Pac-12 gymnastics heads into last week of competition before Conference championships

SAN FRANCISCO - Pac-12 Gymnastics will face non-conference competition this week including a Top 10 match-up between No. 6 Utah and No. 8 Georgia leading up to the first ever neutral site Pac-12 Championship at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah on Saturday, Mar. 23.

• No. 2 UCLA set a new season-high 198.325 in front of a record home crowd of 12,907 in Pauley Pavilion where junior Kyla Ross scored a perfect 10 for her sixth consecutive meet.
• Sophomore standout Kyla Bryant of No. 23 Stanford captured her seventh all-around title of the season with a 39.300.
• Media interested in covering the Pac-12 Gymnastics Championships will need to submit their credential request online at: https://pac12.me/2019GymCredentials. Deadline to apply is Tuesday, March 19.

PAC-12 TEAM NOTES

ARIZONA - The Arizona GymCats earned a final score of 195.050 in their last road meet of the season at North Carolina State with George Washington and Texas Women’s on Saturday ... Arizona notched third place just behind NC State (196.100) and George Washington (195.250) and finished ahead of Texas Women’s (193.500) ... The GymCats made an impressive showing on the floor (49.125), earning their seventh 49.000+ score in the event this season ... Three Wildcats earned career-highs in Raleigh including Maddi Leydin on the vault (9.900) and bars (9.825) and Adra Parks on vault (9.825) ... Arizona will return home for its final meet of the regular season as it hosts No. 4 LSU on Friday for Senior & Alumni Night.

ARIZONA STATE - No. 21 Arizona State recorded an overall 194.825 to finish third behind No. 5 Denver (197.675) and No. 18 Nebraska (196.225) and ahead of University of Pittsburgh (194.200) in a Denver-hosted quad meet on Sunday ... The GymDevils posted their best meet total on bars with a 49.100 led by Cairo Leonard-Baker who anchored with a 9.825 ... Arizona State will host West Virginia and #14 BYU in a mid-week tri meet on Wednesday before gearing up for the Pac-12 Championships in West Valley City.

CALIFORNIA - No. 16 California showed depth in its regular-season road finale, sweeping titles on all four events as five different gymnast claimed event wins. The Golden Bears topped San Jose State 196.100-193.725 on Friday in San Jose ... Milan Clausi, Kyana George and Rachael Mastrangelo shared the vault crown with a 9.850.  Clausi also won floor exercise (9.90) ... Emi Watterson had another standout night, nabbing the uneven bars crown for the second week in a row with a 9.925 and setting a career-best 9.825 on vault ... Maya Bordas matched her career-high beam score of 9.90 for the beam crown ... The Bears return to Berkeley for their last home meet of the season, hosting Illinois and recent opponents San Jose State and Sacramento State on Sunday to be streamed live on CalBears.com.

OREGON STATE - No. 15 Oregon State hit 23 out of 24 routines but fell short at No. 4 LSU 198.150-196.375 ... The Beavers started strong on uneven bars with Halli Briscoe leading with a career-best tying 9.875 while Sabrina Gill added a 9.850 ... Kaitlyn Yanish hit a near-perfect vault to record a career-best 9.950 ... The Beavers picked up their highest event total of the meet with a 49.275 on floor led by Yanish’s team-best 9.950 and Isis Lowery’s 9.875 ... OSU returns to Corvallis next week to host a quad meet with Iowa, North Carolina and Seattle Pacific for Senior Night on Friday.

STANFORD - No. 24 Stanford posted its second-highest point total of the season on Sunday, but fell at No. 2 UCLA, 198.325-196.275 before a record crowd of 12,905 ... Several Cardinal starters were limited in practice due to illness, but sophomore standout Kyla Bryant rallied to tie fourth on balance beam with a career-high 9.900, tied for sixth on vault (9.825), tied for seventh on bars (9.875) and captured her seventh all-around title of the season (39.300) ... The Cardinal will compete next in the Pac-12 Championships on Mar. 23 in West Valley City.

UCLA - In front of a UCLA Gymnastics record home crowd of 12,907 in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom, the No. 2 Bruins set a new season-high in a 198.325-196.275 win over No. 24 Stanford ... UCLA junior Kyla Ross earned a perfect 10 for the sixth-consecutive meet, capturing her first 10 of the season on beam.  It was her eighth 10 overall this season and the 13th of her career ... The Bruins (11-1) earned season-high scores on vault (49.45) and beam (49.7) and added a 49.7 on floor and 49.475 on bars, totaling the fifth-highest team score in school history ... UCLA will close out the regular season on Saturday against Utah State.  It will be the last home meet for UCLA seniors Katelyn Ohashi, Brielle Nguyen and Macy Toronjo, as well as for Valorie Kondos Field, who is retiring at the end of the season after 29 years as head coach.

UTAH - Fueled by the excitement of Senior Day, the No. 4 Utes recorded their best score of the season and held off No. 8 Michigan, 197.975-197.350 in a top 10 battle in Salt Lake City on Mar. 2 ... Seniors MaKenna Merrell-Giles (9.925 on bars) ,Kari Lee (9.925 on bars), and Macey Roberts (9.925 on floor) made their Huntsman Center finale one to remember, all receiving career-highs in Utah’s win ... Mykayla Skinner won or tied for four titles, pushing her past 100 victories in her career.  Skinner’s 103 wins in just three seasons puts her at third in school history just behind Ashley Postell (120 total wins) and Theresa Kulikowski (112 total wins) ...  The crowd of 14,343 in the Huntsman Center on Saturday, Mar. 2 gave Utah its ninth all-women’s sports attendance title.  The Utes averaged 14,842 fans per meet this season, the fifth-best attendance record in school history ... Utah will face No. 8 Georgia on Saturday before heading to the Pac-12 Championships at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah.

WASHINGTON - The Washington GymDawgs took home four event titles and had their second-best team score of the year, putting up a 196.750 for the tri-met win over Sacramento State and Iowa.  Madison Copiak earned two event titles on bars (9.925) and beam (9.875), splitting her beam title with teammate Malory Rose.  Kristyn Hoffa also earned a title on floor (9.925) ... The GymDawgs also put up a 196.200 in a dual meet win over Southern Utah on Senior Day ... Copiak (vault, 9.850), Geneva Thompson (vault, 9.850), Maya Washington (bars, 9.875 and floor, 9.925), Hoffa (floor, 9.925), and Monica Riley (all-around, 39.150) all earned individual event titles ... Washington’s regular season will come to a close with a quad meet on the road as the Huskies take on UC Davis, Illinois, and Yale in Davis on Friday.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE 

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