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UCLA Gymnasatics Go For #7 - Semifinal Preview & Thread

The UCLA Women's Gymnastics team will compete tonight for a chance to participate in the NCAA finals tomorrow.

By uclaluv

Tonight, the #BruinStrong Women's Gymnastics team competes in Ft. Worth, Texas in their 32nd semifinal. The top three teams from this semifinal will join three teams from the earlier meet tomorrow, as the Super Six compete for an NCAA National Championship.

The Bruins have had some incredible moments this year and have the heart and soul of a champion.

How to watch:

TV: 5 PM (PT) - ESPNU.

Stream: You can also stream the meet on ESPN3 - which will allow you to stream each event separately and watch each Bruin performance in full.

Stats:  Follow the scores at the NCAA Gymnastics website. You can also see the scores from the first semi-final here.

The event is sold out, however if you're anywhere near Ft. Worth, there are probably ways to get in.

Follow the team on their great twitter account @UCLAGymnsatics and join other Bruin Gymnastics fans at #BruinStrong.

The Path to the Semis

Only two teams are allowed to advance from the regionals to the nationals. In their regional, UCLA and Utah were those teams. UCLA needed a clutch effort from three athletes on the bars to hold barely hold on to second place.  They had missed on two routines, but fortunately JaNay Honest and Sophina DeJesus came through with solid performances and Christine Peng-Peng Lee returned after a long recovery to hit a meet-winning 9.95. Also in their regional were #17 Washington, #23 Southern Utah, #29 Illinois, and #32 Utah State.

UCLA won each event. Madison Preston tied for first on vault, Peng-Peng Lee was first on the bars, Danusia Francis on the beam and Sadiqua Bynum tied for first on floor.

The Path to the Finals

In the 34 years of the Championships, only six teams have won a national championship. UCLA has six of those, the last coming in 2010. The other teams - Georgia (10), Utah (9), Alabama (6), Florida (3) and Oklahoma (1) - will all be competing again in these semifinals.

There will be two meets today, and the top three teams from each event will move on to the Super Six tomorrow at 6 pm Pacific Time (ESPNU). The #9 Bruins will compete against #1 Oklahoma, #4 Alabama, #5 Utah, #11 Berkeley, and #12 Nebraska. The top three teams will meet the top three teams from the first meet, which includes #2 Florida, #3 LSU, #6 Auburn, #8 Georgia, #19 Stanford and #16 Minnesota. UCLA has faced off against all but one of the teams in their semi this year, Nebraska. The Bruins are 2-1 vs. Utah and 1-1 against Berkeley, including the Bruin victory at the Pac-12 Championships. They beat Alabama, but lost to Oklahoma. The Bruins also competed against #2 Florida and #8 Georgia who will be in the first semifinal, losing to both.

Here is the rotation for UCLA's meet:

NCAA SEMIFINALS II 5 PM Pacific Time

Team

Rotation 1

Rotation 2

Rotation 3

Rotation 4

Rotation 5

Rotation 6

#9 UCLA

Bars

Beam

Bye

Floor

Vault

Bye

#4 Alabama

Bye

Bars

Beam

Bye

Floor

Vault

#11 Berkeley

Beam

Bye

Floor

Vault

Bye

Bars

#12 Nebraska

Floor

Vault

Bye

Bars

Beam

Bye

#1 Oklahoma

Bye

Floor

Vault

Bye

Bars

Beam

#5 Utah

Vault

Bye

Bars

Beam

Bye

Floor

UCLA will not only be competing for a team championship, but has some athletes with a good chance to win individual titles. Last year, Samantha Peszek tied for the All-Around championship and was the balance beam champion. This year, keep your eyes on 2nd ranked Danusia Francis on the beam and #7 Sadiqua Bynum and #11 Angi Cipra on the floor. For a more complete rundown of the players and their success, take a look at the UCLA Gymnastics notes or our preview to the regionals.

Getting Ready - The Bruin Way

The future also looks bright!

Go Bruins!

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