Travel back in time.

2018 was defined by the wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Marvel’s box office hits and Beyoncé headlining Coachella.

But in the world of collegiate gymnastics, the Bruins were 2018’s most viral hit.

UCLA gymnastics stood at No. 3 in the nation at the end of the regular season. The squad held a Regional Qualifying Score of 197.840 and top-four rankings on each event. The Bruins also featured the nation’s No. 1 gymnasts on bars, beam and floor, anchored by sophomore Kyla Ross, redshirt senior Christine Peng-Peng Lee and junior Katelyn Ohashi, respectively.

The Bruins suffered only two losses during the season, falling to then-No. 3 Utah and then-No. 1 Oklahoma by just over two tenths cumulatively.

But past success holds little weight once the national championship arrives.

UCLA entered the Super Six facing Utah and Oklahoma once again, as well as LSU, Florida and Nebraska. The Bruins began on the floor as the No. 1 team in the nation and immediately landed in hot water.

Or rather, they fell into hot water.

Then-sophomore Kyla Ross fell on a tumbling pass, establishing a rocky beginning. While the team was able to pull together a 98.687 after finishing floor and vault, many Bruins did not have confidence they would leave St. Louis with a national title after the weak start.

“We were waiting in the locker room as other teams were out there on the floor, and emotions were down. We really wanted to win that meet that year, and we felt like that was the best shot we had,” said alumnus Grace Glenn, who was a redshirt freshman in 2018. “Everything was great leading up to that meet, and spirits were getting crushed. We were like, ‘We’ll be happy if we get third place.’ We didn’t think we had a shot at winning.”

The team prepared to enter its third rotation on bars – the event with UCLA’s RQS. Inconsistency had plagued the Bruins all season, and they needed a hit rotation to remain in contention.

Enter associate head coach Chris Waller.

“I remember Chris Waller came, and he just started yelling,” said Lee, who was a graduate student competing in her final collegiate meet at the 2018 national championships. “He’s like, ‘You have got to do it for each other, don’t worry about the scores.’ It really got us out of our heads. … We weren’t even worried about winning because we really thought we were out of the running.”

Although scores were no longer a concern for the Bruins, they became a complication for their competitors.

UCLA put up a season-high 49.637 on bars, recording four marks of 9.900 or higher. Sticky feet defined the rotation, which was capped off with a perfect 10 from Lee.

“We PR’d on bars,” Glenn said. “There were seniors that were competing on that rotation. We were seeing them do the best routine they’ve done in their entire career. Everyone was getting emotional because we were so happy for everyone hitting their routines.”

The Bruins entered the final rotation on beam still trailing. Glenn led off the Bruins with a 9.9375, with three of the next four Bruins securing a 9.875 or above.

Finally, Lee sealed the deal.

Needing a 9.975 to take the lead, she stuck the landing for her second perfect 10 of the night, pushing UCLA into first place.

“When we saw the 10, we were all just screaming,” Glenn said. “I don’t even remember at what point we realized that we won. I just remember looking up at the scoreboard, and we saw UCLA move up to the top spot. And we’re like, ‘Is that real?’”

And watching UCLA rise to the top of the championship scoreboard is a feeling the program hasn’t experienced since.

Eight years later, the 2026 Bruin squad is still hunting down another national championship title.

They are approaching the postseason in a similar fashion. The 2017 and 2025 champion was Oklahoma. In 2018, Ohashi went viral for her floor routine, and now senior Jordan Chiles has followed with viral moments of her own.

Getting to the championship is one thing, but winning it is another. UCLA came in second last season, falling to Oklahoma by four tenths. They will have to keep their eyes on the prize.

“After we won Pac-12 championships, we wanted to celebrate,” Glenn said about the 2018 season. “We were all going to BJ’s for dinner that night, so we’re all like, ‘Let’s get Pizookies.’ Everyone was ready to celebrate that night. But then our nutritionist put his foot down. … We were all so mad at him. And he was like, ‘No, we wait till the end result, then we can celebrate.’”

When the end results were in, the wait may have been worth it for the Bruins. And the same drive that got the 2018 team through the successful end of their Pizookie-less season is clear in the current squad.

Chiles has openly expressed her ambition to complete the gym slam and achieve a perfect 10 on every event, as well as take the record for most 10s in the NCAA. Five meets into the season, she has already reached perfection thrice on floor and once on vault.

And the team has been consistently improving, with several newcomers already competing in multiple events, including freshman Tiana Sumanasekera in the all-around.

Growth and ambition also come with a lot of media attention. While it can serve as motivation, it also can be a large distraction. And the media around gymnastics was just picking up in 2018.

“A lot of our teammates were going viral at the time, and the best thing we had was our coaches,” Lee said. “Chris Waller and Miss Val (coach Valorie Kondos Field) taught us a lot of Bruin philosophies, and that’s the whole reason why a lot of us came to UCLA. The outside noise is the outside noise. It’s what you can control. You have all your Bruin sisters to lean on.”

That reliance on one another has remained central all season. With widely recognized support from the coaches and open support from the athletes, the “Bruin bubble” has cultivated a family of inclusivity.

And that “Bruin bubble” helped to lock in the 2018 championship.

“We stayed within our Bruin bubble, and then we just really had fun,” said Ohashi after the championship victory in an interview with UCLA Athletics. “It was nothing we haven’t done before – besides hit all our routines in one day – so that was really something powerful. We knew that’s all we needed to go out and do, and it came at the right moment.”

Staying a part of the team and working together worked in 2018 and seems to be a key theme of the advice passed down to the current squad.

Alumni agree that environment is a key aspect of success.

“Really focus on your teammates, your coaches, staff, everyone that’s helping you,” Glenn said.

Only time will tell if this year’s squad has what it takes to bring home another national championship – eight years after the last.