This post was updated April 17 at 10:49 p.m.
All Emma Malabuyo needed was to stay on her feet.
Even better, she stuck the landing – to near perfection – sending her team to its first national final since 2019.
After Malabuyo posted a season-high 9.975 on beam, No. 5 seed UCLA gymnastics advanced to the national final after upsetting top-seeded LSU with a 197.7375 on Thursday in session two of the NCAA semifinals. The Bruins headed into the final rotation in first place, and a 49.550 beam total secured the squad a ticket to Saturday’s competition.
“It was less than two-tenths heading into the last event between the four teams,” said coach Janelle McDonald. “We knew we needed some really big moments, and the beam lineup delivered.”
The Bruins’ beam rotation, however, started off shakily after senior Emily Lee posted her lowest beam of the season with a 9.6875. Commonly hailed for her signature lead-off routines, Lee’s score was ultimately dropped from UCLA’s total.
Graduate student Chae Campbell managed the rotation’s first score of at least 9.900 in the fourth spot, which junior Ciena Alipio followed up with a 9.950 mark.
After the first rotation, UCLA was ahead of all three of its foes by .1375. Graduate student Brooklyn Moors won the individual floor title with a 9.9625 – earning a perfect score from two judges. Meanwhile, fellow graduate student Chae Campbell posted a 9.9125 directly before Moors while performing her sophomore-year floor routine.
“The individual titles are just the cherry on top,” Moors said. “We’re here to do it for the team.”
Sophomore Katelyn Rosen led off with a 9.8625, and freshman Macy McGowan made her return after being out through regionals due to a back injury, posting a 9.850 mark.
With a trio of scores of at least 9.900 to close out the rotation, a 49.525 floor total was UCLA’s second-best rotation of the night, barely shy of its 49.550 beam showing.
“I told the team yesterday that if we put four events together, we’re going to be the team to beat,” McDonald said. “Today was just a testament of that. It wasn’t perfect, but I really felt like they stayed really intentional and aggressive and fought for everything from start to finish.”
UCLA started its vault rotation on a high after senior Emily Lee stuck her Yurchenko full in the leadoff spot, posting a 9.850.
What looked like momentum nearly gave way to disaster.
Freshman Riley Jenkins and Moors posted a pair of 9.800 marks after taking steps on their landings, leaving freshman Mika Webster-Longin with pressure to put the Bruins back on track.
A hyperextended knee nearly derailed the Bruins’ rise.
After an unusual landing on her Yurchenko 1.5, Webster-Longin was assisted off the podium and pulled from the bars lineup in the next rotation.
“Mika has a heart of gold,” McDonald said. “She came out in the beam corral and brought her energy and her heart to the team for that last rotation, and I know she’s going to continue to do that through the weekend.”
Campbell and Chiles rounded out the rotation with two hit vaults, but UCLA’s 49.2375 total almost took the Bruins out of national title contention.
Just for a moment.
The Bruins put the unusual vault rotation behind them heading to bars, posting their third-highest total on the event this season. Anchored by a near-perfect 9.975 from Chiles, a 49.425 total propelled UCLA back to the top spot after starting the rotation in third.
Chiles’ mark earned her the second individual NCAA bars title of her career. She last won the title in 2023 before deferring the 2024 season to prepare for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Graduate student Frida Esparza helped set up the two-time Olympian for a big score, notching a 9.925 of her own after sticking her double layout dismount.
With Webster-Longin undergoing X-rays in the UCLA locker room – and out of competition for the night – sophomore Katelyn Rosen stepped up to post a 9.875 for UCLA’s third-highest score on the event.
UCLA will head to Saturday’s competition alongside No. 4 seed Utah, which placed first in the session after edging out the Bruins by just .025. No. 2 seed Oklahoma and No. 7 seed Missouri will join the former Pac-12 squads after advancing in the semifinal’s first session.
“No matter what we’re trying to do, as long as we’re staying in our Bruin bubble and staying as a family, that we’re always going to push to the end,” Chiles said. “That fight was really, really tough, but we are very honored and happy that we get to represent UCLA on day two.”
