Gymnastics Hosts California Sunday at Noon
#17 UCLA vs. #8 California
Sunday, March 6, 2022 – 12 pm PT
Los Angeles, Calif. (Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom)
MEET COVERAGE
TV: Pac-12 Network
TV Talent: Jim Watson, Amanda Borden
Live Stats: wi
BRUINS HOST PAC-12 LEADER CALIFORNIA ON SUNDAY
No. 17 UCLA (3-6, 2-4 in Pac-12 play) will host No. 8 California (6-1, 5-1) on Sunday, Mar. 6 at Noon with a chance to play spoiler in the conference standings. California has clinched a share of the Pac-12 Conference regular season title and could win it outright with a victory over UCLA. A Bruin victory coupled with wins by Arizona State and Oregon State on Friday could make all three, along with Utah, co-champions. Sunday's meet between UCLA and Cal will be televised live on Pac-Network at 12pm. Doors open at 11am. UCLA will be welcoming back gymnastics alumni to Pauley Pavilion and introducing them after the fourth rotation.
IMPORTANT FAN ATTENDANCE INFORMATION
Fans wishing to attend UCLA indoor athletic events must provide proof of fully-vaccinated status or one of the following negative test results: Antigen test administered within one day of event OR PCR test administered within two days of event (all guests, age 2 and older). Fans over the age of 18 will also need to show a valid ID along with their proof of vaccination or negative test result. Face coverings will be required for all individuals aged 2 or older, regardless of vaccination status, at all times unless actively eating or drinking.
LAST TIME OUT
UCLA jumped out to a huge lead after the first rotation and never looked back, hitting 24-for-24 in a 197.125-194.300 home victory over Washington on Feb. 27. Bruin sophomore Chae Campbell, the reigning Pac-12 floor exercise co-champion, capped the day with a perfect 10 on floor exercise to close the meet, the first perfect score of her young career. She finished the day with a meet-winning all-around score of 39.575, a new season-high. Campbell also won vault with a 9.925. UCLA freshman Emma Malabuyo recorded two event wins as well. She tied for first on uneven bars with teammate Norah Flatley, with each scoring 9.875, and tied for first on balance beam with a score of 9.900. Malabuyo tied with Jordan Chiles for second place in the all-around with scores of 39.375.
CAMPBELL EARNS FIRST PERFECT 10
Sophomore Chae Campbell recorded the first perfect 10 of her career, hitting perfection on her floor exercise routine on Feb. 27. Her dancehall routine was highlighted by a stuck full-in opening pass and perfect double tuck to close. Campbell became the 34th Bruin to score a perfect 10 and the 18th to do so on floor. She joins teammate Jordan Chiles as the only Bruins to score a 10 so far this year. Campbell does have one other perfect score to her credit, though, a perfect 9.95 on vault for her Yurchenko layout full at Cal on Mar. 6, 2021.
FLATLEY NOMINATED FOR AAI AWARD
Senior Norah Flatley is one of 35 nominees for the AAI Award, presented to the nation's top senior gymnast. Flatley has competed in the all-around four times this season and on at least three events in every meet, posting career-best marks this year of 39.525 in the all-around and 9.850 on vault. She is ranked 17th in the nation on uneven bars with a NQS of 9.895. After missing the entire 2021 regular season with an ankle injury, she has made a triumphant and healthy return in 2022, with top marks of 9.950 on uneven bars, 9.925 on floor exercise, 9.900 on balance beam and 9.850 on vault. Prior to this season, Flatley had only competed all-around once, in her second collegiate meet in 2019, and vault twice, in the first two meets of 2019. Flatley was an All-American on uneven bars in 2019, a three-time All-Pac-12 selection (2020 beam, 2019 bars and beam) and a 2021 WCGA Scholastic All-American.
CHILES ACHIEVES RARE PERFECTION FOR FRESHMAN
Jordan Chiles' perfect 10 on floor exercise Feb. 4 was UCLA's first 10 since Kyla Ross on vault vs. Cal on Mar. 8, 2020 and the program's first on floor exercise since Gracie Kramer vs. Washington on Jan. 31, 2020, a meet that Chiles attended. Chiles' perfect 10 on uneven bars a week later was the first by a Bruin on that event since Ross did it at BYU on Jan. 18, 2020. Chiles, a 2020 Olympic medalist, is the first UCLA freshman to score a perfect 10 on any event since Ross on beam in 2017. The last Bruin freshman to score a 10 on floor was Tasha Schwikert in 2005, and the last UCLA rookie to score a 10 on bars was Ross at Utah on Feb. 18, 2017.
FRESHMEN MAKING BIG CONTRIBUTIONS
UCLA's heralded freshman class is making big contributions so far this season, with 47% of the Bruins' routines (79 of 168) coming from that class alone. Emma Malabuyo has competed 25 routines, tied with senior Norah Flatley for most on the squad. Malabuyo has been consistently delivering strong routines all season, starting with a 39.100 in her all-around debut at Oregon State Jan. 23, improving to a third-place mark of 39.250 against Arizona and then finishing third again at Stanford and at ASU with career-best marks of 39.475. She tied for second in the all-around last week against Washington with a 39.375 and won two events - bars and beam. Malabuyo averages 9.775 or higher on every event and has season-high marks of 9.925 on beam, 9.9 on floor and 9.875 on vault and bars. She has scored 9.9 on beam in three consecutive meets. Jordan Chiles is just behind Malabuyo with 24 routines competed and has gone all-around in her last five meets. She has an all-around season average of 39.345 and a high of 39.700 (vs. Utah) and averages over 9.77 on every event, including a high of 9.915 on floor. Chiles has two perfect 10s to her credit already, on bars and floor, and holds season-highs of 9.9 on vault and beam. She leads all Bruins with 10 scores of 9.900 or higher. Ana Padurariu has been the ultimate leadoff performer on balance beam for the Bruins, scoring 9.900 three times in six meets and averaging a team-best 9.846 on the event. Brooklyn Moors has top marks of 9.9 on floor (including two consecutive), 9.875 on beam and 9.85 on vault.
BRUINS ARE BEAMING
UCLA's highest-ranked event this year has been balance beam, as the Bruins stand at No. 12 nationally with a 49.185 NQS. The Bruins, who hold a season average of 49.168 on beam, have a season-high of 49.325 and have not scored lower than 48.925 this season. Leading the way for UCLA on beam, literally, has been freshman Ana Padurariu. The Bruins' usual leadoff performer, Padurariu has posted three scores of 9.900 and a season average of 9.846. The leadoff position has been great for the Bruins, as senior Norah Flatley most recently scored 9.875 at ASU in the one spot. Senior Samantha Sakti has UCLA's highest single score of the season on beam with a 9.95 at Stanford. Her score included a perfect 10 from one judge. Freshman Emma Malabuyo also has a 10 from one judge, finishing with a final score of 9.925 vs. Arizona - and has scored 9.900 in her last three meets. Eight different Bruins have scored 9.9 or higher on beam this season - Chae Campbell, Chiles, Flatley, Malabuyo, Moors, Padurariu, Kendal Poston and Sakti.
FLOOR SQUAD MAKES STATEMENT
UCLA's floor squad made a big statement against Utah on Feb. 4, scoring a season-high 49.600 with four scores of 9.925 or higher - 10.00 from Jordan Chiles and 9.925s from Norah Flatley, Pauline Tratz and Chae Campbell. The Bruin floor routines are an impeccable mix of showmanship, artistry and diverse and difficult tumbling. Each Bruin in the lineup against Utah tumbled a different opening pass - Flatley with a triple full, Sekai Wright with a 2.5 twist/punch front, Brooklyn Moors with a front handspring double front, Tratz with a double pike, Chiles with a double layout and Campbell with a full-in. Two floor workers have scored perfect 10s - Chiles on Feb. 4 and Campbell on Feb. 27. UCLA floor routines have been receiving much attention online, with Wright's DMX tribute and Chiles'perfect 10 routine each receiving over a million views on social media, and Samantha Sakti's floor routine set to BTS' "Mic Drop" hitting over 100k views.
COUNT ON CAMPBELL
Sophomore Chae Campbell continues to be UCLA's go-to gymnast meet in and meet out. The three-time All-American and 2021 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year has hit all 22 of her routines this season, with 12 going 9.85 or higher and all 22 scoring 9.7 or higher. On vault, she has scored 9.900 or higher in five out of six meets and in her last four. Campbell has not missed a routine since the first meet of the 2021 season, a fluke fall on uneven bars. Since then, she has hit 66 consecutive routines without a fall.
SUPER SENIORS RETURN
The Bruins regained the services of fifth-year seniors Kendal Poston and Pauline Tratz when the pair opted to return for an extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their leadership and experience will be a huge asset for a Bruin team that has six freshmen and just five athletes who have competed at the NCAA Championships. Poston and Tratz are the last remaining Bruins from their last NCAA Championship squad in 2018. Poston, a three-time Scholastic All-American, competed on vault and beam in every meet in 2021 and has career-high marks of 9.9 on those two events. She has scored 9.900 on beam in her last two meets and earned her first career individual beam title, tying for first at Arizona State. Tratz, the 2021 Pac-12 Gymnastics Scholar-Athlete of the Year, earned All-Pac-12 honors on floor in both 2018 and 2021 and earned a share of the Pac-12 floor title last season. Tratz's top marks are 9.95 on floor, 9.925 on vault and 9.775 on bars. She earned a team-best 9.875 on floor to place fourth at Oregon State (Jan. 23) and scored a season-high 9.925 on floor against Utah (Feb. 4), with one of the two judges issuing a perfect 10 on the routine, and against Washington (Feb. 27).
FROM TOKYO TO WESTWOOD
Before arriving to Westwood for their freshman season, a trio of Bruins spent part of their summer in Tokyo at the 2020 Olympics. Jordan Chiles, who deferred enrollment two seasons to pursue her Olympic dream after originally signing her national letter of intent in November 2018, made her dream a reality by being selected to the U.S. team in June 2021 after third-place finishes and eight-for-eight performances at both the U.S. Championships and the Olympic Trials. Chiles memorably stepped in unexpectedly with hit routines on bars and beam during the team final in place of teammate Simone Biles, who was unable to compete. Emma Malabuyo deferred enrollment for a year after the Olympics were delayed, and her UCLA postponement also paid off, as she was named an alternate for the U.S. squad after a fourth-place showing at the U.S. Championships and a ninth-place finish at the Trials. Brooklyn Moors redshirted in 2021, enrolling remotely while she continued to train in Canada for the Olympics. She qualified for the all-around final at the Olympics, finishing 16th overall. Also joining the three freshmen in Tokyo was UCLA alumna Danusia Francis, who represented Jamaica as an individual competitor.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN BEARS
California enters the meet ranked No. 8 in the nation and atop the Pac-12 standings with a 5-1 league record. The Golden Bears were unbeaten until last weekend, when Arizona State handed them their first loss of the season. Three Cal gymnasts are ranked in the Top 20 nationally - No. 6 Andi Li, No. 11 Maya Bordas and No. 19 Nevaeh DeSouza. Li is the younger sister of UCLA All-American Anna Li, who helped lead the Bruins to the 2010 NCAA Championship.