LOS ANGELES — A standout performance on vault got the UCLA gymnastics team out to a high-energy start during Monday afternoon’s meet against Utah, but the Bruins faltered in the final rotation to lose a Pac-12 meet for the first time this season.
No. 4 Utah overtook No. 8 UCLA, 197.300-196.975, at Pauley Pavilion in a high-intensity rivalry meet that came down to the final event.
Selena Harris’ brilliant white smile and a stick closed out UCLA’s vault rotation when she scored her second straight 10.0. The perfect score was a repeat of her performance against Oregon State the previous week.
“She’s asking for coaching,” head coach Janelle McDonald said. “You’ll even see her in the warm-ups at a competition come up and be like, ‘hey, what do I need to do?’ She holds herself to that standard and I think that’s really what it takes to be as often successful as she’s been.”
Harris also won the all-around with a 39.675 score. Freshman Katelyn Rosen scored 39.350 across four events to finish third.
Rosen recorded a 9.900 on vault and Chae Campbell reached a 9.925 in the event for a 49.525 team score – the Bruins’ second-highest vault score in the last four seasons and the fourth-highest in the last 12 seasons.
“We’re just dancing at the end of the vault runway and we’re just so relaxed when we’re training,” Harris said. “I think the biggest thing is that we talk to each other. So I think that was very helpful, just communicating, because we’re all doing the same vault, essentially.”
Harris moved on to score a 9.95 to win uneven bars, then Margzetta Frazier tied a season-high in the event with a 9.900 as the Bruins took a 98.825-98.400 lead after two events.
Utah took a 147.900-147.700 lead after scoring 49.500 as a team on the floor exercise while UCLA recorded a 48.875 on the balance beam, leaving the fate of the meet to the final rotation.
“I felt like some of the (beam) scores affected their energy, so…
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