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NCAA TEAM CHAMPIONS
UCLA had closed the gap in the fifth rotation and entered the final event in third place,
0.175 behind the first-place Sooners, who finished up on uneven bars while the Bruins
were on balance beam. Oklahoma earned three 9.9+ scores on bars and finished with
a score of 49.5375 for a final team total of 198.0375.
The Bruin beam team got off to a tremendous start with a 9.9375 leadoff score from
Grace Glenn. Kocian ran into problems in the two spot with a fall and a score of 9.275,
putting the pressure on everyone else to stay clean in order to drop that score. But
rather than sinking under the pressure, the Bruins thrived. Brielle Nguyen, in her only
routine of the night, followed Kocian’s fall with a 9.875. Katelyn Ohashi, who had won
a share of the floor exercise title the night before, answered with a 9.95. Ross built off
that and contributed a 9.9875, earning four of six perfect scores.
It all came down to Lee in the final routine of the night. Although she and most of her
teammates did not know at the time, Lee needed to score 9.975 on her final collegiate
routine to clinch the victory. What came next was, simply-put, legendary.
Lee hit every element of her routine perfectly, and when she stuck her dismount, she
permanently etched her name in Bruin lore. As her teammates celebrated a terrific
closing performance, the individual scores came up and signaled a perfect 10 for Lee,
her 10th career perfect 10 and her second perfect 20 meet. Then the scoreboard team
results updated, showing the Bruins at the top with a final team total of 198.075, just
0.0375 ahead of Oklahoma, setting off a second wave of jubilant celebration. UCLA’s
NCAA Championship and school record total of 49.750 on the balance beam, of all
events, earned the Bruins the title.
The 2018 Bruins (back row, l-r) - Grace Glenn, Felicia Hano, Katelyn Ohashi, Kyla Ross, Nia Dennis,
Pauline Tratz, Matteah Brow, Gracie Kramer, Karli Dugas, Savannah Kooyman, Melissa Metcalf,
Rechelle Dennis, Madison Kocian. (front row, kneeling, l-r) - Brielle Nguyen, JaNay Honest, Sonya
Meraz, Christine Peng-Peng Lee, Napualani Hall, Anna Glenn.
2018
In one of the greatest comebacks in the history of NCAA competition,
UCLA turned in a performance for the ages at the NCAA Super
Six Team Final, using a NCAA Championship and school record
balance beam score of 49.750 to take the title in St. Louis. The
championship was UCLA’s seventh overall and first since 2010.
“I looked at the scoreboard, and I saw UCLA on top, and I am still in shock,” Lee said
after the meet. “My tears have not come out yet. I said they’re still dancing and having
a party in my eyeballs. They have not come out yet, but I’m still in shock about the
whole thing. I’m shocked I’m here, shocked we have the trophy, and I couldn’t have
asked for a better way to end with this team. Personally, I love this team so much and
it’s been an incredible season.”
The odds of UCLA coming back from a 0.325 deficit at the halfway mark were slim.
The Bruins had put up solid but not huge scores on their first two events and were
wrapping up the meet on uneven bars and balance beam.
After an average vault rotation that saw no scores over 9.9 and a team total of 49.2250,
something needed to change. The Bruins had a bye in the fourth rotation and went
into the locker room in fourth place, 0.325 behind the leaders, two-time defending
champion Oklahoma.
“I’ve been doing this at UCLA for 35 years and I have said the last few months and
have said repeatedly the last few weeks that in all of my time we’ve had tremendous
teams and tremendous, not just athletes, but student-athletes and people,” said UCLA
head coach Valorie Kondos Field. “Which is the reason I feel I have the greatest job
in the world. But this team truly is the easiest team that I’ve ever coached. And that
is because this time last year we said if we need, if we want a different result we’ve
got to do things differently and what started that was me and our coaching staff just
getting real with them about getting physically fit as you individually can get as making
choices outside of the gym, those of a champion. And on and on and they did it. They
decided to do it at literally last April, and they’ve been consistent with it, and because
of that my job has been so easy this year. This truly is a dream team.”
Spurred on by an inspiring locker room speech by Associate Head Coach Chris Waller,
who reminded the Bruins that they’ve been training like champions all year and that
they “don’t quit under any circumstances”, UCLA regrouped and went all out in the
final two rotations.
On uneven bars, freshman Nia Dennis led off with a 9.8375. Senior JaNay Honest
followed with a 9.9 and received a perfect 10 from one of the six judges, her first career
perfect 10 score in her last-ever
routine. After Anna Glenn’s 9.850,
Madison Kocian stepped up for just
her third uneven bars routine of the
year after undergoing labrum surgery
in August. Kocian had some struggles
in her semifinal performance,
scoring 9.775, but in the team
final, she scored a season-high
9.9375. Sixth-year senior Christine
Peng-Peng Lee was next and was
sheer perfection. After hitting her
difficult set and sticking her double
layout dismount, she was rewarded
justly with a perfect 10. Kyla Ross
wrapped up the rotation with what
looked to be another perfect set
with emphatically-held handstands.
She earned one perfect 10 score
and a final total of 9.95, giving the
Bruins a team total of 49.6375, the
second-highest bars total in NCAA
Championship history.
The Bruins and the national championship trophy
Christine Peng-Peng Lee scored two perfect 10s
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