matthews has highs of 9.950 on bars, 9.875 on floor and 9.850 on beam and one event victory on bars. Eichman made her collegiate debut on Jan. 25 at Michigan State and scored 9.825 on beam and 9.750 on vault. She earned her first Top 3 finish on Jan. 30 against Washington with a third-place mark of 9.875 on beam.

SCHOLAR ATHLETES
UCLA Gymnastics earned a team GPA of 3.532 in the fall quarter, with 14 team members making the Director's Honor Roll (3.0 or higher term GPA in at least 12 units). Additionally, six Bruins earned 4.0s in the quarter. Seven Bruins were named to the Academic All-Big Ten Team - Ciena Alipio, Madisyn Anyimi, Carissa Clay, Sasha Fujisaka, Riley Jenkins, Katelyn Rosen and Mika Webster-Longin.

NEXT UP
The Bruins will compete in the NCAA Regionals, which are slated to run from April 1-5. The field will be announced on Monday, March 23 on the NCAA Selection Show, which will air from 9-10am PT on ESPNU. The four Regionals will take place at Arizona State, Oregon State, Kentucky and LSU.