UCLA gymnastics ends season with 3rd-place finish at NCAA Raleigh Regional

This post was updated April 3 at 11:32 p.m.

With one rotation to go, the Bruins held a 0.425 lead over third place and looked bound for the NCAA championships.

By the end of the final rotation, that lead had slipped – until a 9.975 from freshman Emma Malabuyo put the blue and gold back into second place with one score left to be submitted.

“It felt like the team understood how close things were at this point,” said coach Chris Waller. “My gut was feeling something different than what played out in the numbers.”

Missouri’s Amari Celestine needed a 9.925 to take back the lead, and with one of her feet seemingly out of bounds – a 0.100 deduction – UCLA was poised to move on. Instead, the judges didn’t flag an out-of-bounds deduction, giving Celestine a 9.925 and vaulting the Tigers into second place.

“I looked into the matter, (but) the reality is that our rules state that you can only put in an inquiry on your own scores, not another team’s score evaluation,” Waller said. “There’s nothing that can be done about it. That’s just how it is.”

No. 14 UCLA gymnastics saw its season come to a close at the NCAA Raleigh Regional on Saturday, with the final routine pushing No. 11 Missouri into the second spot behind No. 3 Michigan and allowing the Tigers to join the Wolverines in advancing to the NCAA championships. The Bruins sat either alone or tied atop the leaderboard through three rotations.

“It is what it is at the end of the day,” said senior Norah Flatley. “We can’t change anything now. We can only move on and get stronger.”

Senior Sekai Wright led off the opening rotation for UCLA on floor, competing in the event for the first time in three meets. Wright posted a 9.675 after stumbling on her last pass, leaving the Bruins needing to hit the next five routines to avoid counting the score.

In the second spot, freshman Brooklyn Moors received a 10 from one judge and ultimately attained a final score of 9.875. The rest of the Bruins’ floor lineup all earned 9.900-plus scores.

Senior Pauline Tratz posted a 9.900 after failing to score higher than a 9.750 in the previous three meets. Freshman Jordan Chiles and sophomore Chae Campbell anchored the rotation with scores of 9.925 and 9.950, respectively.

“No matter what, when we step onto the floor, we always have a floor party,” Chiles said. “It gives us the energy to be going into the meet and then also ending the meet. No matter what, we’re still going to have that hype energy.”

Overall, UCLA posted a 49.550 on floor, leading second-place Michigan by 0.300 after the first rotation.

After bouncing back from a 49.025 on vault at the Pac-12 championships with a 49.400 on the apparatus Thursday, the Bruins opened their vault rotation Saturday with a 9.800 from Flatley and 9.775 from Malabuyo. 

Chiles added her sixth 9.900-plus score on the event in her last seven meets before Wright stuck her Yurchenko full, earning a season-high 9.900. Campbell, who has posted two perfect vault scores this season, received a near-perfect 9.925 to anchor the rotation.

The Bruins scored a 49.325 on the rotation and continued to lead the field at the halfway point of the meet.

“I’m really proud of how we started out the meet and fought all the way through,” Waller said.

After tying its season-high 49.475 on bars Thursday, UCLA nearly matched that score with a 49.400 on what has been its worst apparatus this season – all six Bruins scored at or above a 9.800.

Chiles, who tied for the top bars score of the meet Thursday with a 9.950, reached that mark again Saturday, receiving a 10 from one judge. Flatley anchored the rotation with a 9.900 as UCLA moved into a tie with Michigan for first place.

With one rotation to go, the Bruins led the third-place Tigers by 0.425.

“At that point we just wanted to go into our last rotations with ‘Hurrahs’ and ‘Let’s do this’ and ‘It’s a party,’” Chiles said.

While freshman Ana Padurariu led off beam with a 9.800, the following three Bruins each failed to surpass that score, posting a pair of 9.750s and a 9.775.

Senior Samantha Sakti bounced back with a 9.825 on beam, leaving one routine each for UCLA and Missouri.

Malabuyo anchored the rotation with a near-perfect 9.975 to put the Bruins briefly back on top, but Celestine’s 9.925 on floor sealed a season-ending third-place finish for the Bruins.

“It’s been a really hard year,” Flatley said. “I’m proud of myself in how I led the team to the best of my abilities physically (and) emotionally. And I’m proud of the girls who were so dedicated the entire season.”