UCLA in ‘Bruin bubble’ for Pac-12 meet against Utah
UCLA gymnastics coach Janelle McDonald calls senior Chae Campbell “sneaky competitive.” She doesn’t always show her competitive side in her mannerisms but rather internalizes it.
“There’s no doubt that I am really competitive, but I keep a very calm demeanor on the outside,” Campbell said. “But inside, I want to win.”
This afternoon’s meet against No. 4 Utah at Pauley Pavilion will have Campbell doing mental math to figure out how many points the Bruins need to win each event. The Utah meet can bring that competitive side out of No. 8 UCLA, but it also gives gymnasts a chance to sharpen their focus in a postseason-like atmosphere.
“People put so much pressure around these meets and we’re just there to have fun,” Bruins senior Frida Esparza said. “It’s dealing with the outside comments, whether it comes from the coaches or like fans, people hyping it up so much, and then we just stay in our little Bruin bubble.”
The meet will give UCLA its second chance to beat Utah after it surpassed the Red Rocks in January for third place at the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad. The Bruins have yet to lose a conference meet this season and it’ll also be the final UCLA vs. Utah meet in the Pac-12’s existence.
Today’s lineups will look different from the ones in January. Emma Malabuyo is in Cairo, competing in a World Cup competition, leaving vacancies in the uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise lineups.
McDonald told reporters Friday that Alex Irvine, Madisyn Anyimi or
Paige Anastasi will likely compete on bars. Brooklyn Moors, Campbell or Esparza could be on beam. Floor exercise is still undecided.
“This week in the gym,” McDonald said, “I feel like a lot of those people who were kind of on the bubble of being in the lineup — those athletes have really been intentional about the work they’ve put in this week, which has been really great to see.”
Esparza changed up a leap in her beam routine in preparation and is also in the midst of a confidence boost after tying a career-high score on bars in the Bruins’ most recent win over Oregon State. Her previous scores this season were 9.825, 9.200 and 9.375.
“These are skills I’ve been doing my whole life,” Esparza said. “I was putting a lot of pressure on myself because this is a team sport and anything I do affects everyone else. I was putting way too much pressure on myself on having to be perfect every single time. In gymnastics, if you try too hard, nothing’s going to go right.”
Multiple Bruins also saw success against Oregon State, including Selena Harris, who scored a perfect 10 on vault. Harris currently holds the sixth-best average all-around score in the country.
Campbell and graduate student Nya Reed did not compete in the meet due to minor injury “flareups,” according to McDonald, but the coach expects them to be back again for
Utah. Campbell said she will compete on bars and vault but is unsure of her participation in floor exercise.
The extra preparation time that a rare Monday meet provides can allow for gymnasts to rest and deal with midseason aches that can come from doing hard landings every weekend. The Bruins finished their training Friday afternoon with a yoga session.
Multiple UCLA gymnastics alumni are expected to be in attendance for today’s meet, which adds to the gymnasts’ excitement for a dual meet that in some ways is a rehearsal for the Bruins’ national championship aspirations.
“It kind of resembles that postseason feeling,” Campbell said. “It does give you that prep of like, ‘OK, how do you hit when you know you’re going up against another top team?’”