Every college gymnast dreams of achieving a perfect score.
The dream becomes even stronger when a conference title is on the line. But that dream became a reality for Brooklyn Moors in the most pressure-filled moment of the year thus far.
Led by a trio of perfect scores, No. 5 UCLA gymnastics posted a season-high 198.450 on Saturday to take home to take home the Big Ten championship title in the Crisler Center, knocking out No. 9 Michigan State, No. 15 Minnesota and No. 17 Michigan in the tournament’s third and final session. Juniors Jordan Chiles and Ciena Alipio earned perfect 10 marks of their own on floor and beam, respectively.
“From start to finish, that was unbelievable,” said coach Janelle McDonald. “We knew there was going to be some tight competition, and to see them come together and be present and compete how they did, it was honestly one of the best coaching moments I’ve had.”
UCLA headed into the final rotation trailing Michigan State by just .025 – a margin it worked to overcome throughout the entire meet. In fact, the Spartans led the meet up until UCLA knocked it out of the park with a nation-high tying 49.800 on floor.
Moors – a six-time floor finalist at the World Championships – notched the first perfect score of the graduate student’s career in the floor lineup’s fifth spot, following a pair of 9.950 marks from graduate student Chae Campbell and senior Emma Malabuyo. Sophomore Katelyn Rosen returned to competition on floor for the first time since Jan. 25, posting a 9.875 to lead off the rotation.
“I’ve never felt energy like this,” Moors said. “My ears are literally ringing from how loud we were cheering throughout the whole meet, and ending it like that on floor was just the cherry on top.”
Campbell’s floor performance helped secure the individual all around title, tying a conference-high with a 39.725 total across all four events.
UCLA posted another nation-high total on the event prior, posting 49.750 on beam. Alipio’s perfect score came in the rotation’s fifth spot and marked the first 10 of her career. Senior Emma Malabuyo notched a 9.950 mark in the anchor spot to match her score from last week against Utah.
“Ciena was really special,” said McDonald. “I’ve always felt like when she nails it like that, sometimes she doesn’t get the score I feel she deserves.”
The rotation, however, started off shaky with a team-low 9.825 mark from senior Emily Lee – who is known for her steady lead off routines. After starting on beam trailing the Spartans by .200, the Bruins bounced back to hit four scores of at least a 9.925.
On vault, the Bruins ended their first event sitting in third after posting a 49.350. A pair of 9.925 marks led the rotation from Campbell and freshman Mika Webster-Longin, both of whom stuck their vaults cold.
Chiles swapped out the vault she was competing for the majority of the season with a Yurchenko double full, but landed short of rotation to notch an uncharacteristic 9.825.
As the Bruins wrapped up on vault, Michigan State’s Gabrielle Stephens launched the Spartans into the lead after posting the day’s first perfect score on beam in rival territory, notching the second highest beam event total from any team across the competition.
But the Bruins responded on bars.
Campbell notched another stuck landing on bars, nailing the blind landing of her double front dismount. Her performance kickstarted UCLA’s second-best bar rotation of the year, with all six Bruins notching at least a 9.900 on the event.
“I knew I had it in me to do the events people don’t consider my strong suit,” Campbell said. “It finally came together today when it mattered most. … All the work that I put in really did pay off.”
Graduate student Frida Esparza was the runner-up for the bars event title, notching a 9.950 mark after hitting her routine in the fifth spot. Freshman Macy McGowan tied the 9.900 career-high she set against Utah last week, sticking her double layout dismount to help tally a 49.550 on bars for UCLA.
UCLA ended its day by notching five Big Ten titles in its first ever appearance at the conference championships. McDonald was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year following the win after going undefeated in the Big Ten this year and winning UCLA’s first ever conference title.
“The past few years, we came so close in the Pac-12. Like everytime we could taste it, but we would always just miss the mark,” Moors said. “Doing that in a whole new conference shows who we are and what we’re able to do.”
