Pac-12 Gymnastics Week 5 Recap: UCLA hits 198, five teams put in season highs

In Week 5, five of the Pac-12 gymnastics teams put in new season-high scores, while Cal reached their second straight 197.950. Meanwhile, UCLA upset Utah and Cal in becoming the first Pac-12 team to eclipse the 198 mark this season.

#18 Arizona @ #11 UCLA

Final score: UCLA 198.075 – Arizona 196.525

Arizona

It was a huge day on floor for the Wildcats, who put up a team score of a 49.450, with 9.9+ scores from Emma Strom, Malia Hargrove, and Caroline Herry. Hargrove impressed the crowd with her unique headstand, while Strom and Emily Mueller (9.875), in particular, did a great job with their playful, upbeat routines.

A crucial area for the Wildcats to clean up after this meet is beam. While the Wildcats all stayed on the beam, they had too many wobbles across the rotation, causing them to count three scores below a 9.8. Only two gymnasts – Mueller and Elena Deets – put in a score over a 9.8, with the two putting in a pair of 9.850s.

The Wildcats continue their travels this week with a road meet against Cal on Sunday, February 11.

UCLA

The Bruins are ready to claim their floor title back after an outstanding 49.750 on the event. They achieved this score without Chae Campbell even competing, who the Bruins opted to not use on floor while taking precautionary measures. Their 49.750 is just below LSU’s most recent effort for the nation’s season-high, but it’s still a huge win for the Bruins that led to their first 198 score of the year.

On top of floor, the Bruins put in strong scores on bars and especially beam. UCLA managed a 49.425 on bars and a hit from Frida Esparza in her return to the lineup. On beam, UCLA had four counting scores of 9.925 or better, led by Selena Harris’ near-flawless 9.975.

Harris also picked up another all-around title, after putting in a career-high 39.775 score while collecting bars, beam and floor wins versus Arizona. Nya Reed was tops on vault (9.95) and tied with Harris for the floor win with her own 9.975.

After two much-needed home meets, UCLA will be back on the road to face Oregon State this Friday, February 9.

#16 Oregon State @ #4 Utah

Final score: Utah: 197.750 – Oregon State: 196.100

Oregon State

This was not the meet the Beavers were hoping for on the road at Utah. The Beavers were unable to match some of the high bars scores they put up early in the year, going for a 49.175 in this meet. Without a strong bars score, the Beavers had little room for error on the other events.

Floor continues to be a struggle. Oregon State had to count a fall on floor after both Savannah Miller and Kaitlin Garcia fell during their routines. They also saw Sophia Esposito go out of bounds, costing another tenth. The highlight of floor was Ariana Young, who was the lone 9.9 for the Beavers on the event.

On a brighter note, Beaver transfer Sage Thompson returned to her old school, where she was met with tons of applause during her introduction. Thompson put in a 9.750 on vault and a 9.850 on bars.

The Beavers return home after a two-meet road stretch, where they’ll face UCLA on Friday, February 9.

Utah

It was another ten for Maile O’Keefe on beam this past Friday, with her third perfect mark on beam this season. This ten was extra special, tying O’Keefe with Theresa Kulikowski for the most perfect 10s in school history.

The Red Rocks also saw Grace McCallum shine, with McCallum scoring at least a 9.9 on all three of her events, including a 9.95 on bars, 9.925 on beam, and a 9.9 on floor.

Overall, Utah will be pleased they surpassed 49.500 on vault, beam, and floor. If freshman Ella Zirbes can start hitting consistently on bars, Utah will be even more balanced across the board.

The Red Rocks leave Utah this week to face Washington on Saturday, February 10.

#2 Cal, #1 Oklahoma @ #23 Arizona State

Final score: Oklahoma: 198.375, Cal: 197.950, Arizona State: 197.250

Cal

The Bears continue to approach the 198 mark. They fell just a bit short of crossing that mark and defeating Oklahoma on Friday, but they continue to look like one of the best teams in the nation. The Bears even held the lead over Oklahoma and ASU after two rotations, but Oklahoma responded to a mediocre vault rotation with a bars lineup for the ages that few could beat.

Overall, it was a consistent meet across the board, with the Bears peaking on beam with a 49.575. Mya Lauzon continued her winning ways, earning a share of the vault title with a 9.95. Another highlight of the meet was Kyen Mayhew on floor, with the freshman putting up her first 9.9 on the event.

The Bears will return home this weekend to host Arizona on Sunday, February 11.

Arizona State

Though ASU was unable to keep up with Cal and Oklahoma, they still put in a season high versus the top two teams in the country. The Sun Devils saved their best two events for last, putting up a 49.425 on beam and a 49.325 on floor. Given that floor is Arizona State’s lowest-ranked event, this kind of performance was huge for the team. Emily White crushed these two events with a pair of 9.9s while Jada Mangahas went 9.925 on beam and 9.850 on floor and bars. Anaya Smith tied for the vault title with a 9.95.

Head coach Jay Santos was pleased with the season high after the meet.

“Breaking into the 197 is huge for us. It’s gonna continue to help us build with that,” Santos said. “Gives us a great score to build on. Like I said, I’m really happy they did it against the teams that were here because it shows that we can stand up and do great gymnastics in the same arena as somebody else that was doing some really great gymnastics.”

After this meet, the Sun Devils depart for two straight road meets, starting with Stanford on Friday, February 9.

Washington @ Stanford

Final score: Stanford: 196.875 – Washington: 196.500

Washington

The Huskies put in a season-high score in their second straight road meet, reaching the mid-196 mark. Washington began to show progress on vault, as the team put up a 49.100. More importantly, the Huskies debuted two 10.0 start value vaults for the first time this season, with Lana Navarro performing a Yurchenko 1.5 and UC Davis transfer Emily Pires vaulting for the first time this season, performing a Yurchenko full-on, tuck off (9.725). The Huskies could get another 10.0 vault soon with Skylar Killough-Wilhelm also training a Yurchenko 1.5, but her full-twisting Yurchenko is also so consistent. She won the vault title with a 9.875.

The biggest highlight of the day came on beam, where Washington earned three scores of 9.9 or above to post a 49.375. First came freshman leadoff Chelsea Hallinan, who earned her first career 9.9. Taylor Russon also earned a career high on beam with a 9.925, while Killough-Wilhelm’s 9.925 helped her achieve a personal-best in the all-around with a 39.575. The two shared the beam title.

The Huskies return home this weekend and host Utah on Saturday, February 10.

Stanford

The Cardinal got their first win of the season while hosting the Huskies. After a shaky start with a 48.975 on vault, Stanford rebounded on the other three events to earn a season-high score. The highlights were bars and floor, the two events Stanford where eclipsed a 49.300. On bars, Anapaula Gutierrez won the event with a gorgeous stuck double front half dismount that earned her a 9.925. On floor, the Cardinal managed to hit all five routines, despite only using five gymnasts in the rotation. Amanda Zeng won with a 9.9.

Some other notes from the meet: fifth-year Chloe Widner has only competed bars the past two meets after recently tweaking her ankle. This meet also saw the debut of two of Stanford’s freshmen, who head coach Tabitha Yim has been trying to ease into competition. Sienna Robinson earned a 9.825 in her first beam performance while Victoria Cluck scored a 9.75 on vault with her full-twisting Yurchenko.

The Cardinal will stay at home in Week 6 as they host Arizona State on Friday, February 9.