Pac-12 Championship Session One

Recap

The Big Storyline: With an impressive final two rotations, the fifth-seeded Bruins pulled away from the rest of the pack to notch a first place showing in the afternoon session and fourth place finish overall. Norah Flatley led the way for UCLA with her fifth-place all-around finish and led beam after the session. Arizona’s Malia Hargrove took fourth in the all-around and almost pushed the Wildcats for sixth.

Postseason Implications: Although it was determined prior to the meet, both Arizona and Washington posted scores high enough to lock themselves into regionals this season. With that, all eight Pac-12 schools will be competing in the postseason. UCLA’s total was high enough to earn itself a regionals seed, finishing ranked No. 14.

Conference Awards

• Gymnast of the Year: Jade Carey (Oregon State)
• Event Specialist of the Year: Maile O’Keefe (Utah)
• Freshman of the Year: Jade Carey (Oregon State)
• Coach of the Year: Tanya Chaplin (Oregon State)

Preview

• No. 18 UCLA | 196.795 NQS | 198.050 season high
• No. 27 Stanford | 196.415 NQS | 196.975 season high
• No. 29 Washington | 196.290 NQS | 197.275 season high
• No. 32 Arizona | 196.230 NQS | 196.850 season high

If you can only watch one meet, here’s why it should be this one…

If you’ve ever wanted to see a team potentially win a conference championship while not competing in the evening session, this is your meet. A rocky season relegated the Bruins to the afternoon, but their roster full of talent culminated in the conference’s second-best score of any team and makes UCLA a title contender. A conference championship may be a long-shot for this session’s other three foes, but they’re all in postseason contention and are in need of big totals to secure their spots.

If this is one of many meets you’ll be watching, don’t miss this…

Anchoring the Bruins’ vault lineup to open the meet will likely be Chae Campbell, who has stuck for a perfect 9.95 in her last two vaults of the regular season. She and Jordan Chiles have also combined for a few 10s on floor, meaning UCLA will also likely end the meet with strong performances capable of making up deficits. Speaking of floor, Stanford’s Kyla Bryant has had a stellar super senior season and will contend for the floor title again as one of the reigning champs. She could find herself on the podium in the all-around as well. Arizona’s Maila Hargrove has also been a standout on floor, as has Washington’s Skylar Killough-Wilhelm on beam.

What’s the bigger picture to keep an eye on?

The Huskies and Wildcats are the only Pac-12 teams not locked into a regionals bid, meaning both schools will need big scores to maintain their current postseason positioning. UCLA is also currently sitting outside of the top 16 seeded positions for regionals but has a great shot at nabbing one with a score in the high 196s or better.

By the Numbers

Past Champions

• UCLA: 19 titles, last won in 2019
• Oregon State: 6 titles, last won in 2013
• Stanford: 5 titles, last won in 2008
• Utah: 4 titles, last won in 2021

Records Watch

• Team: 198.400 (UCLA, 2019) | Vault: 49.675 (Utah, 2015) | Bars: 49.675 (Oregon State, 2013) | Beam: 49.675 (Utah, 2021) | Floor: 49.775 (UCLA, 2019)
• All Around: 39.825 (Richardson, UCLA, 2004) | Vault: 10.000 (Basaldua, Arizona, 1992) | Bars: 10.000 (Fenton, UCLA, 1993) | Beam: 10.000 (Ross, UCLA, 2017) | Floor: 10.000 (Brinkman, Arizona State, 1992)

Last Time Out

Utah and Maile O’Keefe got their postseasons off to a great start as she captured the all-around win en route to leading the Utes to their fifth Pac-12 title in only 10 years of competing in the conference. California and UCLA rounded out the team podium, and 11 athletes combined for ties to take home shares of event titles, led by O’Keefe’s three (bars, beam, floor).