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UCLA Bruins gymnastics
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Nickname
Bruins
Founded
1974
Arena/Stadium
Pauley Pavilion
Colors
True Blue and Gold
Head coach
Valorie Kondos Field
Conference
Pacific-12 Conference
University
University of California, Los Angeles
Home arena
Pauley Pavilion (Capacity: 13,800)
Location
Los Angeles, California, United States
The UCLA Bruins women's gymnastics team represents the University of California at Los Angeles and competes in the Pac-12 Conference. They currently compete in Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA. The team, coached by Valorie Kondos Field, has won 21 Regional titles and 6 NCAA National Championships, most recently in 2010.
The Bruins are known for recruiting top elite gymnasts from both the US and Canada. Some notable former UCLA gymnasts include Dr. Onnie Willis Rogers and current stuntwoman Heidi Moneymaker and Olympic gymnasts Jamie Dantzscher, Mohini Bhardwaj, Kate Richardson, Tasha Schwikert, Kristen Maloney, Yvonne Tousek, Stella Umeh, Luisa Portocarrero, Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs, Sam Peszek, Peng Peng Lee, Jennifer Pinches, Jordyn Wieber, Kyla Ross and Madison Kocian.
UCLA also fielded a men's gymnastics team until 1994, when it was discontinued due to budget cuts.
Highlights
2008 Canadian Olympic Gymnastics team member Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs attended UCLA, a member of the team in 2008–2009 season.
The Bruins won the 2009 Pac-10 title, their 14th, and was 7th seeded in the NCAA National Championships. They competed at the NCAA North Central Regionals at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Saturday, Apr. 4 with Florida (#6), Minnesota (#18), Denver (#20), Iowa State (#23) and Iowa (#28). The Bruins came in second behind Florida.
2009 – In the second session of the national championships, the Bruins finished tie for third place with Utah. But Utah won the tie breakers by counting all the scores of the six competitors in each event and advanced to the Super Six team finals.
2010 – The team won its 15th Pacific-10 Championship, with Anna Li scoring a perfect 10 on uneven bars. Vanessa Zamarripa won all-around and vault, and was named 2010 Pac-10 Gymnast Of The Year.
2010 – UCLA Gymnastics won the Los Angeles Regional and qualified for the NCAA Championships in Gainesville, Florida. Anna Li again scored a perfect 10 on the uneven bars at Pauley Pavilion, where both of her parents, Li Yuejiu and Wu Jiani won medals at the 1984 Olympic Games.
2010 – USA Olympic team silver medalist Sam Peszek is attending UCLA, and is a new member of the 2011 UCLA gymnastics team.
2010– The team won its sixth ncaa title at the O'Connell Center in Gainesville, FL.
2011 – UCLA finished second in the national competition; Athens Regional champions; Sam Peszek was first in balance beam with a 9.90 score.
2012 – Third place finish in team competition; Olivia Courtney was third in uneven bars, and Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs was second in floor exercise.
2013 – UCLA was 4th in the team competition held at its own Pauley Pavilion; Four Bruins finished as top-eight performers in individual competition, three (Olivia Courtney, Kaelie Baer, and Vanessa Zamarripa) on vault and one (Danusia Francis) on beam.
2014 – UCLA did not qualify to Saturday night's Super Six competition in Birmingham, AL. Two Bruins competed on Sunday in event finals, Sam Peszek and Olivia Courtney.
2015 – UCLA captured the team's 21st Regional Championship with a score of 197.500 points at the NCAA Columbus Regional. Samantha Peszek was the All Around Co-Champion with 39.6 points; Samantha Peszek also won the balance beam with a 9.950 score.
2016 – UCLA finished second at the Salt Lake City Regional, held at the University of Utah's Jon M. Huntsman Center with a score of 196.375. The Bruins advanced to the NCAA Gymnastics Championships for the 32nd time, assigned to the Semifinal II. Seniors Danusia Francis and Sadiqua Bynum and junior Angi Cipra were awarded regular season All-America honors by the National Association of College Gymnastics Coaches (NACGC/W).
Head coaches
record includes invitationals and conference championships as of 2014.
Current roster (2017)
Head Coach: Valorie Kondos Field
Associate Head Coach: Chris Waller
Assistant Coach: Randy Lane
Volunteer Assistant Coach: Jordyn Wieber
Gymnasts who have committed to attend UCLA in the future:
2017–18
Nia Dennis – Senior US National Team member
Pauline Tratz
2018–19
Norah Flatley – Junior US National Team member
NCAA Championships
With the titles in 2015, UCLA now has 34 NCAA individual titles and six team titles:
The Bruins men's gymnastics team won two NCAA national champions in 1984 and 1987. The program was discontinued during university budget cuts in 1993 despite a record of athletic and academic success.
