UCLA Bruins women's gymnastics | |
---|---|
Founded | 1974 |
University | University of California, Los Angeles |
Head coach | Janelle McDonald (2nd season) |
Conference | Big Ten |
Location | Los Angeles, California |
Home arena | Pauley Pavilion (Capacity: 13,800) |
Nickname | Bruins |
Colors | Blue and gold [1] |
National championships | |
7 (1997, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2018) NCAA Championships | |
Four on the Floor appearances | |
1 (2019) | |
Super Six appearances | |
22 (1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018) | |
NCAA Regional championships | |
23 (1982, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2019) Regional Champions | |
Conference championships | |
21 (1981 [WCAA], 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2023 ) Pac-12 Championships |
The UCLA Bruins women's gymnastics team represents the University of California, Los Angeles and competes in the Big Ten Conference. They compete in Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, California. The team, coached by Janelle McDonald, has won 21 Regional titles and seven NCAA National Championships, most recently in 2018. [2]
The Bruins are known for recruiting top elite gymnasts from North America and beyond, including Austria, Germany, Guatemala, and Ireland. [3] Some notable former and current UCLA gymnasts include U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Michelle Giuda, psychologist Onnie Willis Rogers, stuntwoman Heidi Moneymaker, and Olympic gymnasts Jamie Dantzscher, Mohini Bhardwaj, Kate Richardson, Tasha Schwikert, Kristen Maloney, Yvonne Tousek, Stella Umeh, Luisa Portocarrero, Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs, Sam Peszek, Peng Peng Lee, Jennifer Pinches, Jordyn Wieber (former Bruins team manager and volunteer assistant coach), Kyla Ross, Madison Kocian, Brooklyn Moors, Jordan Chiles, and Emma Malabuyo.
The 2025 season will see the team compete in the Big Ten Conference for the first time since the university switched from the Pac-12 conference. [4] The shift moves the team from frequent competition with national-level teams such as California and Utah to a conference whose teams have won just one national championship in four decades. [5]
UCLA Bruins Super Six Appearances | ||
Year | Finish | Score |
---|---|---|
1993 | 4th | 194.925 |
1994 | 5th | 194.975 |
1995 | 3rd | 196.150 |
1996 | 2nd | 197.475 |
1997 | 1st | 197.150 |
1998 | 5th | 195.750 |
1999 | 5th | 195.850 |
2000 | 1st | 197.300 |
2001 | 1st | 197.575 |
2002 | 3rd | 197.150 |
2003 | 1st | 197.825 |
2004 | 1st | 198.125 |
2005 | 4th | 197.150 |
2007 | 4th | 196.925 |
2010 | 1st | 197.725 |
2011 | 2nd | 197.375 |
2012 | 3rd | 197.750 |
2013 | 4th | 197.100 |
2014 | 6th | 197.050 |
2016 | 5th | 196.8250 |
2017 | 4th | 197.2625 |
2018 | 1st | 198.075 |
UCLA Bruins Four on the Floor Appearances | ||
Year | Finish | Score |
---|---|---|
2019 | 3rd | 197.5375 |
Name | Years | Record | Win % |
Lee Ann Lobdill | 1977–1979 | 34–30–0 | .531 |
Jerry Tomlinson | 1980–1990 | 191–63–1 | .750 |
Scott Bull | 1991–1994 | 77–16–0 | .828 |
Valorie Kondos Field | 1991–2019 | 516–120–3 | .810 |
Chris Waller | 2020–2022 | 20–10–0 | .667 |
Janelle McDonald | 2023–present |
Name | Position |
---|---|
Janelle McDonald | Head Coach |
BJ Das | Assistant Coach |
Lacy Dagen | Assistant Coach |
Mark Freeman | Assistant Coach |
Name | Height | Year | Hometown | Club |
Ciena Alipio | 5-2 | JR | San Jose, CA | Midwest Gymnastics |
Paige Anastasi | 5-4 | SO | Andover, MA | Brestyan's Gymnastics |
Madisyn Anyimi | 5-6 | JR | Sacramento, CA | Technique Gymnastics |
Sydney Barros | 5-3 | SO | Lewisville, TX | Adirondack Learning Academy |
Chae Campbell | 5-7 | GR | Carrollton, TX | Metroplex Gymnastics |
Carissa Clay | 4-11 | GR | San Diego, CA | M.S. Sport Leadership |
Mia Erdoes | 5-5 | SR | New York, NY | Gotham Gymnastics |
Frida Esparza | 5-4 | GR | Pittsburg, CA | Head Over Heels |
Sasha Fujisaka | 5-0 | FR | San Jose, CA | Airborne Gymnastics |
Bronwyn Hoffman | 5-6 | FR | Los Angeles, CA | AOGC |
Riley Jenkins | 5-4 | FR | Burbank, CA | The Klub Gymnastics |
Emily Lee | 5-4 | SR | Los Gatos, CA | West Valley Gymnastics |
Emma Malabuyo | 5-0 | SR | Milpitas, CA | Texas Dreams Gymnastics |
Macy McGowan | 5-2 | FR | Las Vegas, NV | |
Brooklyn Moors | 5-3 | GR | Cambridge, ON | Dynamo |
Katelyn Rosen | 5-2 | SO | Boerne, TX | Twin City Twisters |
Mika Webster-Longin | 4-11 | FR | Richmond, CA | East Bay Gymnastics |
Clara Wren | 5-1 | SR | San Marcos, CA | Coastal Gymnastics |
The following gymnasts have committed to UCLA for the 2025–2026 academic year:
UCLA has won 40 NCAA individual titles and seven team titles:
Event | Winner/Year |
---|---|
Team (7) | UCLA 1997, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2010, 2018 |
All Around (5) | Onnie Willis 2001 Jamie Dantzscher 2002 Tasha Schwikert 2005, 2008 Sam Peszek 2015 |
Vault (7) | Jill Andrews 1988 Kim Hamilton 1989 Heidi Moneymaker 1999 Jamie Dantzscher 2002 Kristen Maloney 2005 Vanessa Zamarripa 2010 Kyla Ross 2019 |
Uneven Bars (8) | Heidi Moneymaker 1998 Mohini Bhardwaj 2000 Yvonne Tousek 2001 Jamie Dantzscher 2003 Kate Richardson 2003 Tasha Schwikert 2008 Kyla Ross 2017 Jordan Chiles 2023 |
Balance Beam (10) | Jill Andrews 1989 Kiralee Hayashi 1999 Lena Degteva 2000 Kate Richardson 2003 Kristen Maloney 2005 Sam Peszek 2011, 2015 Danusia Francis 2016 Kyla Ross 2017 Peng Peng Lee 2018 |
Floor Exercise (12) | Kim Hamilton 1987, 1988, 1989 Stella Umeh 1995, 1998 Mohini Bhardwaj 2001 Jamie Dantzscher 2002 Kate Richardson 2006 Brittani McCullough 2010 Katelyn Ohashi 2018 Kyla Ross 2019 Jordan Chiles 2023 |
The Bruins men's gymnastics team won two NCAA national champions in 1984 and 1987, but was eliminated as part of university budget cuts in 1995. [26]
Notable alumni of UCLA men's gymnastics include:
Mohini Bhardwaj is an American retired artistic gymnast who competed at the 1997 and 2001 World Championships and earned a silver medal with the American team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and is a member of the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame. She is the first Indian-American gymnast, and the second Indian-American athlete in any sport, to medal at the Olympics.
Kate Richardson is a former artistic gymnast who represented Canada at the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympics. From 2002 to 2006, she also competed for the UCLA Bruins.
The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). For football, they are in the Football Bowl Subdivision of Division I. UCLA is second to only Stanford University as the school with the most NCAA team championships at 123 NCAA team championships. UCLA offers 11 varsity sports programs for men and 14 for women.
Jamie Annette Dantzscher is an American former artistic gymnast. She was a member of the bronze medal-winning American team at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
Tasha Schwikert Moser is a retired American gymnast who is a 2000 Olympic bronze medalist, a World Gymnastics Championships team gold medalist, the 2001 and 2002 U.S. senior national all-around champion and the 2005 and 2008 NCAA all-around national champion.
Elyse Null is a Canadian former gymnast, UCLA gymnastics alumna, and YouTube personality. She was born in Mississauga, Ontario.
Samantha Nicole Peszek is an American former artistic gymnast. She was a member of the U.S. women's gymnastics team at the 2008 Summer Olympics, which won silver.
Kyla Briana Ross is a retired American artistic gymnast and current assistant coach for the Arkansas Razorbacks gymnastics team. She is the first female gymnast to win NCAA, World, and Olympic championship titles.
Katelyn Michelle Ohashi is an American gymnast who competed for the University of California, Los Angeles. She is a six-time All-American and was a four-time member of USA Gymnastics' Junior National Team, the 2011 junior national champion, and the winner of the 2013 American Cup. Noted for incorporating popular dance elements in her floor routines, she trended globally on various social media networks in January 2019 for her perfect 10 score at the 2019 Collegiate Challenge, the fourth perfect 10 floor routine of her career.
Anna Li is an American retired artistic gymnast. She was an 8-time All-American gymnast while competing in the NCAA and a member of the UCLA Bruins women's gymnastics team that won the 2010 NCAA National Championship title. She was on the US National Team in 2011 - 2012. Her parents, Li Yuejiu and Wu Jiani were Olympic gymnasts who competed for China at the 1984 Summer Olympics and are also her coaches. She has a younger sister, Andrea Li, who is also a gymnast. While training as a Level 10 and Elite gymnast she attended and graduated from Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora, Illinois.
Christine Jennifer Peng-Peng Lee is a retired Canadian artistic gymnast. She was a member of the Canadian team that qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics, though a knee injury prevented her from competing in the Games. She attended UCLA and led the gymnastics team to the 2018 NCAA National Championship. Lee prefers to use her Chinese name Peng Peng when doing gymnastics, saying it makes her feel like "someone completely different."
Madison Taylor Kocian is an American retired artistic gymnast. On the uneven bars, she is one of four 2015 World co-champions and the 2016 Olympic silver medalist. She was part of the gold medal-winning team dubbed the "Final Five" at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and she was a member of the first-place American teams at the 2014 and 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships. She graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2020, where she was a member of its women's gymnastics team. She helped the UCLA Bruins win the 2018 NCAA Championships.
Valorie Kondos Field, often referred to as Miss Val, is a retired American gymnastics coach. She was the head coach of the UCLA Bruins gymnastics team of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) from 1991 to 2019, leading the Bruins to seven national championship titles. She is a four-time Conference Coach of the Year, the 2018 West Region Head Coach of the Year, and the Pac-12 Gymnastics Coach of the Century. She is the third most-winning NCAA gymnastics coach, behind Suzanne Yoculan and Greg Marsden.
Nia Camille Dennis is a retired American collegiate artistic gymnast. She was a member of the USA National Team from 2012 to 2016. She is the 2014 Pacific Rim team champion and junior all-around and vault silver medalist. She was a member of the UCLA Bruins women's gymnastics team.
Norah Irene Flatley is an American artistic gymnast. She is the 2014 Pacific Rim junior balance beam champion. She previously competed for the UCLA Bruins and also competed for the Arkansas Razorbacks.
Trinity Lemyra Thomas is an American artistic gymnast and a four-time National Team member (2016–20). She was a member of the gold medal-winning team at the 2018 Pan American Gymnastics Championships, where she also won silver medals in the individual all-around and on the uneven bars, as well as the bronze medalist on balance beam and floor exercise at the 2017 national championships. She was a member of the Florida Gators women's gymnastics team. One of the most successful NCAA gymnasts in history, Thomas finished her collegiate career with a record-tying 28 perfect-10 scores and a record-breaking five Gym Slams.
Margzetta Bryantina Frazier is an American artistic gymnast. She was a U.S. national team in 2017 and 2018 and was the 2018 Birmingham World Cup silver medalist. She is currently a member of the UCLA Gymnastics team. She is the older sister of Emjae Frazier.
The Final Five was the United States women's team in artistic gymnastics that won the team event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. It was the United States' third gold medal in the event after 2012 and 1996. The five members of the team were Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, Laurie Hernandez, Madison Kocian, and Aly Raisman, with MyKayla Skinner, Ragan Smith, and Ashton Locklear serving as the three alternates. After the team event, Biles won a gold medal in the individual all-around event, the vault, and on floor exercise and won a bronze on the balance beam, while Raisman won silver medals in the individual all-around, and on the floor exercise, where she was the defending champion, Hernandez won silver on the balance beam, and Kocian won a silver in the uneven bars. As of 2024, the Final Five is the most decorated American Olympic gymnastics team with nine medals total.
Grace Catherine Kramer, known as Gracie Kramer, is an American artistic gymnast who was a member of the UCLA Bruins gymnastics team from 2016 to 2020. Following her retirement from competition in 2020, she joined the Utah State Aggies gymnastics team as a volunteer assistant coach.
Grace Fugui Glenn is an American artistic gymnast. She is currently a member of the UCLA Bruins gymnastics team.