WESTWOOD—On Saturday, April 1, UCLA gymnasts qualified for nationals for the first time since 2019. The Bruins knew anything other than a top two finish would mean they would miss out on nationals for the third year in a row.
First up was uneven bars. An event exclusive to women’s gymnastics. UCLA scored 49.400. This was good enough to share second place with Missouri. Jordan Chiles was the stand out performer for UCLA in this event with a score of 9.975. Utah would hold a narrow lead going into the second event.
After scoring 49.325 on the beam, UCLA stood outside the bubble in third place. Utah and Missouri shared the lead with a score of 98.925. The Bruins were narrowly behind with a score of 98.725.
Next up was the floor. This is when UCLA decided to go full beast mode. Emma Malabuyo and Selena Harris both scored 9.9. Margzetta Frazier scored 9.950. Chae Campbell scored 9.95. Finally, Jordan Chiles scored a perfect 10. This meant the Bruins were back in the bubble in second place.
After the excellence on the floor the final event was vault. Margzetta Frazier and Emily Lee both started off with scores of 9.850. Canadian Olympian Brooklyn Moors then came in with her second straight 9.9 on vault. Selena Harris then took a leaf out of Chiles book and scored a perfect 10.
After the scores were tallied UCLA qualified for the NCAA Championship Semi-finals in second place. After equalling the high score of 2023 on Thursday, March 30, UCLA will be heading into nationals with a spring in their step.
The event will be held at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas on Thursday April 13 at 6 p.m. ESPN 2 will broadcast the semi finals.
