Undefeated UCLA gymnastics team shines in victory over Utah

For the third straight week, Kyla Ross earned a perfect 10.

This time, it came on the uneven bars, boosting Ross to a 39.775 all-around score as UCLA’s second-ranked gymnastics team earned a 198.052-197.625 victory against No. 4 Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday. The win marks the second straight meet UCLA (10-0) has scored higher than 198.

“We’re just really taking it one week at a time,” coach Valorie Kondos Field said. “It’s not difficult to get up for every meet when, you know, when it’s my last season, when it’s our seniors’ last season.”

A sold-out crowd of 15,558 watched as the Bruins earned the win in Kondos Field’s last meeting with UCLA’s Pac-12 rival. The meet carries implications for the Pac-12 championships, with Utah and UCLA the top-ranked teams in the conference, but Kondos Field said the team is focused on resting and preparing for next Sunday’s contest against No. 1 Oklahoma.

She called Saturday’s competition “the best gymnastics of the season” for Utah and UCLA.

The Bruins grabbed the lead after the first rotation, with Ross’ perfect 10 on bars, and tied their season-high score on vault (49.425) to keep Utah out of reach.

Katelyn Ohashi led the Bruins on floor with a 9.925, tying Utah’s MyKayla Skinner and Sydney Soloski for the individual title in that rotation. In their final rotation, Madison Kocian fell on beam. But Norah Flatley, Ross and Ohashi eached earned higher than 9.9 to clinch the win.

Kondos Field is content with the team’s effort in practice and meets.

“We’re having a ball,” she said.