UC Davis’ showing at regionals marked its first appearance in the postseason since 2014, and its first since the format changed in 2019. Though the Aggies fell to Illinois in round one of the Washington Regional, making regionals following a rough start to the season proved that UC Davis is on an upswing.
The season wasn’t a fairytale for Davis; it had some struggles early in the year, and the team took those off meets as an opportunity to regroup and shift perspectives.
“We had to sit down as a team and say, ‘Okay, what do we need to do on the athlete side? And what do the coaches need to do on the coaching side?’,” said senior Megan Ray. The coaches found new ways to help gymnasts work through problem skills, changing assignments to include repetition on skills that had falls. The gymnasts focused on altering mindsets.
“It made it harder to practice, sure, but made competitions so much easier for us,” said Ray.
That ease is clear in the second half of the Aggies’ season. Around mid-February, 194s became 195s. By March, the team put up its first 196, and then did it two more times. While the shifts made during the season clearly had an impact, head coach Tanya Gomez has been working toward these results since she took over the program in 2023.
Ray said that Gomez connected her athletes with the support that UC Davis’ athletic department offers, in many cases support the team didn’t know existed. “We didn’t really know we had sports psychology,” Ray said. Now that they know, they can benefit both as athletes and as people outside the sport. For Ray, the mental work she has been doing has helped her to develop her personal sense of self outside of gymnastics.
It has given Ray the, “permission to fail, and [perspective on] being excellent, not perfect.”
Ray’s perspective shift has helped her develop into a strong leader on the team. Keanna Abraham appreciates the work of her captains, Ray and Amelia Moneymaker, in supporting the team both in and out of the gym, providing uplifting energy and outlets for negative emotions.
“We would do this thing called a little scream with each other,” Abraham said. The team would “get in a little circle and let out all that negative energy.” The outlet helped the team remain calm.
“I want everyone to know that we are adaptable,” Moneymaker said. Setbacks come, but Davis has built a culture that allows it to overcome them and move on. That was immediately evident in Ava Scafani’s postseason. She was injured in early February and expected to miss the remainder of the year, but worked hard in rehab to come back and compete at conference championships and regionals.
“I was so proud of her and her ability to go out there,” Ray said, noting Scafani’s strong bar routine as a highlight of regionals.
The season is long and the Aggies were tired after conference championships. The meet coincided with their finals week, and the hard work in the gym and the classroom had the team exhausted. But the chance to do something no Davis team had done since 2014 gave them the energy to push through.
“It was very hype in the gym,” Abraham said.
Abraham and Ray had previously competed as individuals, but since the Aggies hadn’t made a team appearance in so long, the allure of regionals took some education. The underclassmen weren’t really sure what they were getting into. The team leaders set the stage, and soon the entire group appreciated the incredible opportunity in front of them. The seed was planted.
“I’m really hoping we make it to regionals again and we finish a little higher,” Moneymaker said, noting she’d like to see the team advance directly to round two. She has big goals for herself, too, with individual national qualification on her mind.
While results are the icing on the cake, Abraham, Ray, and Moneymaker are primarily focused on other things. Camaraderie, relationships, and connection come first. The gymnastics flows from that.
“We really strive to be a team that supports each other, is inclusive, diverse, and supportive of everything that happens,” Ray said. She recognizes that a big change in recent years has been the support shown through both highs and lows.
That means Ray can compete, “knowing I have no regrets.”
Clearly, that mindset shift and strong leadership is working.
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Article by Emily Minehart and Jenna King
