University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
Arkansas
UCLA Gymnastics Opens 2017 Season Saturday
January 05, 2017 | Gymnastics
#4 UCLA vs. #17 Arkansas
Saturday, Jan. 7 - 4:00 pm PT
TV: Pac-12 Los Angeles (Jim Watson, Amanda Borden)
Online: pac-12.com/live
App: Pac-12 Now
Live Stats: uclabruins.com
Tickets: $16 (uclabruins.com/tickets, 310-UCLA-WIN)
2017 Season Underway Saturday
No. 4 UCLA opens the 2017 season on Saturday, Jan. 7 vs. No. 17 Arkansas. The meet will take place at 4pm in Pauley Pavilion (be in your seats by 3:40pm to catch the pre-meet festivities) and will be televised live on Pac-12 Los Angeles (delayed at 9:30pm PT on Pac-12 Network), with Jim Watson and Amanda Borden on the call. UCLA will be honoring its alumni and 1997 NCAA championship squad at the conclusion of the meet.
Meet Timeline
3:00 pm - Doors Open
3:40 pm - Pre-meet entertainment begins
3:40 pm - Be in your seats
4:00 pm - Meet Begins
6:00 pm (approximately) - Alumni and 1997 NCAA Championship team recognition + announcement of meet results
Clear Bag Policy in Effect
Enhanced screening procedures have been implemented at Pauley Pavilion. The Clear Bag Policy limits the size and type of bags that may be brought into Pauley Pavilion. The policy is designed to provide more consistent screening and to expedite fan entry. Increased screening through the use of electronic security equipment will be used at all entry gates. For more information, visit uclabruins.com/pauleygamedayinfo.
Tickets and Promotions
Tickets for the UCLA-Arkansas meet are on sale now at the UCLA Central Ticket Office. Season tickets are also available for the Bruins' six-meet home schedule. Single-meet tickets are on sale at the UCLA Central Ticket Office and at Ticketmaster. UCLA students are free with ID and eligible to win a raffle prize each home meet. This week's prize is an Apple Watch. The first 1,000 fans will receive a UCLA Gymnastics poster.
Follow Live
Live stats will be available at uclabruins.com. Live updates can be found on Twitter: @UCLAGymnastics.
Kocian, Ross to Make History Saturday
UCLA freshmen Madison Kocian and Kyla Ross will make history on Saturday when they become the first two Olympic gold medalists ever to compete in an NCAA meet. Kocian won team gold and uneven bars silver at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, while Ross won team gold at the 2012 Olympics in London (along with UCLA volunteer coach Jordyn Wieber). Both Kocian and Ross have won multiple World Championship medals as well, with Kocian winning three gold medals (2015 uneven bars and team, 2014 team) and Ross capturing five total medals (2014 team gold and bronze all-around; 2013 silver all-around, bars and beam).
Bruins Open Season Ranked No. 4
UCLA will open the season at No. 4 in the 2017 preseason coaches poll. The Bruins, who have been ranked in the preseason Top 10 every year since the rankings were established in 1998, received five first-place votes. UCLA will face seven Top 36 teams in 2017, including three Top 10 squads in No. 1 Oklahoma on Jan. 15, No. 6 Utah on Feb. 18, and No. 10 California at home on Mar. 5.
UCLA No. 1 in Pac-12 Coaches Poll
Defending Pac-12 gymnastics champion UCLA has been voted the preseason favorite to win the 2017 conference title. The Bruins received five of eight first-place votes in the coaches poll and 47 points overall. This is the first time since 2014 that UCLA has claimed the top spot in the preseason Pac-12 coaches poll. The Bruins were also selected No. 1 in 2012 and 2013. Receiving the other three first-place votes was Utah, who was picked to finish second. Rounding out the preseason rankings were Stanford, California, Oregon State, Arizona, Washington and Arizona State.
About the Bruins
UCLA returns 12 athletes from last year's Pac-12 Championship squad, including All-Americans Angi Cipra and Christine Peng-Peng Lee, All-Pac-12 honoree Katelyn Ohashi, and Pac-12 uneven bars co-champion JaNay Honest. The Bruins will have to replace three important seniors in All-American Sadiqua Bynum, All-American Sophina DeJesus and NCAA beam champion Danusia Francis, but bring in two Olympic gold medalists in Madison Kocian and Kyla Ross, plus former U.S. national team member Felicia Hano. Additionally, the Bruins will get back 2015 Level 10 all-around champion Macy Toronjo, who redshirted last season with a torn rotator cuff. UCLA is coached by Pac-12 Gymnastics Coach of the Century Valorie Kondos Field, Associate Head Coaches Chris Waller and Randy Lane, and volunteer coach and 2012 Olympic gold medalist Jordyn Wieber.
20-Year Reunion for 1997 NCAA Champions
UCLA will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of its first-ever NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championship squad during the season opener on Saturday. Members of the squad will be honored in post-meet ceremonies, including Arkansas head coach Mark Cook, who was an assistant coach for the Bruins at the time.
The Bruins won the 1997 NCAA title a year after placing a close second in Alabama. Georgia came into the Championships as the favorite but succumbed to the pressure of starting on the balance beam, counting two falls in the first rotation, while UCLA remained undaunted, hitting five strong beam routines in rotation two for a score of 49.2. The Bruins thrived from there and needed to score 49.25 on uneven bars in the final rotation to win their first title. UCLA had four underclassmen in the bars lineup, and they performed like veterans, with freshman Deborah Mink scoring 9.825 in the leadoff role, sophomore Kiralee Hayashi following with a 9.85 and freshman Lena Degteva nailing a 9.875. Junior Stella Umeh provided a 9.925, setting up freshman Heidi Moneymaker for an opportunity to clinch the title with a 9.775, and the freshman was money, scoring a 9.925. Senior Leah Homma's 9.95 to close the competition punctuated the evening for the Bruins, who totaled a season-high 197.15, three-tenths higher than second-place Arizona State.
UCLA vs. Arkansas
Arkansas went 12-12 last season and finished sixth at the SEC Championships and third at the NCAA Iowa City Regional. The Razorback return eight letterwinners from last year's squad, including All-American Amanda Wellick. Head coach Mark Cook, who was a UCLA assistant coach from 1995-97, built the Arkansas program from scratch in 2001, and in just its second year of competition qualified a team to the NCAA Regionals. He has coached his team to seven NCAA Championship appearances, most recently in 2013, and two Super Six appearances. Cook is a two-time SEC Co-Coach of the Year (2008, 2016).
This is the first meeting between the two teams since 2015, when the Bruins won at Fayetteville, 197.175-195.900. This is Arkansas' first visit back to Pauley Pavilion since losing to the Bruins in 2013, 197.425-196.600.
UCLA in Season Openers
UCLA has won four of its last five season openers, including victories in the last two years. The Bruins used strong performances on beam and floor to earn a come-from-behind 196.550-196.300 victory over Alabama in 2016. Sadiqua Bynum's 9.95 on floor on the last routine clinched the victory for UCLA. In 2015, clutch beam routines by Mikaela Gerber and Christine Peng-Peng Lee in the final rotation sealed the win at Oregon State, 196.000-195.450.
Coming Back
UCLA returns 11 athletes who saw competition time a year ago, as well as 15 of 24 routines (63%) competed at the 2016 NCAA Super Six, including five on vault and four on bars. Back in 2017 are Sonya Meraz and JaNay Honest, who ranked No. 1 and No. 3 on the team in routines competed. Meraz led all Bruins with 42, and Honest was third with 36 (all of which were hit). Nine Bruin returners scored at least one 9.9 last season - Katelyn Ohashi (8), Angi Cipra (7), JaNay Honest (6), Madison Preston (4), Christine Peng-Peng Lee (3), Mikaela Gerber (2), Napualani Hall (2), Hallie Mossett (2), and Sonya Meraz (1).
Glenn Twins to Redshirt 2017 Season
Freshmen Anna Glenn and Grace Glenn will redshirt the 2017 season after suffering torn labrums that will require surgery. The identical twins are both JO National Champions, with Anna winning uneven bars in 2012, and Grace winning the all-around and beam in 2014.
Streaks
JaNay Honest enters the 2017 season having hit 48 routines in a row, including all 36 in 2016 โฆ Mikaela Gerber hit all 19 of her routines last year, including all 14 as the leadoff on beam, and has a streak of 26 consecutive hit routines, dating back to 2015 โฆ Katelyn Ohashi has scored 9.8 or better on all 10 of her beam routines and has hit 23 consecutive routines โฆ UCLA has scored 49+ on floor in 14 straight meets โฆ Four Bruin returners competed in all 14 meets last season - Mikaela Gerber, JaNay Honest, Sonya Meraz and Madison Preston. Meraz has competed in 24-straight meets, and Gerber has competed in 19-straight.
Vaulting Towards 10.0 Vaults
The Bruins will be easing in upgraded vaults during the season. Felicia Hano, Gracie Kramer, Sonya Meraz, Angi Cipra and JaNay Honest have been training Yurchenko 1.5 vaults. Napualani Hall, Kyla Ross and Katelyn Ohashi, have been training the Omelianchik (Yurchenko half-on, front pike).
Raising the Bar
UCLA's uneven bars lineup features some of the world's best on the event. Madison Kocian is the reigning World co-champion and Olympic silver medalist on the event. Christine Peng-Peng Lee won a World Cup title on bars in 2012 and has won the event at each of the last two NCAA Regional Championships. Lee performs three difficult release moves - a Ray, a Bhardwaj and a Shaposh half. Kyla Ross was the U.S. champion and World silver medalist in 2013. Additionally, JaNay Honest is the reigning Pac-12 co-champion, and Stella Savvidou placed fourth at the conference championships. Sonya Meraz has added difficulty to her routine, upgrading her Tkatchev to a toe-on Tkatchev (Ray).
Bruins are Beaming
UCLA was one of the nation's best teams on beam last year, and although the Bruins lose 2016 NCAA beam champion Danusia Francis, they gain one of the best beam workers in the world in Kyla Ross, who was the U.S. champion in 2013 and 2014 and the world silver medalist in 2013. Madison Kocian is also a strong beam competitor, earning Top 7 finishes on the event at each of the last two USA Championships. Katelyn Ohashi, Mikaela Gerber and Sonya Meraz are the Bruins' only returners on beam from last season's NCAA Championships, but all three are capable of 9.9+ scores. Ohashi scored 9.9 five times last year and may bring back her old elite series (backhandspring-backhandspring-layout full). Gerber was solid as a rock as the leadoff, hitting all 14 routines and averaging 9.833. In the No. 2 spot, Meraz went 9.85 or higher eight times last year, with a high of 9.9. Also back is Christine Peng-Peng Lee, who owns a career-high of 9.975 and does some of the most unique skills in NCAA, including the Homma flairs mount and a double turn.
Putting on a Show on Floor
UCLA's floor exercise routines are not to be missed. With routines choreographed by Valorie Kondos Field and Hallie Mossett, the Bruins put on a show every time they step onto the floor. Mossett choreographed the floor routines for JaNay Honest, Sonya Meraz, Gracie Kramer, and Mercedez Sanchez, along with co-choreographing her own Beyonce-inspired routine with Kondos Field.
Leading the returning performers on floor is Angi Cipra, who earned All-America honors with her iPhone routine last year. Cipra scored 9.9 or higher seven times in 2016, with a high of 9.975. Mossett earned a perfect 10 from one judge on her first routine last season and has a career-high mark of 9.95. Both JaNay Honest and Madison Preston averaged over 9.85 with career-highs of 9.925, and Katelyn Ohashi and Sonya Meraz each have career-highs of 9.9. Also look for freshmen Felicia Hano, Madison Kocian and Kyla Ross to provide dynamic routines.
UCLA Gymnastics - Home of Olympians
No other gymnastics program in the nation has the Olympic history that UCLA has. The Bruins currently have two Olympic gold medalists (Madison Kocian and Kyla Ross) and an honorary Olympian (Christine Peng-Peng Lee) on the competitive roster, another Olympic gold medalist in volunteer assistant coach Jordyn Wieber, plus another Olympic competitor in associate head coach Chris Waller. UCLA has had at least one Olympian from each of the last nine Olympics, dating back to 1984.
2016 - Madison Kocian
2012 - Kyla Ross, Jordyn Wieber*, Jennifer Pinches, Anna Li#, Danusia Francis#, Peng-Peng Lee+
2008 - Samantha Peszek, Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs
2004 - Mohini Bhardwaj, Kate Richardson, Tasha Schwikert#, Marci Bernholtz#
2000 - Jamie Dantzscher, Kristen Maloney, Tasha Schwikert, Michelle Conway, Kate Richardson, Yvonne Tousek, Alyssa Beckerman#, Holly Murdock#
1996 - Yvonne Tousek, Kerri Strug*
1992 - Stella Umeh, Luisa Portocarrero, Kerri Strug*
1998 - Rhonda Faehn#
1984 - Gigi Zosa
*UCLA coach, # - Olympic alternate, + - honorary Olympian
International Competitors
UCLA's roster is filled with international competitors, led by Olympic gold medalists Madison Kocian and Kyla Ross. Kocian is a three-time World Champion, having won a share of the uneven bars title in 2015 and team titles in 2014 and 2015. Ross was also part of the 2014 World Championship team and won a total of four individual medals in 2013 and 2014. Stella Savvidou and Giulianna Pino competed at the 2015 Worlds along with Kocian, with Savvidou representing Cyprus and Pino representing Ecuador. Christine Peng-Peng Lee and Mikaela Gerber competed at the 2011 World Championships for Canada. Katelyn Ohashi has American Cup (2013) and Pacific Rim Championship (2012 juniors) all-around championship titles to her credit. The 2012 Pacific Rim Championship podium had a decidedly UCLA-flavor to it, as Jordyn Wieber, Ross and Lee went 1-2-3 in the senior competition, and Ohashi won the all-around, bars, beam and floor titles in the junior competition.
Bruins Televised All Season
All of UCLA's regular season meets in 2017, plus the Pac-12 and NCAA Championships, will be televised. The Pac-12 Network will televise eight regular season meets and the conference championships. The Bruins' dual meet at Oklahoma will air on Fox Sports Network. ESPNU will pick up the UCLA at Utah dual meet and the NCAA Championships.
UCLA Signs Dennis, Tratz in Early Signing Period
In November, UCLA announced the signing of four-time U.S. National Team member Nia Dennis (Columbus, Ohio/Legacy Elite Gymnastics) and German National Team member and 2016 Olympic alternate Pauline Tratz (Karlsruhe, Germany/TSV Rintheim/Karlsruhe Gymnastics) to National Letters of Intent. The duo will enter UCLA in the fall of 2017.
Looking Ahead
For the second-straight year, UCLA's first away meet is at the defending NCAA champion. This time, the Bruins will travel to Oklahoma for a Sunday, Jan. 15 meet at the Lloyd Noble Center.
Get Social
UCLA Gymnastics has one of the largest social media followings in all of women's collegiate sports, ranking third across all women's sports in combined likes/followers on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The Bruins rank first among all NCAA gymnastics teams on both Instagram (90.7k) and Facebook (122k) and fifth on Twitter (12.9k). Among UCLA teams, gymnastics ranks first on Instagram and Facebook. Follow the Bruins at @UCLAGymnastics on Instagram and Twitter and on Facebook at facebook.com/uclagymnastics. The team's Snapchat name is also uclagymnastics.
Players Mentioned
