The No. 4 UCLA Bruins women’s gymnastics team reached the semifinals, but fell short of capturing another NCAA Championship title this season.
The Bruins have now reached the NCAA Championship 38 times and won seven titles, including their most recent in 2018. UCLA earned second place last year, but they weren’t able to get back to the NCAA Championship and make it eight this season, as they finished third in the semifinals and fifth in the NCAA Championship to end the season with a 33-4 record.
“I told the team that this one day doesn’t define our season,” said The R.C. Rothman UCLA Head Gymnastics Coach Janelle McDonald, according to UCLA Athletics press release. “We had a lot of really amazing moments and won a lot of meets and conference championships. There’s so much to be proud of. We’re going to learn from these moments, and the returners we have coming back next year, they’re going to learn from it, and it’s going to light a fire to be a little bit more dialed in and a little bit more prepared mentally for these moments.”
If UCLA could have won the title, it would have been the second title this month with the women’s basketball team winning the NCAA Championship on April 5. That being said, McDonald’s team still earned some hardware with multi-award winner and Olympian senior Jordan Chiles winning her second floor NCAA title and fourth NCAA title with a 9.9750 in her first place floor exercise routine. Chiles also won the award handed to the top senior gymnast in the nation, the (American Athletics, Inc.) AAI Award.
On top of Chiles accomplishments, McDonald earned her 100th coaching victory in four seasons by placing third in the semifinal placement.
The Big Ten’s Minnesota Golden Gophers advanced along with Oklahoma, LSU and Florida to play in the NCAA Championship on Saturday, April 18.
If Minnesota can continue their monumental postseason run and win it all, then they will make history as the ninth team to ever win the elusive NCAA title.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: UCLA gymnastics earns third place in the NCAA Championship semifinals
Reporting by Ryan Lorenz, UCLA Wire / UCLA Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
