UCLA’s Jordan Chiles performs her floor exercise routine during their annual Pride Meet against Penn State on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
UCLA gymnast Frida Esparza plays the National Anthem on an electric guitar before their annual Pride Meet against Penn State on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
UCLA’s Jordan Chiles competes on the vault during their annual Pride Meet against Penn State on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
UCLA’s Jordan Chiles competes on the vault during their annual Pride Meet against Penn State on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
UCLA gymnasts applaud Mika Webster-Longin, right, after her vault routine during their annual Pride Meet against Penn State on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
UCLA’s Jordan Chiles competes on the uneven bars during their annual Pride Meet against Penn State on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
UCLA’s Jordan Chiles competes on the uneven bars during their annual Pride Meet against Penn State on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
UCLA’s Jordan Chiles, front, is congratulated by coaches and teammates after her routine on the uneven bars during their annual Pride Meet against Penn State on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
UCLA’s Frida Esparza performs on the uneven bars during their annual Pride Meet against Penn State on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
UCLA gymnast Frida Esparza, far left, is congratulated by coaches and teammates after her uneven bars routine during their annual Pride Meet against Penn State on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion. Esparza scored a 9.975 and tied teammate Jordan Chiles for first place in the event. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
UCLA’s Emma Malabuyo performs her floor exercise routine during their annual Pride Meet against Penn State on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
UCLA’s Emma Malabuyo performs her floor exercise routine during their annual Pride Meet against Penn State on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
UCLA fans cheer during the floor exercise portion of the team’s annual Pride Meet against Penn State on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
UCLA’s Katelyn Rosen competes during their annual Pride Meet against Penn State on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
UCLA’s Katelyn Rosen competes during their annual Pride Meet against Penn State on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
UCLA’s Mika Webster-Longin performs her floor exercise routine during their annual Pride Meet against Penn State on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
UCLA’s Mika Webster-Longin performs her floor exercise routine during their annual Pride Meet against Penn State on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
UCLA’s Mika Webster-Longin performs her floor exercise routine during their annual Pride Meet against Penn State on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
UCLA’s Mika Webster-Longin performs her floor exercise routine during their annual Pride Meet against Penn State on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
UCLA’s Jordan Chiles performs her floor exercise routine during their annual Pride Meet against Penn State on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
UCLA’s Jordan Chiles performs her floor exercise routine during their annual Pride Meet against Penn State on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
UCLA’s Jordan Chiles performs her floor exercise routine during their annual Pride Meet against Penn State on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
UCLA’s Mika Webster-Longin performs her floor exercise routine during their annual Pride Meet against Penn State on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
UCLA’s Jordan Chiles performs her floor exercise routine during their annual Pride Meet against Penn State on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
UCLA’s Jordan Chiles performs her floor exercise routine during their annual Pride Meet against Penn State on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
Penn State’s Ashley Maul competes on the balance beam during a Big Ten meet against UCLA on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
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UCLA’s Jordan Chiles performs her floor exercise routine during their annual Pride Meet against Penn State on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion. (Photo by Axel Koester, Contributing Photographer)
LOS ANGELES — UCLA gymnastics coach Janelle McDonald celebrated in her chair during the post-meet press conference almost as much as she did during the meet when given the opportunity to talk about the uneven bars.
The fifth-ranked Bruins used a season-high team score on the bars to beat Penn State, 197.65-195.450, on Friday night in the Bruins’ annual Pride Meet at Pauley Pavilion – something McDonald said she knew was going to happen.
“I started to see extreme efficiency where the turns they’re taking are just exactly how they want them to be more consistently,” McDonald said. “I don’t think anybody that’s on bars had a rough day (this week). They were just so efficient, so when I started seeing that I’m like, oh, it’s going to show soon.”
Four out of six Bruins recorded season-high marks on the bars, which was the Bruins’ second rotation of the meet. Chiles and Esparza hit back-to-back 9.975 scores to close out the event.
On top of that, UCLA claimed the top spot in each event. Chiles won first in the all-around and Mika Webster-Longin tied for first on vault. Chiles and Esparza tied for first on the uneven bars and Emily Lee took first on the balance beam. Chiles grabbed her third win of the night when she tied with Brooklyn Moors for first in the floor exercise.
Esparza also performed the national anthem on an electric guitar prior to the meet and received roaring applause each time she paused to create rigid, straight lines during her bars routine.
“I don’t remember a single thing,” Esparza said. “My brain was off. I remember a couple times I freaked out a little late because my grip felt funky. My body found the rhythm so I could turn my brain off and I didn’t have to worry about anything.”
Emma Malabuyo and Chae Campbell stuck both of their landings to score season highs of 9.900 and 9.875, respectively.
A 49.450 team score on the balance beam prefaced the Bruins’ “floor party” and featured the return of Katelyn Rosen, who hadn’t taken part in a meet since Jan. 25, when she completed an exhibition routine.
Rosen, a sophomore, also did an exhibition floor routine and the pair of well-executed routines could signal a return to the lineup for the former three-time freshman of the week. The coaching staff made compositional changes in her beam routine and added an onodi, a skill that’s rarely seen in college gymnastics.
“It was one of the highlights to see Katelyn back out there competing with confidence,” McDonald said. “Sometimes you go on these journeys. And for her to have some setbacks and then really push herself to gain that confidence back and do what the work that she needed to do to get there was very cool to see.”
The top-ranked floor team in the nation wrapped up the final rotation with a 49.550 team score. Moors is still chasing a perfect 10.0 and recorded a 9.950 for her fifth floor score this season at that mark or above.
The 8 p.m. start time – the latest of the season – did not appear to have an effect on the fifth-ranked Bruins (8-2 overall, 5-0 Big Ten) and each gymnast scored 9.825 or above.
UCLA continued to struggle on vault, the meet-opening rotation, and recorded its second-lowest score of the season with a 49.100.
The lineup looked slightly different than in previous meets with freshman Riley Jenkins leading off instead of Lee, who only competed on balance beam in the meet. Jenkins, Webster-Longin and Macy McGowan are three freshmen in the lineup.
“They were just so confident and, to me, that was such a game changer for us,” McDonald said. “We’ve been waiting for them to settle in and be able to put them in the lineup, and even today we were like, let’s go for it, let’s try it. The way that they approached it was exactly everything they could ask for from them.”
UCLA gymnasts wore rainbow-colored leotards for the Pride Meet, which fell on Valentine’s Day this season. Gymnastics staff members wore bright pink T-shirts with a heart-shaped progress pride flag on the back.
Fans waved progress pride flags in the stands and rainbow-colored “10.0” signs were handed out on the concourse.
“We do better when we unite for something that’s bigger than ourselves and Pride is one of those things,” Esparza said. “For me, personally, it’s nice being in a space where everyone lets me be who I am. It’s a very accepting space. It’s very special.”
