No. 3 UCLA gymnastics beats No. 12 Stanford in senior meet

LOS ANGELES — UCLA gymnast Chae Campell mouthed every word to Kendrick Lamar’s “They Not Like Us” as she readied for her floor exercise routine.

Every motion was explosive — tumbling passes looked sharp and dance choreography was expressive. Campbell brought back a routine from her freshman year and left it all on the floor in her final performance at Pauley Pavilion.

She held her teammates and coaches and shared tears with them, at least until an unexpected 9.825 score was announced.

“Chae’s floor routine was remarkable,” Jordan Chiles, the final floor performer, said. “It wasn’t so much for me to flip it around because there was nothing for me to flip around.

“Her routine was amazing. She brought back a routine that everybody loved, so it was really cool to see that she was able to throw everything out on the floor. And we had the floor party, so we had to just keep pushing forward.”

The moment dampened the magic of the senior meet, but UCLA (13-2) was still able to beat Stanford 197.765-197.100 on Sunday despite the late drama.

Chiles won the all-around with a 39.750 score and claimed first place in every event except for balance beam, in which she tied for second.

Balance beam proved to be one of the most steady events on the day for UCLA. Gymnasts and coaches linked arms as they watched the Bruins on balance beam, trying to manifest a score high enough to finally pull them ahead of Stanford by a comfortable distance.

UCLA fulfilled that wish, nailing six scores above 9.900 to pull ahead of Stanford (10-3) 148.150-147.600. Emily Lee tied a season-high with a leadoff 9.925 and Ciena Alipio and Emma Malabuyo each hit that same score to close out the final two scores.

“We didn’t really dial in landings on vault very well today,” head coach Janelle McDonald said. “By the time we got to beam, they had settled and there was just this calm confidence that they would performed with. They just got up and did what they do in training every day. It was really cool to see that come to fruition.”

UCLA had fallen behind after a 49.225 team score on vault but gained enough ground after the second rotation to lead 98.575-98.475. The vault score was the lowest since Feb. 14 when the Bruins recorded a 49.100.

Jordan Chiles served as the anchor in both vault and on uneven bars in the second rotation and hit a 9.95 in each event. The 9.95 on vault tied a career-high.

She brought home another 9.95 on floor exercise as the Bruins swept the event. Macy McGowan and Brooklyn Moors each scored a 9.925 to tie for second and Emma Malabuyo had a 9.900 for fourth place.

McDonald was visibly frustrated with Moors’ and Chiles’ scores and told reporters after the meet that the coaching staff has turned in routine summaries in order to get feedback from judges. McDonald also said she was concerned that Campbell’s score was outside of a range that judges are required to adhere to under a new scoring system this season.

“We can only control so much,” Moors said. “Of course we wanted those big scores but at the same time, I just have to remember that I don’t care as much about the scores but rather how I make people feel. I know Chae is the exact same way.”

UCLA honored eight gymnasts in a senior meet celebration that took place after the meet: graduate students Campbell, Carissa Clay, Frida Esparza and Brooklyn Moors; seniors Mia Erdoes, Lee and Malabuyo and junior Clara Wren, who is graduating early.

Exhibition routines gave seniors a chance to shine, even though they haven’t been able to regularly break into lineups this season. Mia Erdoes drew applause on uneven bars and balance beam and Carissa Clay smiled the whole time on beam — even though a slight stumble.

It all happened in front of a crowd of 12,915 people. Fans had crammed into the lower level of Pauley Pavilion and filled out the upper level, too.

“The very first time I came to Pauley as the head coach was for ‘Meet the Bruins’ a few years ago,” McDonald said. “I looked around and I imagined seeing people all the way up at the top of the rafters and today, it became a reality.”