The Bruins kicked off their regular season in January with their worst score since 2015.
Less than two months later, the blue and gold closed out its campaign with its best back-to-back performances in three years.
“The goal is to be at our best at the end of the season,” said coach Chris Waller. “I would rather have it this way than the reverse.”
Riding a streak of three straight scores above 197, No. 18 UCLA gymnastics will begin its 2022 postseason run at the Pac-12 Championships at the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah on Saturday. After averaging a 196.625 through their first six meets of the year, the Bruins have averaged a 197.625 in their final three meets to conclude the regular season.
Senior Norah Flatley said improving as the season goes on has always been a staple of UCLA teams.
“We never start the year off the strongest and we always climb our way up,” Flatley said. “We’re going to continue with that incline and just put in the work every day in the gym and lean on each other and lean on ourselves and believe that we can be natty champs.”
The Bruins did just that a season ago, posting their highest score of the season in their NCAA regional final despite coming up short of a nationals appearance.
In 2021, UCLA came in third at the Pac-12 championships behind Utah and California. This season, the Red Rocks and Golden Bears will once again enter the competition as the highest-ranked squads in the eight-team field. The Bruins, however, will not go head-to-head with their top-ranked foes as they will instead compete in the early session of the competition as the fifth-ranked team in the Pac-12.
In addition to vying for the conference crown, UCLA will also have the chance to pick up individual titles after taking home four such awards a season ago. Sophomore Chae Campbell, a reigning individual conference champion, will also have the opportunity to repeat as the champion on floor after sharing the title with senior Pauline Tratz last year.
While Campbell has averaged a 9.992 on the event in her last three meets, featuring a pair of perfect 10s, she said her success hasn’t changed the way she approaches each competition.
“I don’t think that I’m really putting any more extra thought into it, like ‘I need to be perfect because I got a 10 last week or the week prior,’” Campbell said. “It’s more just basics and keeping up with that and also just having fun because that’s when we all do our best is when we’re just having fun.”
Multiple UCLA freshmen will also be contenders for individual titles Saturday, with Emma Malabuyo’s beam average of 9.935 over the last month putting her in the mix to win that event. Fellow freshman Jordan Chiles will be a favorite on multiple events as she boasts one of the top all-around scores in the nation this season.
Waller said while the freshmen have been integral to the Bruins’ success this season, they’re still acclimating to the collegiate level.
“When you go into a season counting on so many freshmen, any coach of any sport will say ‘OK, this is going to be a development year,’” Waller said. “And that’s absolutely true. Just because our freshmen are of the highest caliber, … they’re still freshmen, and they’re still learning how this new collegiate thing works.”
Students and athletes
One transition the first-year student-athletes have had to undergo is figuring out how to balance school and athletics. The Pac-12 Championships on Saturday come on the heels of UCLA’s finals week.
Malabuyo said staying organized has helped her stay afloat while managing the lofty demands of being a student-athlete.
“I always have a schedule in mind and I write everything down just to make sure I have time for everything and time when I rest and time when I study and gymnastics,” Malabuyo said.
Despite being in her fourth year with the program, Flatley said it’s still a challenge to prepare for the postseason while dealing with finals.
“Even being a senior, I’m still not used to it,” Flatley said. “I still have to pace myself (and) make sure I’m delegating time to everything just so I can not be exhausted in the gym. … It’s definitely even to the last year a learning curve and something you have to balance.”
The Bruins will begin the postseason – and their spring break – in the early session of the Pac-12 Championships at the Maverik Center at noon on Saturday.
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