This post was updated April 5 at 10:18 p.m.
CORVALLIS, OREGON – Jordan Chiles was crying before she even stepped onto the floor.
With razor-thin margins, the senior had only one option – a hit routine to punch the Bruins’ ticket to nationals.
With the final salute of the weekend, Gill Coliseum erupted into applause and Chiles burst into tears.
And Chiles did not just hit – she was perfect.
“Four years here, I’ve never won regionals,” Chiles said. “This is something that I have always wanted in my career.”
Despite trailing the entire competition, No. 4 seed UCLA gymnastics’ 197.725 topped a field made up of No. 5 seed Alabama, No. 12 seed Utah and No. 13 seed Minnesota at the Corvallis Regional Final. Fellow Big Ten member Minnesota upset the competition, securing second place and a trip to the national semifinals in Fort Worth, Texas. The win marks UCLA’s first regional title since 2019 and 25th overall.
Chiles’ perfect 10 – her eighth perfect mark of 2026 and 19th perfect score of her career – led UCLA to a 49.625 floor total – 0.200 above their NQS and their highest-scoring event of any team Sunday. The Bruins only counted scores of 9.900 or higher.
Tiana Sumanasekera may be a freshman, but she displayed the traits of a veteran during her floor routine. The Pleasanton, California, local landed her first tumbling pass with her heel hovering above the boundary line – but it did not touch. Sumanasekera not only stayed in-bounds, but posted a 9.925 – the second-highest score of the rotation.
Sophomore Mika Webster-Longin, junior Sydney Barros and freshman Ashlee Sullivan posted a trio of 9.900 marks, and senior Ciena Alipio’s 9.875 was dropped from the total.
After back-to-back weeks of dropped beam scores, Alipio led the beam lineup with a 9.925. While the senior fell off of the apparatus following her acrobatic series at the Big Ten Championship and wobbled on Friday, she stuck it cold on Sunday.
Jordis Eichman stepped up to the plate in a last-minute substitution for Webster-Longin – her first beam appearance since Feb. 22. And the freshman delivered when the Bruins needed it most, sticking every element besides a small hop on the dismount and posting a 9.800 that was counted in the squad’s 49.350 total.
“I told her (Eichman) before even getting out to the beam, ‘You’ve been on the biggest stages of your life. This is just easy-peasy,’” Chiles said. “I said, ‘Do you, have fun, but also figure out what your rhythm is and just go with the flow.’ And she did that today.”
Junior Katelyn Rosen brought the energy to lead off the rotation, sticking her entire beam routine and matching her 9.900 season-high. Chiles also added a stuck dismount to the mix and a matching 9.900 mark.
Utah took its first lead of the evening after the third rotation, with UCLA and Minnesota tied for second place. Ultimately, the Red Rocks’ 197.500 was not enough to break the top two, and the squad missed its first national championship in 49 years.
With five stuck landings, UCLA narrowed Minnesota’s lead to 0.075 after the second rotation, posting a 49.400 on bars that exceeded Friday’s 49.225 total.
“That was one of the closest competitions I’ve ever been a part of. Every single team on the floor was going lights-out,” said coach Janelle McDonald. “We knew we needed to bring our best.”
Despite falling on her double layout dismount on Friday, freshman Nola Matthews stuck her dismount and turned in a 9.900, tying with Chiles for third place and the highest score of the rotation.
Webster-Longin struggled on bars, arching on her handstand and posting a dropped season-low 9.200.
Sumanasekera led off the rotation with a stuck landing, posting a 9.875. Sullivan mirrored the fellow freshman with another stick and a matching score.
The Bruins began the affair on vault, following the same Olympic rotation order as Friday’s regional competition.
And like Friday, landings proved to be a challenge.
Webster-Longin fell backward following her Yurchenko 1.5, resulting in a season-low 9.250 and adding pressure to the back-half of the lineup.
But sophomore Riley Jenkins and Sullivan put two vaults to their feet, adding a pair of 9.825 marks. Chiles led the rotation with a 9.950, earning a perfect score from one judge.
Rosen stuck her vault cold, delivering a 9.900 that matched her career-high. The Bruins matched Friday’s 49.350 vault total – 0.025 above their NQS.
“The only thing I love more than gymnastics is the girls on my team,” Rosen said. “While I’m very proud of myself, I’m even more proud of the team because we get to do more gymnastics.”
