Gymnastics
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- ldagen@athletics.ucla.edu
Lacy Dagen begins her second season as an assistant coach for UCLA.
In her first season with the Bruins, she helped lead UCLA to a NCAA runner-up finish and to Big Ten regular season and conference championship titles. Her work with the balance beam squad netted big improvements from the previous year. UCLA moved up five spots in the national rankings year-to-year, from No. 9 to No. 4. Dagen coached Ciena Alipio to the Big Ten beam title with a perfect 10, and guided Emma Malabuyo to a NCAA runner-up finish and Alipio to a third-place finish. UCLA’s 2025 beam team tied the school record at the Big Ten Championships with a 49.750, scored 49+ in every meet, and recorded a hit percentage of 96.9%.
Dagen came to UCLA from Arizona State, where she was the assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. She helped guide the Sun Devils to the NCAA Regional Final and a No. 16 national finish in 2024. The Sun Devils’ beam coach, Dagen helped coach the team to a record-breaking 11 consecutive 49.0+ meets, including a 49.550 score that was its highest since 2007 and ranks as No. 6 all-time at ASU.
Dagen had previous coaching stops at Oregon State in 2023 and UC Davis in 2022. At Oregon State, she helped the Beavers win a share of the Pac-12 regular season title and advance to the NCAA Regional Final, with a No. 12 national finish. The team ended the year with 12-straight scores of 197+, including a program record 198.075. At UC Davis, Dagen helped kick-start a record year for the Aggies, who set program bests that season for overall team score, away team score and team vault total. Dagen has coached two conference gymnasts of the year – Oregon State’s Jade Carey and UC Davis’ Kyla Kessler.
A native of Pleasanton, Calif., Dagen was a member of the University of Florida team from 2016-17 before transferring to Oregon State from 2018-21. At Oregon State, she earned all-conference honoree on vault and received three of her four career Scholastic All-America honors. Dagen received her bachelor’s degree in sociology and innovation management in 2020. She also earned a master’s degree in kinesiology from Oregon State in 2022, developing an injury prevention program tailored to NCAA gymnastics that she then implanted into daily practices as a coach.
