This post was updated March 21 at 7:05 p.m.

CHAMPAIGN – Jordan Chiles is the Big Ten all-around champion.
But that was not all the senior accomplished Saturday, taking home the floor, beam and co-bars titles, as well as earning Big Ten Gymnast of the Year honors.
The Houston local topped it off with her signature – yet another perfect 10.

With Chiles’ 39.825 all-around tally, No. 5 UCLA gymnastics won its second consecutive Big Ten Championship with a score of 198.100 Saturday at State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois. The Bruins competed head-to-head with No. 10 Michigan, No. 11 Michigan State and No. 13 Minnesota. 

“Being able to wear this medal around your neck, or even getting the award of being a Big Ten winner, definitely makes you so motivated,” Chiles said. “I can’t wait for even bigger wins at the very end of season.”

Chiles’ 17th-career perfect 10 came on floor, leading the Bruins to a 49.675 total – their second-highest mark this season.

The final four athletes in the lineup tied their career-high scores. Freshman Ashlee Sullivan matched her career-high 9.950 mark, while freshman Tiana Sumanasekera and sophomore Mika Webster-Longin earned a pair of career-high-tying 9.925s.

“The biggest thing is leaning on each other and trusting one another and just to have fun in the moment,” Chiles said. “And that’s what we did. Once we started the first rotation, we said ‘We’re only going up from here,’ and that’s what we did.”

The rotation, however, lacked early momentum. Senior Ciena Alipio stepped out of bounds after a tumbling pass and earned an automatic one-tenth deduction, en route to a 9.725.

On vault, sophomore Riley Jenkins tied for the conference crown, sticking her landing and earning a career-high 9.950. The mark was followed by Chiles, who notched a 9.925.

“I’ve cried so many different times,” Jenkins said. “I didn’t even know I got first. It was just getting the career high and sticking it again for the third week in a row. I was like, ‘This is incredible,’ … What a dream come true.”

The Bruins added an extra 10.0 start value to the vault lineup Saturday, as Katelyn Rosen and her Yurchenko 1.5 returned to the rotation for the first time since Feb. 22 in place of senior Madisyn Anyimi. The junior earned a 9.825 with a small hop on her landing.

Webster-Longin tallied a 9.875, while Sullivan and Sumanasekera earned a pair of 9.850 marks. The Bruins earned a 49.450 total on the apparatus – just 0.025 away from their season-high.

In a last-minute switch, Sumanasekera swapped in for Alipio to lead-off bars, sticking the landing and notching a 9.875 for her first bars routine since Feb. 27. The addition of bars put Sumanasekera into the all-around, where she nabbed a career-high 39.575 – tying for second place.

Freshman Nola Matthews logged a 9.875. Webster-Longin jumped into a death drop following her stuck landing, matching her season-high 9.900 mark. Junior Sydney Barros stuck her landing as well, nabbing a career-high 9.950. Chiles matched the same mark – tying for the bars championship crown.

“I feel like everything that I’ve worked for has finally come into fruition, and this is just a reflection of what I’ve been doing inside and out of the gym,” Barros said.

The Bruins secured a 49.550 on bars – yet another mark just 0.025 below their season-high.

UCLA began the affair on beam, recording a 49.425. Rosen led off with a steady-paced routine and nearly stuck the landing, notching a 9.850. Barros and Webster-Longin followed suit with a pair of matching 9.850s – the latter’s best beam mark since Jan. 17. 

Sumanasekera earned the first beam stick of the rotation, securing a 9.925 for her third consecutive score at or above 9.900. Chiles continued the momentum with another stuck landing and her second 9.950 in as many weeks to secure the conference beam title. 

“(Jordan) wasn’t fixating on the little details, scores,” said coach Janelle McDonald. “She was focusing on ‘How do I show up and make sure that I’m doing the routine I can to help my team today.’”

McDonald took home an award of her own Saturday evening, winning Big Ten Coach of the Year for the second year in a row.

Alipio – the reigning conference beam champion who secured the first perfect 10 of her career on beam at the event last year – displayed a rare sight of vulnerability. After the senior completed her trio of acrobatic jumps, she lost her footing and fell off the apparatus, earning a season-low 9.050 that was dropped from the squad’s cumulative tally. It marked Alipio’s first sub-9.900 beam score of the season.

“Our team absolutely had Ciena’s back today in the moments that didn’t go perfectly,” McDonald said. “To have a day like this, it’s not very characteristic of her, but it does happen. …  I know Ciena is going to turn the page and be ready to go for regionals for us – and with a fire under her.”