The UCLA gymnastics team rolls into Friday’s NCAA Regionals on a, well, roll.
Such can be said of the Bruins after they have dismantled all competition since Jan. 10. They have defeated 12 consecutive opponents and went 9-0 to claim the Big Ten regular-season title and the Big Ten Championships meet title.
Now the fourth-seeded Bruins head to Oregon for the NCAA Corvallis Regional second round, facing 13th-seeded Minnesota, unseeded Iowa and the winner of Thursday’s first-round matchup between San Jose State and Washington.
Led by All-American seniors Jordan Chiles and Ciena Alipio, UCLA (16-2) is aiming to advance to the Regional Final, followed by qualifying for the NCAA Championships, where last year the Bruins (197.6125) were the runner-up to Oklahoma (198.0125).
The Bruins, who have scored 197.500 or better in seven of their last eight meets, and the Sooners are the only teams this season to have scored more than 49.000 on every event in every meet.
Coached by Janelle McDonald, UCLA is coming off a dominant showing in winning its second Big Ten Championship meet in two years, recording a 198.100 team score on March 21 in Champaign, Illinois – second this season only to its 198.150 against Washington on Jan. 30 at Pauley Pavilion.
The Bruins captured all four events at the Big Ten meet, with Chiles tallying a conference-record 39.825 to win the all-around. Chiles also took the balance beam (9.950) and floor exercise (a 10.0 for the second year in a row) and tied for first on the uneven bars along with teammate Sydney Barros and four others (9.950). Riley Jenkins tied for first on vault with Minnesota’s Arianna Ostrum with a career-high 9.950.
The Bruins’ night session kicks off Friday at 7 p.m. (ESPN+). In the afternoon session, fifth-seeded Alabama, 12th-seeded Utah, Denver and host Oregon State will compete (1 p.m., ESPN+).
The top two teams from each session will advance to Sunday’s Regional Final. The top two teams from the Regional Final, along with the top individual all-arounder and event finishers on teams that do not qualify, will advance to the NCAA Championships from April 16-18 in Fort Worth, Texas.