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Kyla Ross, Katelyn Ohashi and Valorie Kondos Field
Kyla Ross, Katelyn Ohashi and Valorie Kondos Field

Ross, Ohashi, Kondos Field Claim Pac-12 Awards

March 24, 2019 | Gymnastics

UCLA won three of the four year-end Pac-12 Gymnastics awards for 2019. Junior Kyla Ross was named the Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year, senior Katelyn Ohashi repeated as the Pac-12 Specialist of the Year, and Valorie Kondos Field earned her fifth Pac-12 Coach of the Year award. All awards were voted upon by the conference's coaches prior to the start of the Championship meet.

Ross becomes UCLA's 19th Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year and first since Vanessa Zamarripa in 2013. The No. 1-ranked gymnast in the nation in the all-around, vault and uneven bars, Ross has been dominating in 2019, scoring a national-best 11 perfect 10s and recording a Gym Slam, with a 10 on every event this year. She has scored five 10s on bars, three on vault, two on floor and one on beam. Ross has twice posted the nation's top all-around score of 39.850 and has nine all-around victories this season, including her second-straight Pac-12 all-around crown. Ross also won the uneven bars and floor exercise titles with perfect 10s. She also dominated the Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week awards, winning a Pac-12 single-season record-tying seven, including a new conference record six in a row.

Ohashi gives UCLA three Pac-12 Specialist of the Year winners, all in the last three years (Ohashi in 2019 and 2018, Christine Peng-Peng Lee in 2017). The Pac-12 record-holder with 10 career Specialist of the Week awards, Ohashi captured six weekly awards this season, another record. Ohashi has scored six perfect 10s on floor in 2019, including one at the Pac-12 Championship to successfully defend her title. She also tied for the Pac-12 title on beam. Ohashi finishes the season ranked No. 1 nationally on floor with a National Qualifying Score of 10.0, becoming just the fourth gymnast in NCAA history to achieve a perfect NQS, and No. 2 on beam. She is a finalist for the AAI Award, which is presented to the most outstanding female senior gymnast in the nation.

Kondos Field has led UCLA to a 19-1 regular season record and No. 2 national ranking in her 29th and final season as head coach. The Pac-12 Gymnastics Coach of the Century announced her retirement following the season. Kondos Field's 2019 Bruins went undefeated in Pac-12 play and enter the postseason with a season average of 197.781 with four scores of 198+, including a national season-best 198.4 to win the Pac-12 title. She has led UCLA to all seven of its NCAA Championships, along with 15 conference and 19 NCAA Regional championships. In 29 seasons as head coach, she holds a career record of 535-121-3. This is her fifth conference Coach of the Year award in her career and first since 2012.