It’ll be a taste of history – storied history – for the Bruins this weekend.
The crosstown showdown against the Bruins’ fiercest rivals, the Trojans, followed them to the Big Ten.
And though the Red Rocks made their own transition to the Big 12, Saturday will allow the longtime gymnastics rivals to push forward the past as No. 4 UCLA gymnastics (13-2, 9-0 Big Ten) faces No. 5 Utah (11-4, 6-0 Big 12) in Salt Lake City.
“The day that we announced we were going to the Big Ten, I got on a call with the head coach at Utah at the time and said, ‘We need to keep this West Coast thing going,'” said coach Janelle McDonald.
A dig through the annals of this rivalry would tell that Utah has gotten the better of UCLA in every dual meet since 2020. But recency bias would tell that the Bruins outscored the Utes just over a year ago at the Sprouts Collegiate Quad.
Utah and UCLA boast the second and third most national titles – and their rivalry can be traced back to the inception of collegiate gymnastics. When Utah joined the Pac-12 in 2011, the two programs went on to win a combined 11 conference titles before their respective exits in 2024.
The Red Rocks won the last four consecutively from 2021 to 2024, but the Bruins hold the most all-time titles from the now-bare conference with 19, dwarfing Utah’s seven. Despite the Red Rocks’ sign-off four-peat in the conference, they are 30 years removed from their last national title – UCLA is seven.
“We definitely want to beat Utah,” said senior Emma Malabuyo. “It is a cool rivalry to have and we are very competitive, and I know what we are capable of.”
For the first time, former Bruin Ana Padurariu will compete alongside McDonald’s squad – though this time adorning a Utah Red leotard. The junior transferred to Salt Lake City after deferring the 2024 season following her engagement to former UCLA men’s soccer player and MLS Real Salt Lake player Tommy Silva.
Before competing at UCLA, Padurariu was a member of the Canadian national team and won a silver medal on beam at the 2018 World Championships, edging out Team USA legend Simone Biles in the process.
In Westwood, the Canadian earned a team-high 9.855 beam average in 2022, and her 9.884 average on bars from 2023 would have led UCLA this year. Bars remains the Bruins’ lowest ranked event, ranked No. 9 nationally, and Padurariu’s move dug the hole even deeper.
Saturday’s meeting will mark the end of the regular season for UCLA after going undefeated since its season opener – and potentially on the cusp of its eighth national trophy.
“We put a placeholder on the end of the season because we thought that would be when the most competitive meet could happen,” McDonald said. “We need to focus on postseason, and I think this is a great environment to do that in.”
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