UCLA gymnastics finishes first in inclusive NCAA Regional semifinal

UCLA’s gymnasts huddled in the center of the floor for one last team cheer before the start of the NCAA Regional Semifinal.

Then the circle broke.

Kyla Ross leaned back to her left, smiling as she motioned for a gymnast in a red and black leotard to join the Bruins. It was Northern Illinois’ Anna Martucci, one of two gymnasts who competed alongside the Bruins on Friday as individual qualifiers for the NCAA Regionals. She jogged onto the blue floor and stood beside Ross. The athletes in the expanded huddle cheered in unison, then turned away smiling.

“Whenever we have guests,” senior Macy Toronjo said, “I feel like we just bring people into the family immediately.”

To Valorie Kondos Field, it’s not a coincidence that moments like this overlap with the team’s success, the latest a first-place finish Friday, scoring 197.675. The No. 1-seed Bruins advance to the Regional Final, at 4 p.m. on Saturday, to face Nebraska, Michigan and Alabama. The top two teams in that meet will advance to the NCAA Championships in Forth Worth.

Kondos Field says the quality of her team’s gymnastics is the product of its culture. How they act on planes and at hotels while traveling to competitions, and how they treat others.

“We rarely talk about gymnastics,” Kondos Field said. “We always talk about culture, and we always talk about having integrity.”

It is an ongoing conversation that Kondos Field began emphasizing a few weeks ago at team meetings. She called it fixing “cracks in the foundation,” as she implored them to focus on manners and maturity as much as athletics.

“We’ve been competing so well all season that we’ve kind of gone into an automatic mode,” junior Kyla Ross said. “But we still have to … be that close-knit team to be emotionally there for everyone.”

UCLA did exactly that Friday, starting with Ross’ perfect score on vault, her ninth straight meet with a 10, boosting the Bruins to an early lead after the first rotation. She followed that with a 9.975 on the uneven bars and a 9.95 on beam.

Junior Madison Kocian contributed a 9.925 on the uneven bars to compliment Ross’ performance, then senior Katelyn Ohashi bolted to the beam. She hurriedly warmed up to compete at the leadoff spot. She usually goes last in the rotation.

“She ran over here and was like, ‘Ah, I’m not used to this,’” Kondos Field recalled.

But Ohashi volunteered to lead off, anyway, giving junior Grace Glenn, the usual leadoff gymnast on beam, rest as she recovers from a big toe injury. Sophomore Nia Dennis volunteered to take Glenn’s place last in the lineup, and earned a 9.85. Floor saw more fresh faces step up, as Kondos Field rested Ross and Ohashi.

“My freshman year, I was so not used to that,” Ross said of late substitutions. “I was like, ‘Miss Val, why can’t you just tell me if I’m competing or not?’”

Two aspects of UCLA’s team make those last-minute lineup changes possible — the Bruins’ depth, and their willingness to put aside individual success.

“It really makes you put your team over self,” said Toronjo, who was a late addition to the floor lineup Friday. “Just knowing that I’m gonna do everything I can, whether I’m competing or not, to support my teammates, no matter what.”

The accolades have come for Ross and the Bruins all season, but Kondos Field recently has seen a change in her team — intentional kindness. In how the Bruins supported each other and embraced competitors, from Ohashi and Kocian fist-bumping Martucci before her floor routine, to Ross hugging each top finisher during the awards ceremony.

It was something Kondos Field displayed in the empty stadium after the competition, greeting Martucci and the Northern Illinois coaching staff on an otherwise-empty gym floor.

“You,” she said to the athlete in red, wearing a radiant grin, “were stunning.”

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blake.richardson@latimes.com

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