A No. 10 spot in the Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association preseason coaches poll seemed to be a misjudgment.

Now, the Bruins stand just one spot away from the top.

“We’re just really proud, we’re excited about where the team’s at,” said coach Janelle McDonald. “We’re a team that can compete with anybody in the country.”

UCLA gymnastics last owned a No. 2 national ranking in 2019 – Valorie Kondos Field’s 29th and final season as head coach. Kondos Field was known for her holistic approach to coaching, prioritizing her athletes’ successes on and off the floor.

And this year, the squad’s internal connection could be its ticket to a national title.

“The love for our teammates, you can see it,” said senior Emily Lee. “People that watch it through TV have texted me and been like, ‘You guys have something special this year,’ and it’s really true. This is the closest team I’ve ever been on.”

The switch to collegiate gymnastics can be a difficult adjustment for newcomers, but this year’s freshmen have appeared unfazed.

Freshmen Mika Webster-Longin, Macy McGowan and Riley Jenkins have all broken into the vault lineup with the trio making up half of the event rotation against Penn State on Feb. 14.

The freshmen have even outperformed the team’s veterans with Webster-Longin’s career-high 9.850 marking the highest vault score of the night.

But the veterans have also had their fair share of vault victories this season. Even with a 9.950 start value, graduate student Chae Campbell’s Yurchenko full has notched UCLA’s highest vault score at three meets this season.

“If you have a Chae vault and you stick it, I don’t care if it’s a 9.950 start value,” McDonald said. “I care less about the start value, more about the execution.”

That mentality appears to work for the Bruins, who sit at No. 7 in the national vault rankings – the squad’s best on the event since 2020.

Bars has also played a significant role in the Bruins’ rise. The squad jumped 10 spots in the national rankings on the apparatus last week after a season-high 49.575 event total, landing UCLA its first top-five spot on bars this year.

Graduate student Frida Esparza nabbed a career-high 9.975 last weekend, earning the No. 3 national bars ranking as a result – the highest rank of any Big Ten gymnast on the event. Esparza’s consistency has improved this season, growing from last season’s bars average by over .100.

But consistency has not always been kind to the Bruins. Last season, UCLA marked its lowest and highest beam totals at consecutive meets and posted three event totals less than 49.000.

“In past years, it’s been this roller coaster of a battle,” Lee said. “We were just not the most consistent bunch.”

This season, the beam squad has yet to dip lower than a 49.000 and sits at the No. 3 national rank. Lee has proved to be a pillar in UCLA’s newfound stability, leading off last week’s beam rotation with a season-high 9.925.

On floor, the Bruins climbed the rankings every week until reaching the top in week five – and they haven’t left.

UCLA currently sits at the top of the nation’s floor rankings, with junior Jordan Chiles in the individual No. 1 spot and graduate student Brooklyn Moors at No. 2. Apart from the first meet of the season, Chiles hasn’t scored less than a 9.950 and notched a perfect score Feb. 1 against then-No. 5 Michigan State.

UCLA is converting its connection into victories this season. And while the Bruins are proud of their climb, they know the trek isn’t over yet.

“It’s just a ranking,” McDonald said. “We still have a lot of work to do.”