UCLA Gymnastics News and Notes

Once again, congratulations to the UCLA Gymnastics team who qualified for the NCAA Championship weekend after placing second in their regionals on Saturday. The Bruins will compete again on April 19, at 6pm in the evening session of the NCAA semi-finals.

UCLA has provided a site for "ALL!!" NCAA details, so keep checking for updates. I don't think the practice sessions are open to the public.

Semi-Finals Details:
The Bruins will compete in session two with No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 Alabama, No. 7 Michigan, No. 10 Utah and No. 11 Arkansas. (rankings based on Regionals scores.) The top three teams from the semi finals will advance to the Super Six on Saturday, April 20th.

Melanie Shaffer from Ohio State will be rotating with the Bruins, competing for the All-Around title, and McKayla Stambaugh from OSU will join the Bruins on the floor. (Individuals whose team do no qualify for the team championship but had high enough scores on their own based on their NQS can compete at the NCAAs as individuals.)

UCLA will start the meet on balance beam after a random draw (sorry no home floor advantage for us, boo. We did get the evening session by being the host school and qualifying.) The exact rotation order will be:

Tickets are available. Let's get #109 and #7! (Single session tickets will also be available next week.)

I will do a full preview when we get closer to the meet. Can you feel the excitement?! I just wish Sam Peszek and Mattie Larson were healthy.

Post Season Honors
The post season honors have started to roll in for the Bruins, and they have been rewarded for their efforts this season.

Pac-12 Honors
Vanessa Zamarripa was named Pac-12 Gymnast of the year, and I doubt the vote was close. She was named Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week four times this year, equaling the record set by Kristen Maloney. She also (obviously) received first team honors. Four other Bruins were named to all Pac-12 teams.

Vault
First Team - Olivia Courtney
Second Team - Kaelie Baer

Balance Beam
Second Team - Danusia Francis

Floor Exercise
Second Team - Alyssa Pritchett

All-American Honors
Three UCLA gymnasts were awarded All-American honors. Vanessa Zamarripa again led the way with four honors, earning first team honors in the all-around, vault, uneven bars, and floor. Junior Olivia Courntey received first team honors on the vault, and freshman Danusia Francis received second team honors on the balance beam.

Mattie Larson and Samantha Peszek visited "Bruin Talk" in the March edition.

Their interview starts around the 17 minute mark.

Let's go Bruins! I need to go collect some pennies to get myself a UCLA Gymnastics shirt.