Last year, UCLA claimed the Pac-12 crown with a score of 197.25. The nearest competitor posted a 196.925.
For the 2017 Pac-12 Women’s Gymnastics Championships on Saturday, the field has improved. No. 5 Utah, behind the strength of its star freshman MyKayla Skinner, regularly scores in the mid-197 range.
The No. 3 Bruins (9-2, 5-1 Pac-12) have also stepped it up a notch from last season, scoring in the mid- to high-197 range on a weekly basis as well as one score above 198.
“The competitiveness of this team has much improved from last year because you have people who succeeded at the highest level,” said coach Valorie Kondos Field. “They know how to turn up the heat and it’s contagious.”
The team’s two Olympic Gold medalists, freshmen Kyla Ross and Madison Kocian, have led the way in many of the team’s events with their ability to consistently get big scores.
In preparation for the conference championship, the two continue to stand out.
“Kyla’s on fire,” Kondos Field said. “And Kocian – the rest she had last week is totally showing up in a good way.”
The Bruins will go in with a different lineup than their last meet, where the team nabbed its second-highest score of the season.
Kocian will compete in all four events after Kondos Field gave her a break last week. Freshman Felicia Hano, who has been out since the first meet of the season against Arkansas, will claim a spot in the vault rotation, hoping to help UCLA raise its score in what has been its weakest event of late.
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Ross may get a shot on floor exercise. She’s done two routines in the event this season and fell both times, though she was dealing with a nagging ankle injury during those meets.
The Bruins have a number of freshmen competing in the meet, including Kocian and Ross. They will have to adjust to the meet’s pacing.
[Related: Kyla Ross brings gold medal talent to UCLA after quitting elite gymnastics]
Four teams will be competing at a time, instead of the usual two, meaning the wait-time between routines will be longer.
“The meet’s going to be a lot slower,” said redshirt-senior Peng-Peng Lee.
Whatever the case, UCLA remains confident in its ability to defend the Pac-12 title. Last week’s successful meet did nothing to dent that confidence.
“I think our last meet, getting our second-highest score, has given us a lot of confidence going into this meet,” said sophomore Katelyn Ohashi. “As long as we keep building from here, we’ll be good.”