Jordan Chiles powered the Bruins to a trip to the national stage two years ago. But without her in 2024, her team fell short.

Back in the lineup as a junior, she penned a different ending. 

After finishing the 2024 season at No. 17 – its lowest final ranking since 2006 – No. 5 seed UCLA gymnastics posted a 197.6125 total to claim the 2025 national runner-ups title Saturday at the NCAA finals at Dickies Arena. No. 2 seed Oklahoma clinched its first championship since 2023 with a 198.0125 while No. 7 seed Missouri and No. 4 seed Utah finished in third and fourth, respectively. 

“I didn’t think second place was going to sting as much as it does, but I think when you are in a competitive sport, getting so close, it does sting,” said coach Janelle McDonald. “But, if you had told me last year or even at the beginning of the season that we would finish in second, I would have been ecstatic. …  I look at the big picture, and I’m incredibly proud.”

The Bruins ended their first rotation in first place, tied with the Sooners at a 49.6125 total. Starting on floor, the back half of UCLA’s lineup delivered nothing less than a 9.925, with junior Jordan Chiles posting the highest score on the event of the day with a near-perfect 9.975.

“I was telling myself in my head, ‘Man, I wish you would have done that on day one,’” Chiles said. “Everything happens for a reason. This was all God’s work. At the very end, I always see that there’s a larger gift at the next thing you do in life.”

Receiving a perfect 10 from one judge, reigning national floor champion and graduate student Brooklyn Moors posted a 9.9375 – the highest score of the day up until that point. 

And in their last ever collegiate floor routines, graduate student Chae Campbell and senior Emma Malabuyo posted 9.925 and 9.875 marks to cap off their careers.

“This team has a lot of love and a lot of heart,” Campbell said. “I’m so glad I came back for a fifth year to experience it.”

UCLA’s hopes of a national trophy dimmed after the second event, vault. 

With a pair of 9.900 marks from Campbell and Chiles ending the rotation, the Bruins finished the event with a 49.2875 – their lowest vault total since March 15.

Freshman Macy McGowan vaulted for the time since March 22 and posted a 9.8375 in the fourth spot. The three-time Level 10 national champion followed up a trio of 9.825 marks from the Bruins’ first three on the event.

But while UCLA was on vault, Utah – known for its stellar beam work – posted a subpar 49.1875 on beam that wiped away the Red Rocks’ chances of winning, simultaneously allowing the Bruins to prevail over their rivals for the first time this season.

UCLA maintained its second place standing after the third rotation when it posted a 49.400 on bars – the squad’s highest total on the event during the postseason. Despite the record, Chiles was the only Bruin to score at least a 9.900.

The two-time NCAA bars champion led the way with a 9.9625, nailing her double layout dismount in the anchor spot. Malabuyo posted the Bruins’ second highest score with a 9.8875, while Campbell and Rosen contributed 9.8625 marks each.

“I’m honestly more proud (than her floor routine) of that I stuck my bars dismount for the last time,” Campbell said. “That was a big moment for me, so I don’t know when the next time I’m ever going to feel the love that I have for this team.”

Graduate student Frida Esparza posted her lowest score of the season in the fifth spot, posting a 9.7625 that was dropped from UCLA’s event total.

Ending on beam, the same event the squad ended on when it won it all in 2018, UCLA’s 49.3125 was led by a pair of 9.9375 marks from Chiles and Malabuyo. But wobbles from Rosen and Campbell in the second and fourth spot, respectively, nearly guaranteed a runaway win for the Sooners. 

“Beam has been an incredibly consistent event for us all year, and even today, even though it wasn’t perfect, they really fought,” McDonald said. “The culture of our team on beam now is to fight, to be aggressive and to be confident.”

Despite only posting one score above a 9.900, Oklahoma’s 49.375 bars rotation sealed its third national championship in four years after posting the day’s highest totals on beam and floor.

After a season-opening 195.250 positioned UCLA all the way at No. 12 nationwide, the Bruins soared to finish as national runner-ups. The Bruins – and a largely novel coaching staff – put the squad’s early struggles in the rearview as they posted their 15th consecutive team score of at least a 197.000.

“This is a new beginning of who the Bruins are,” Chiles said, “It’s not just one person that did it today … everybody was in it.”