Top-5 showdown in Utah ends in defeat for UCLA gymnastics
Sophomore Jordan Chiles smiles after finishing a bars routine. Chiles tallied a 39.775 in the all-around Friday night, but No. 5 UCLA gymnastics couldn’t keep pace with No. 4 Utah in Salt Lake City. (Kaiya Pomeroy-Tso/Daily Bruin senior staff)
Gymnastics
No. 5 UCLA | 197.450 |
No. 4 Utah | 198.200 |
By Benjamin Royer
Feb. 3, 2023 8:38 p.m.
This post was updated Feb. 5 at 10:32 p.m.
Jordan Chiles was under the weather Friday night but ended on top of the scoreboard.
“The first thing we thought about was Michael Jordan’s flu game,” said redshirt senior Margzetta Frazier. “I was just like, ‘This is your flu game, Jordan. This is how it’s supposed to be.’”
The sophomore notched a 39.775 in the all-around – and her second all-around title of the campaign – to help lead the Bruins to their second-best score of the season.
Despite No. 5 UCLA gymnastics’ 197.450 and a season high on beam in Salt Lake City, No. 4 Utah took a second-rotation lead and only kept building, winning the meet with a 198.200 and a 0.750 advantage over the blue and gold.
“I knew she (Chiles) was not feeling well – like, at all – this whole trip,” said freshman Selena Harris. “Seeing her push herself so that we can be a great team was, I think, the best part that stood out to me.”
Chiles set the stage for the meet, anchoring the Bruins’ first rotation and scoring a 9.950 on bars to begin her night.
But before the eventual all-around winner competed, sophomore Ana Padurariu earned the Bruins’ first 9.900 score of the meet. Harris scored a 9.925, and UCLA jumped out to a slight 0.025 lead over Utah after scoring a 49.400 on bars.
Chiles stuck her double-twisting Yurchenko vault for a career-high 9.975 score during the second rotation. The Olympic silver medalist’s attempt was the highest of the Bruins’ vaults, with only Harris also scoring above a 9.800.
Junior Chae Campbell – who had competed in every meet since coming to Westwood in 2021 – did not participate in Friday night’s meet, a decision coach Janelle McDonald said was due to a family emergency.
Campbell had scored a 9.900 or higher on three of her four vaults in 2023, with her absence providing freshman Clara Wren an opportunity to make her competitive collegiate debut.
Freshman Maddie Anyimi and Frazier both scored 9.775s on vault. The former competed on three events for the first time in her collegiate career, contributing to UCLA’s 49.150 on vault.
McDonald said Wren and Anyimi’s entrance into the lineups was important for the Bruins.
“Both of them are athletes that come into the gym every day, work really hard. They’re super coachable, and they just want to get better,” McDonald said. “For Clara to be able to go out and not just compete in the lineup but be able to upgrade to her 10.0 start value vault today was really huge.”
UCLA ranked second in the nation on floor heading into the meet but scored a season-low 49.300 on the event. Chiles led the Bruins with a 9.950, but Harris scored below a 9.900 on the event for the first time this season, receiving a 9.875 after a 9.800/9.950 split from the judges.
“The scores, I’m a little kind of confused about how they got them,” Harris said. “But at the same time, Utah is at home, and I knew they were going to score us a little harder.”
Frazier added a 9.875 to the Bruins’ floor score, while sophomore Emma Malabuyo scored a 9.850.
Beam had been UCLA’s lowest-ranked event coming into the night, as they counted a fall on the apparatus in their last meet. On Friday, however, the Bruins flipped the script.
Sophomore Emily Lee, freshman Ciena Alipio and Harris notched career highs on beam en route to the Bruins’ season-high 49.575 on the event to close the meet.
Harris and Malabuyo led the way for the blue and gold on beam, each scoring a 9.950 before the night came to a close. Chiles finished off her all-around-winning performance with a 9.900.
“What we saw tonight on beam is really pretty replicated of what we see every day in practice,” McDonald said. “I was excited for them to be able to have that moment where they got to really celebrate how great they are on that event.”
UCLA’s season-high beam rotation proved not enough to overcome Utah, which earned the best beam score in the country this season and a school record with a 49.775. The Red Rocks joined Michigan and Oklahoma as the only teams to score above a 198 this year.
Frazier said she loves competing at Utah and the memories flooded back in her final meet at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.
“I love Utah because it is a tough meet,” Frazier said. “But we always put on such a show. The Utah fans and the Utah staff never let us forget how much they respect us as competitors – win or lose. … It’s a true rivalry, a respectful one.”
The Bruins will return to action Feb. 11 at Pauley Pavilion to continue Pac-12 action when UCLA hosts Arizona State.