UCLA Gymnastics Hires Cal Assistant Janelle McDonald as Next Head Coach

Chris Waller stepped away from the Bruins in April after a tumultuous third season in Westwood, setting up another new era for the program.

(Photo Courtesy of UCLA Athletics)

Three weeks after the position came open, the Bruins have found their next team leader.

UCLA gymnastics announced it would be hiring Janelle McDonald as the program's head coach Monday evening. McDonald spent the past four seasons as an assistant for Cal, helping to lead the Golden Bears to their first-ever regular season Pac-12 title earlier this spring.

McDonald's arrival comes less than a month removed from coach Chris Waller resigning on April 19, marking an end to his three-year tenure in charge of the Bruins. Athletic Director Martin Jarmond and Senior Associate Athletic Director Dr. Christina Rivera were in charge of finding Waller's replacement, and they have done so by looking north and reeling in one of the top uneven bars coaches in the nation.

“I am honored and so grateful to be joining the UCLA Athletics family! From the moment I stepped onto campus, I could feel the Bruin pride and tradition of excellence around every corner,” McDonald said in a statement released by the team. “I would like to thank Martin Jarmond and Dr. Christina Rivera for entrusting my vision and passion to lead this program into its next chapter.”

Under McDonald's guidance, Cal came in seventh at the 2021 NCAA Finals – tied for their best finish in program history. McDonald also helped Maya Bordas win the Golden Bears' first-ever NCAA individual title that season, spearheading a bars rotation that finished the regular season ranked No. 1 in the country and tied the NCAA record with a team score of 49.825.

With McDonald serving as Cal's bars head coach, the program boasted six top-15 performers in the region in 2022 and three All-Pac-12 honorees on the discipline. The top seven uneven bars scores in Cal's program history all came with McDonald on the staff, and she has also helped produce six All-Americans on the event.

McDonald has been a certified gymnastics coach since 2001, and she spent the first 15 years of her career working at several top camps in the West region. Going from Legacy Elite Gymnastics to Desert Lights Gymnastics, McDonald picked up several individual honors and been on multiple widely-praised staffs all before earning her Bachelor's degree from Arizona State in 2011.

Starting at World Olympic Gymnastics Academy in 2012, McDonald coached all four events at the elite, optional and compulsory levels while mentoring and guiding several athletes who would go on to compete in NCAA action. One of those young gymnasts was Madison Kocian, a UCLA alum who earned gold and silver medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics before posting two perfect 10s on bars for the Bruins.

Kocian, viral UCLA star Katelyn Ohashi and legendary coach Valorie Kondos Field were among those who praised McDonald in statements provided by the school, each highlighting the confidence and energy they expect her to bring to the program.

“Janelle has been exemplary at connecting with and developing young people at every level of her coaching career,” Jarmond said in a statement. “Her enthusiasm and energy is contagious. She understands and respects the Bruin legacy and the commitment to excellence this program deserves as one of the best in the country. I am extremely confident in Janelle’s ability to lead the Bruins and am thrilled to welcome her to Westwood.”

McDonald becomes the second head coach Jarmond has hired since taking over the athletic department in July 2020, joining new women's soccer coach Margueritte Aozasa, who came in from Stanford to replace Amanda Cromwell in December.

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