This post was updated Jan. 27 at 12:28 p.m.

No. 6 UCLA gymnastics has had a hot start to the year three meets into the 2023 season, but the Bruins have a long road to nationals ahead. Daily Bruin Sports’ gymnastics beat takes a look at what needs to go right for UCLA the rest of the way for the blue and gold to be a national title contender.

Sam Settleman
Sports editor

There’s no rotation more volatile than beam.

Six hits can separate a team from the field, while one miscue can spell disaster.

UCLA might know that better than anyone. When the Bruins won the NCAA championship in 2018, they posted a program-record 49.750 on beam to clinch the title.

But it’s been a different story in recent years. The Bruins ranked 19th on beam in 2021 and 12th in 2022. Through three meets this season, UCLA again sits at 12th in the nation in the event.

When UCLA posted its best team score since 2019 last year, it was in large part because the blue and gold notched its seventh-highest beam score in school history. As beam goes, the Bruins go.

2023 was supposed to be the year UCLA broke its dry spell, with an influx of talented beamers joining the program.

Sophomore Emily Lee placed eighth on beam at the 2021 United States Olympic Trials, while freshman Ciena Alipio earned the silver at the 2022 U.S. Championships. With 9.642 and 9.725 averages, respectively, both will need to find their footing and reach their full potential.

Meanwhile, Ana Padurariu has yet to compete on beam this season, but the sophomore posted four 9.900s on the event her freshman year and didn’t register a fall in 11 routines.

Once the Bruins get a few early hits from that trio, the recipe is simple. A solid two routines from some combination of freshman Selena Harris, sophomore Jordan Chiles and junior Chae Campbell with sophomore Emma Malabuyo – perhaps UCLA’s best beamer – anchoring.

Solidifying the early half of the lineup will be paramount to the Bruins’ ability to reach their 49.500-plus potential. But if UCLA can’t crack the top 10 on beam, any national championship hopes fly out the window.

Benjamin Royer
Daily Bruin contributor

Harris, Campbell and Chiles have represented the epitome of consistency for the Bruins.

UCLA needs its trio’s early-season success to continue to have a legitimate shot at making the NCAA championships and winning a national title.

Harris – the No. 1-ranked recruit in the nation this year – has scored above 9.900 on 11 of her first 12 collegiate routines. The Las Vegas native leads the Bruins with an average all-around score of 39.650, good enough to rank third in the nation.

Campbell was UCLA’s best all-around competitor in 2021, and with redshirt senior Margzetta Frazier healthy, the pressure seems to be less evident on the junior with depth ready to jump in around her.

As the Bruins’ rock on floor, Campbell is ranked second in the country with a 9.942 average score on the event.

Chiles burst back onto the scene at the Super 16 after competing elite during the collegiate offseason.

The former silver medalist at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics stumbled on beam and vault against Washington. However, the sophomore scored a 39.650 and 39.725 in the all-around in her first two meets.

Future meets depend on Harris, Campbell and Chiles stepping up and performing to the best of their abilities in the all-around.

Coach Janelle McDonald’s first year in Westwood may ultimately ride or die on the Bruins’ trinity.

Genevieve Trimbell
Daily Bruin reporter

UCLA has exceeded expectations so far with its best season opener since 2005 and its current No. 6 ranking in the nation after three weeks.

But the road to a national championship is a long one in college gymnastics. The championship meet is still nearly three months away, and the Bruins have 11 meets to get through before that day arrives.

In a sport like gymnastics that is both mentally and physically draining, the long stretch of weekly competitions is tough on the body and the mind. And though UCLA’s start has been strong, every team will face adversity at some point – whether it’s injuries, an unexpectedly bad performance or a natural dip in team morale.

A strong start is not always a predictive measure of what will become of a season. In the past four seasons in which a national championship was held, the No. 1-ranked team after three weeks has only won the title one time.

The Bruins have credited their new coaching staff and team chemistry for creating a supportive environment that will hopefully stay alive through the entirety of the season. But that remains a tall order for such a demanding sport.

And if UCLA’s early exit from the postseason in 2022 by a margin of 0.025 is any lesson, it’s that every routine counts until the very end.

Helene Barnfield
Daily Bruin contributor

Staying healthy can truly make or break a gymnastics program.

This has certainly been the case for the Bruins in the past, as injuries have hindered the team’s depth and postseason aspirations in the process.

With UCLA putting up big numbers so early in the season, it’s clear this team has both the talent and mentality to make a championship run this year.

The Bruins just have to remain healthy.

With gymnasts such as sophomore Brooklyn Moors and juniors Sara Ulias and Frida Esparza still fighting to come back from injury this season and Padurariu still nursing smaller injuries, it’s clear that staying healthy will be a top priority for the Bruins if they want to be a serious national title contender.

Early meets have highlighted this, as UCLA is just welcoming back key gymnasts such as Frazier, who is returning to the team after missing almost all of last season with a broken foot.

Lee and senior Chloe Lashbrooke are also just making their way back into the lineup following long-term Achilles injuries that kept both gymnasts sidelined for an extended period of time.

Therefore, with the grueling week-to-week grind of collegiate gymnastics in mind, it will be interesting to see how the Bruins approach injury prevention throughout the season.

McDonald already seems to be wary of that, making intentional decisions to rest some of her gymnasts week to week in order to limit injury and maintain her team’s depth for the season ahead.

That will be something to keep an eye out for during any potential title run, as UCLA is ready to showcase just how dangerous it can be.

Isabelle Friedman
Daily Bruin senior staff

The Bruins put out three meets to remember in their start to the 2023 season.

Yet each meet has ended in anticlimactic fashion, with UCLA’s fourth rotation scoring notably lower than the rest. The Bruins have averaged a 49.425 over their first three events but only 49.067 on the last rotation.

It doesn’t seem to matter the event, as they’ve concluded meets on both beam and vault so far, but the Bruins can’t seem to maintain enough momentum and stamina to finish a meet on a high point.

Perhaps this pattern will be broken Sunday when UCLA competes at home and ends the meet with its first floor party in Pauley Pavilion this year. But in order to find postseason success, the blue and gold has to be able to score well on its last rotation consistently, even when it’s not guaranteed the home-court advantage of ending on floor.

And history tells us the same.

At the 2018 NCAA championships, the Bruins were down 0.175 going into the fourth rotation. Five gymnasts had competed on beam, but the meet had still not been decided.

For the final routine of the rotation, anchor Christine Peng-Peng Lee needed to earn at least a 9.975 to clinch the championship.

She scored a perfect 10.

If the 2023 UCLA squad wants to recreate that moment of magic and secure its own place in the record books, the Bruins need to carry the same energy with them this season and finish meets just as strong as they’ve shown they can start them.