Jordan Chiles' Perfect 10, UCLA Gymnastics' Season-Best Night Not Enough To Beat Utah
The Bruins needed a perfect 10 – if not to win, to end their biggest night of the year on a high note.
And that's exactly what they got.
Jordan Chiles, a freshman still just a few months removed from winning a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics, nailed her floor routine and got the home crowd rocking. When the score came in, she fell to the ground in celebration, swarmed by her teammates and coaches as they took a late lead over the Red Rocks.
"Honestly, I didn't even know what was going on, I was just trying to catch my breath," Chiles said. "Everybody started screaming and so I turned my head and I just started melting to the floor cause it was just an aweing moment for me. It was just silence, and then it was just – Yeah! It was just a lot of yelling."
Ultimately, it wasn't enough for the blue and gold to pull out a late upset victory in the dual-meet, but that didn't damper the mood at Pauley Pavilion.
No. 22 UCLA gymnastics (1-1) lost to No. 3 Utah (7-0) Friday night, falling 197.750-197.650. The Bruins notched season-highs in all four disciplines and Chiles won her first career all-around with a 39.700, though, leading to conga lines and dances in the final moments, regardless of the score.
The Red Rocks, by virtue of ranking and general hype, came in as heavy favorites, and they looked like it early against a UCLA team that opened 2022 with its worst meet in seven years. Still, senior Norah Flatley said Friday's tight finish proved that the Bruins were also a top team in the nation, regardless of how things went in January.
"We are one of the best in the country, and that's no doubt," Flatley said. "Yeah we had a rocky start, but that doesn't take away that we can be the best team in the country."
(Jared Tay/All Bruins)
Right off the bat, it didn't take long for the Bruins to fall behind, as senior Pauline Tratz's leadoff 9.775 on vault was immediately beat out by Jillian Hoffman's 9.900 on bars. UCLA made up some ground by posting five straight scores that knocked Tratz's score off the board, though, improving on each successive routine to notch a season-high 49.275 on vault.
Utah was busy doing even better on bars at the same time, posting a 49.550 behind Grace McCallum's perfect 10. As the two squads switched off with their routines in the two different disciplines, the Red Rocks kept outdoing the Bruins until sophomore Chae Campbell put up a 9.900 to anchor vault and beat out Maile O'Keefe's 9.875 to wrap up her team's run on bars.
That pattern resumed to start the next rotation, as Utah had four-straight attempts on vault get scored 9.900 or higher while UCLA failed to break that mark on bars in that same span. The script got flipped when Chiles and Flatley stepped up for their routines, as both posted performances that had the Pauley Pavilion crowd flashing double fives, calling for perfect 10s.
Neither Bruin reached that high mark, but Chiles' 9.925 and Flatley's 9.950 helped UCLA notch a season-high 49.450 on bars. Despite the noted improvements on each of their first rotations, the Bruins still got outdone by the Red Rocks on both and trailed 99.100-98.725 midway through the meet.
UCLA finally got off on a better foot than Utah when freshman Ana Padurariu's leadoff 9.900 on beam outscored Hoffman's 9.875 opening floor routine. Freshman Emma Malabuyo's fall set the Bruins back a bit while the Red Rocks got a 9.900 out of Abby Paulson, but Chiles' 9.900 far outdid Jaedyn Rucker's 9.700 on the other side of the gym.
McCallum scored a 9.950 on floor, though, and Flatley's slight overrotation on beam cost her dearly and set her up for a 9.825 on what could have been far more. O'Keefe followed that up with a 9.925 – just barely docked by her step out of bounds – while Campbell also tripped up a bit en route to a 9.825 on beam.
(Jared Tay/All Bruins)
Again, the Bruins had posted a season-high 49.325 on beam, but Sydney Soloski gifted Utah a 9.950 – even earning a 10 from one of the judges – to anchor their floor rotation and put UCLA down 148.700-148.050.
Amelie Morgan led off with a 9.900 on beam for the Red Rocks, only for Flatley to beat her out with a 9.925 to get the Bruins' rolling on floor. Senior Sekai Wright came inches away from stumbling out of bounds twice, managing to post a 9.825 while Adrienne Randall fell off the beam and scored 9.350.
Freshman Brooklyn Moors stepped outside the line on her floor routine, earning a 9.625, but McCallum fell off the beam and posted a 9.150. For a brief moment, midway through the final rotation, UCLA had taken its first lead of the night at 177.425-177.100.
Paulson's 9.900 on beam put Utah back ahead, only for Tratz to secure a 9.925 on floor just moments later. One judge even gave her a perfect 10 while the other only awarded a 9.850, but UCLA led 187.350-187.00.
Cristal Isa once again helped the Red Rocks gain ground with a 9.925, but the Bruins would one-up their opponent once again. Chiles stepped up and notched her perfect 10 to make it 197.350-196.925 with one gymnast left to go on each team.
"It literally reminded me of when Gracie Kramer got her first 10," Flatley said, referencing her former teammate's perfect score on floor against Washington on Jan. 31, 2020.
Chiles, who grew up in Vancouver, Washington, was there for that meet, so it was only fitting she replicated the massive moment and ensuing reaction two years later back at Pauley Pavilion.
O'Keefe nearly answered Chiles' breakout performance with a 10 of her own, going for 9.975 and wiping out McCallum's earlier fall. That put Utah up by enough that even a perfect 10 by Campbell wouldn't have given UCLA the win, but the sophomore still went out and scored 9.925.
"You could feel this unbreakable bond that propelled them through the whole night," said coach Chris Waller.
Sporting their celebratory sunglasses and marching around the floor with their home crowd cheering them on, the Bruins had come a long way from the season-opening tumble in Minneapolis, the behind-the-scenes drama and even last weekend's win over Arizona. The scores reflected that, but so too did the energy, both from the fans in the stands and the student-athletes with smiles plastered across their faces.
"There's no doubt that, at this point, every single person in this program knows that now we're just getting started," Waller said. "Here we go, UCLA gymnastics just got started this weekend."
UCLA's next meet will be on the road against Stanford on Feb. 12 at 2 p.m.
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