No. 2 UCLA gymnastics is finding its stride as it enters the second half of the season. The squad could be on a steady climb to the top throughout the remainder of its year. The Daily Bruin gymnastics beat breaks down what X-factor could send the Bruins to their eighth national title in April.

Floor party
Hannah Westerhold, Daily Bruin contributor

The Bruins have developed a long-lasting legacy on the floor.

UCLA hasn’t finished a season outside the top-15 national floor ranking since 2008. And five out of those 16 years, the squad landed the No. 1 spot.

While maintaining UCLA’s standard of floor routines might cause some to crack under the pressure, the 2025 floor squad has the potential to keep the Bruins’ 16-year streak alive.

The squad enters its third consecutive week holding the No. 1 national floor ranking and has sat comfortably within the top 10 all season.

The individual national floor rankings are also led by a tandem of Bruins, with junior Jordan Chiles landing the No. 1 ranking and graduate student Brooklyn Moors tied for No. 2.

Chiles and Moors are joined in the top 25 on the event by senior Emma Malabuyo at No. 14 and graduate student Chae Campbell at No. 22.

The Bruins’ 49.800 floor total against Michigan State on Feb. 1 remains the nation’s top floor score of the season – and was the score that initially boosted the squad to the leading ranking.

UCLA’s floor parties have helped lead the squad to the No. 2 national team ranking overall, and its floor squad could be the Bruins’ ticket to a national victory.

Trio of Olympians
Finn Karish, Daily Bruin contributor

Tokyo, Paris and soon Los Angeles.

Chiles, Malabuyo and Moors bring a taste of Olympic expertise to the Bruin lineup.

Junior Jordan Chiles – returning from her second Olympic games as a gold medalist– has propelled the Bruins with a pair of perfect scores on bars and floor, earning four Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honors in the process. The Houston, Texas, local is the only Bruin gymnast to average 9.800 or higher in every event this year.

Senior Emma Malabuyo competed for the Philippines in Paris, and the two-time balance beam All-American has brought that expertise back to Westwood. Her 9.914 beam average is a team best, and despite falling in her first floor routine of the season, she has since recorded only one mark fewer than 9.900.

Graduate student Brooklyn Moors has captivated audiences with her floor routines this season, boasting a nation-leading 9.939 average. The Canadian Olympian has also assumed a broader role in the lineups, adding vault and beam to her repertoire in her final year.

This trio showed its hand during the Bruins’ meet at Washington, averaging higher than a 9.900 mark across 10 individual routines.

The Bruins’ national championship hopes may ultimately rest on more of these Olympic-level performances as the squad heads into the latter half of the season.

Star freshmen
Samantha Garcia, Daily Bruin staff

A lack of collegiate experience has not slowed down UCLA’s newest roster additions.

Three freshmen have become regulars in the Bruins’ lineups this year. Macy McGowan and Mika Webster-Longin have competed on vault, bars and floor for UCLA throughout the season, while Riley Jenkins recently made her debut on vault Feb. 1 after coming back from an ankle injury she sustained in the preseason.

Pauley Pavilion witnessed the impact of the freshmen firsthand in UCLA’s comeback victory over then-No. 5 Michigan State. Jenkins nearly stuck the first vault of her career and notched a career-high 9.850. McGowan’s career-high 9.900 mark in the anchor spot contributed to the Bruins’ season-high total on the event.

But McGowan was not done yet. The 2024 Level 10 floor national champion notched a career-high 9.950 on the event – kickstarting a streak of 9.975 or higher scores used to upset the Spartans and put the Bruins at the top of national floor team rankings.

Webster-Longin has also contributed to the nation’s No. 1 floor rotation, posting a career-high 9.900 in the leadoff spot Feb. 14 against Penn State. Additionally, the Belgian national team member owns a career-high 9.900 on bars and 9.850 on vault.

The impact of UCLA’s freshmen trio suggests the Bruins have a promising future ahead.

Consistency is key
Aaron Doyle, Assistant Sports editor

Luck can guide a team to a victory.

But testing fate on a week-by-week basis isn’t sustainable.

UCLA gymnastics has proved its steadiness in 2025, posting six consecutive 197.000-or-higher team scores so far this season. The Bruins weren’t known for consistency last year, when they posted their highest score since 2004 six days after recording their season low in a 196.625-196.325 upset loss against Arizona State.

Coach Janelle McDonald’s squad hasn’t posted a score in the 196.000 range despite posting a season low 195.250 in its opening meet. UCLA fell victim to the rust and unlucky mistakes that placed it third behind former Pac-12 rivals Oregon State and California – but has since put that performance behind it.

Following its meet against Penn State, UCLA climbed to its highest ranking since 2019 and nabbed top-10 national rankings across all four events. Since Jan. 11, the Bruins have not scored below a 49.000 on any event and have averaged a nation-leading 49.518 figure on floor.

While the Bruins started off slow, they didn’t turn it into a habit. The squad capitalized on the high it established in the second week of competition and transformed that success into consistency.

Chiles is back
Ella Dunderdale, Daily Bruin contributor

The self-proclaimed “That Girl” has returned to Westwood.

And now with an Olympic gold medal under her belt, Chiles has set her sights on the next big challenge: a national team title.

Chiles rejoined the squad this season after deferring the 2024 season to train for the Olympics, helping the Bruins stake their claim on the Big Ten. The junior is the nation’s top floor worker and adds a 9.936 average to the No. 1 national ranking on the event – a title UCLA last held in 2023.

Chiles’ vault is an asset to the Bruins’ weakest event. With her 10.000 start value and 9.875 average, she is the squad’s highest-ranked vaulter – allowing her to bolster its 49.182 average and guide a lineup filled with freshmen.

She also notched the nation’s first perfect score of the year on bars, which helped give the team early momentum that has blossomed into a No. 5 national spot on the event.

Despite a truncated preseason, Chiles competed on all four events, averaging a 39.425 mark in the all-around – potentially positioning her for postseason contention.

With Chiles back in the Bruins’ arsenal, her presence may be what UCLA needs to have a shot at the national title.