UCLA had been sent home by the smallest of margins at its 2022 regional final. The Bruins’ upset bid to make a return to nationals had come crashing down.

And when they returned to competition in January, they would be the underdogs again – a novel feeling for a program that had grown accustomed to life at the top of the mountain.

The Bruins turned to an unproven first-year head coach in Janelle McDonald and put a brand new staff around her. They landed at No. 10 in the preseason poll, on the outside looking in for a spot at the NCAA championships.

But month after month, UCLA continued to climb back up that mountain. McDonald’s Bruins had proven the preseason poll wrong, rising all the way to No. 4 in the nation by season’s end.

And yet, at its 2023 regional final, UCLA found itself in a spot that felt all too familiar. Needing a top-two finish to make it to nationals, the Bruins sat two-tenths out of second place at the halfway mark.

There they found themselves again – on the outside looking in.

“In the moment that we needed that the most, they leaned in,” McDonald said.

UCLA gymnastics punched its ticket to the NCAA championships for the first time since 2019 on Saturday. A two-tenths deficit turned into an over-three-tenths cushion by the end of the meet as the Bruins secured their return to the biggest stage in the sport.

“People see us as the underdogs, but we shine bright, very bright, throughout everything,” said sophomore Jordan Chiles.

The comeback kicked off with a season-best 49.700 on floor, capped off by a perfect 10 by Chiles that had Pauley Pavilion on its feet.

But there was still plenty of work left to be done. UCLA had vaulted into second place, with Missouri dropping to third. The Tigers, however, were just 0.050 behind with the Bruins rotating to the event that had hindered them all season.

Redshirt senior Margzetta Frazier led off on vault, competing in Pauley Pavilion for the final time in her career. Frazier scored a 9.850, which sophomore Emily Lee matched in the second spot.

Sophomore Brooklyn Moors matched a career high that she had set just two days prior with a 9.900 while junior Chae Campbell went 9.825, and UCLA had put itself in position to deal the knockout blow with freshman Selena Harris due up fifth.

“I knew I had to stay calm because if one person is a little tense, we could all feel it,” Harris said.

Harris landed her Yurchenko 1.5 with her arms raised high, her feet glued to the mat. The freshman had earned her first perfect 10, and the knockout punch to send the Bruins to nationals.

Chiles had to fan herself to calm down before anchoring, but she had no problem with her double twisting Yurchenko, a 9.900 that capped off a 49.500 for the rotation and clinched a second-place finish.

“We’ve all been telling each other, take that deep breath so we can all stay calm together, because we have to move as a unit,” Harris said. “There’s no one or the other, just got to move as one.”

Now, for the first time in four years, the Bruins will be moving on to the NCAA championships – as one.

UCLA has sent individuals to Fort Worth, Texas, each of the last two years but failed to qualify as a team, snapping a streak of 13 straight trips to nationals for the program in 2021 and missing the NCAA championships in back-to-back years for the first time in program history in 2022.

Before the meet Saturday, McDonald said she noticed her team seemed tight. Warmups hadn’t exactly gone to plan, and neither had the first two rotations, but the Bruins snapped back into place by the third event.

“The fight and the connection the team has really shined bright,” McDonald said. “There were a lot of emotions, but this team wanted to be at nationals so bad.”

UCLA is now one of just eight teams left standing. Defending champion Oklahoma will enter the NCAA championships as the favorite, but no team has separated itself from the pack in the regional round.

The Bruins’ score at their regional semifinal Thursday topped any other score posted at regionals over the weekend, and Chiles said she feels like the team still hasn’t reached its potential.

“We haven’t hit our peak and I feel like a lot of schools have,” Chiles said.

UCLA’s NCAA semifinal will feature No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 5 Utah and No. 9 Kentucky, with a top-two finish once again required to advance. The Bruins and Red Rocks have met on three occasions this season, and the latter have come out on top each time. For UCLA, defeating its conference rival may be the only path to the NCAA final.

“We’ll see who gets the last laugh,” Campbell said.