UCLA gymnastics regroups after last-place finish in season-opening meet

Despite putting up their lowest score in nearly seven years, the Bruins remain optimistic, according to sophomore Chae Campbell.

“Once we show what we’ve been working on in the gym, we’re going to be unstoppable,” Campbell said.

UCLA gymnastics’ 194.850 was its lowest score since 2015, placing the team last in a tri-meet with Minnesota and No. 16 Iowa (2-0) on Monday. While the Bruins added the top-ranked freshman class in the country during the offseason and were ranked No. 8 in the preseason poll, their season-opening score places them 28th in the country.

Campbell said although the third-place finish was not the team’s desired outcome for the meet, its ultimate goals for the season have not changed.

“We know in order to get to where we want to be – which is nationals and being natty champs – that we’re going to have to push ourselves a little bit harder and lean on each other whenever things get harder,” Campbell said. “We all agreed to taking that next step and moving forward.”

The Bruins started their meet on bars where they posted a 48.300, their lowest score on the event since 2015. Freshman Ana Padurariu and sophomore Sara Ulias both fell, giving UCLA the need to count a fall. Senior Margzetta Frazier – the anchor in the rotation and a three-time All-American on bars – clipped her feet on the low bar to cap off the rotation.

Mistakes continued on beam during the ensuing rotation. Senior Kendal Poston fell and UCLA once again recorded a sub-49 score.

Coach Chris Waller said while mistakes will happen in meets, the Bruins need to be able to move past them as the meet continues.

“One of the shifts we need to make as a team is the ability to restart with the next person if there was a mistake as if nothing happened. And same thing on that next event – put in our best no matter what, every circumstance,” Waller said.

Padurariu was one Bruin who bounced back following a mistake during the meet. After falling on bars, she hit her leadoff beam routine in the next rotation, posting a 9.825 on the event she owns a World Championships silver medal in.

“I’m super proud of Ana for having that fall and being able to start us off on beam,” Campbell said. “That’s not an easy position to be in, especially as a freshman. She killed it.”

Waller added that while Padurariu said she is comfortable on beam, the freshman is still working on translating her practice success on bars to meets.

“She has a lot of confidence on that event, and she also shared with me that she’s not as confident yet on bars,” Waller said. “She hits good routines in practice, and it’s about figuring out that what we do in practice is what we just expect to do in the meet.”

Padurariu was one of four UCLA freshmen who made their NCAA debuts in the meet. Freshmen Jordan Chiles and Brooklyn Moors, who both competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, competed on two events apiece, while Olympic alternate and freshman Emma Malabuyo competed on every event but bars.

Campbell, who was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year a season ago, said she has been impressed with how the first-year Bruins have transitioned to the collegiate stage.

“I’ve been trying to kind of give them advice on how to manage training and college life,” Campbell said. “That’s kind of what I experienced last year, and I think that they’re doing a really great job handling all the pressure that it takes to be a collegiate athlete.”

With a meet against Oregon State up next on the schedule, Waller said the team’s strategy moving forward is to hone in on any barriers to success and create a plan to move past them.

“Each individual needs to figure out what it is that is blocking them from being their best – figure out how to either move that obstacle aside and move through it or dissolve it,” Waller said.