Gymnastics Advances At NCAA Championships & Will Compete For Title Tomorrow

The last time UCLA qualified for the NCAA Super Six in gymnastics, the final round of competition where a national champion is crowned, was 2007. That was until today, when the top-seeded Bruins came from behind to win the afternoon session of the NCAA Chamoionship semis and advance to the Super Six.

The Bruins came from behind to win the meet. At the halfway mark, UCLA was tied for third but used meet-best scores of 49.375 on floor and 49.4 on vault to power ahead of the field in the final two rotations.

Also qualifying for Super Six are Utah, who placed second with 196.625, and Oklahoma, who placed third with 196.550.

UCLA's Vanessa Zamarripa tied for third in the all-around in this session with a 39.425, earning first-team All-America honors for the second-straight year. Anna Li and Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs earned second-team All-America honors in the all-around. Li qualified for event finals on vault and uneven bars. Zammaripa qualified on vault and floor exercise. Hopfner-Hibbs qualified on vault, and Brittani McCullough qualified on floor exercise.

By advancing to the Super Six, UCLA will have the chance to win their six national title. If you need any more reason to root for these girls, check out what A posted earlier today about an interview with gymnastics head coach Valorie Kondos Field and Coach from a few years back. Sure, those may not be the same gymnasts that competed today, but it's the attitude in the program and what is instilled in them from the coaches all the way down that makes you want to root for them.

Tomorrow at 3 pm PDT, the Bruins will compete in the Super Six with Utah, Oklahoma and three teams from today's evening session. The team with the highest score will be crowned national champions and as the top seed, you would have to think that the Bruins have their chance at grabbing it.

We're going to have an open thread for it and the event will also be streamed live from Gainesville, FL on NCAA.com so you can all watch and check out these amazing athletes.