Name: Ciena Alipio
Club: West Valley, CA
High School Graduation Year: 2022
NCAA Team: UCLA
Commitment Announcement: Instagram
Social Handles: Twitter | Instagram
Personal Bests | Level 10
| Vault | Uneven Bars | Balance Beam | Floor Exercise | All Around |
| 9.675 | 9.550 | 9.575 | 9.700 | 37.700 |
Personal Bests | Elite
| Vault | Uneven Bars | Balance Beam | Floor Exercise | All Around |
| 14.233 | 13.700 | 14.400 | 13.400 | 54.250 |
Videos
| Vault | Uneven Bars | Balance Beam | Floor Exercise |
| 2021 Winter Cup | 2021 Winter Cup | 2021 Winter Cup | 2021 Winter Cup |
Recruit Rating*
| Vault | Uneven Bars | Balance Beam | Floor Exercise | All Around | Rating |
| 20 | 16 | 23 | 21 | 80 | ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
*For more on our Recruit Rating system, please take a look at our dedicated landing page.
About Ciena
Alipio is a U.S. senior international elite. She competed at the junior U.S. Classic and the junior U.S. championships in 2017, 2018 and 2019, winning silver on balance beam both in 2018 and 2019. In 2019, she was also crowned all around and bars champion at the American Classic. She most recently competed at the 2021 Winter Cup and at the March National Team camp, where she was third on bars. Internationally, Alipio competed at the City of Jesolo Trophy in 2019, where she won silver on beam and bronze on vault.
What She Brings to UCLA
Vault
- Skill: Yurchenko full/Yurchenko 1.5
- Results: third place at the 2019 City of Jesolo Trophy
- Margin of Improvement: At the Winter Cup last February, Alipio performed a solid Yurchenko full. Back in 2019, she upgraded to a Yurchenko 1.5, which was well performed, despite a slight knee bend in the air.
- Impact on the Team: With Jordan Chiles, Selena Harris and Brooklyn Moors all expected to perform 10.0 start value vaults by the time she gets to UCLA, Alipio’s Yurchenko full will not be the most impressive vault in the lineup but it could still be useful. If she can bring back her Yurchenko 1.5, she could have a more significant impact on the lineup.
Uneven Bars
- Skills: stalder full pirouette, Maloney to Pak salto, Van Leuween, piked Jaeger, double tuck/full-in dismount
- Results: 2019 American Classic champion
- Margin of Improvement: Alipio seems to struggle with some of the more difficult skills she performs in elite, but Chris Waller will likely be able to choose her best skills to construct a solid collegiate routine.
- Impact on the Team: UCLA will be stacked with talent on bars in 2023 but if Alipio can perform a clean routine, she will be expected to contribute to the lineup.
Balance Beam
- Skills: full turn, side aerial to LOSO to LOSO, BHS to BH to layout to two feet, switch leap to switch leap half, split leap to side somi, leap jump half on the side of the beam, front aerial, leap jump to straddle jump, straddle jump half on the side of the beam, BHS to BH to double twist dismount
- Results: second place at the 2019 junior U.S. nationals
- Margin of Improvement: This is Alipio’s best apparatus. She has plenty of skills to choose from to create her collegiate routine. Some of her best elements are her side aerial to LOSO series, her switch leap to switch leap half and her front aerial. They would form a stellar beam routine.
- Impact on the Team: UCLA will have a lot of talented beam workers in 2023 but Alipio may be the very best.
Floor Exercise
- Skills: double pike, double tuck, Memmel, switch ring to switch leap half, 1.5 twist to front full, tour jete full, double twist
- Results: 11th place at the 2019 junior U.S. championships
- Margin of Improvement: Alipio doesn’t perform very difficult tumbling passes but her execution is good and her leaps are excellent.
- Impact on the Team: UCLA will have a lot of talented floor workers who will likely compete more difficult tumbling passes than Alipio, but her musicality and technical precision could be an asset for the team here, too.
READ THIS NEXT: Recruit Files: Selena Harris, UCLA
Article by Talitha Ilacqua
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