vital role

Freshmen have played a big role in UCLA‘s strong start to the gymnastics season, accounting for roughly 37% of its routines ahead of Sunday’s meet against Michigan State.

Leading the way has been Ashlee Sullivan, who was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week after fifth-ranked UCLA swept the conference’s weekly honors for the second time this season.

Against Nebraska last week, Sullivan recorded career-highs in three events and tied for first on uneven bars (9.9) and floor exercise (9.875).

“We’re really relying on our freshmen and the experience that they had previously in their elite careers and things like that,” UCLA coach Janelle McDonald said.

Three meets into the season, Tiana Sumanasekera is the only freshman to compete in every event, with Nola Matthews and Sullivan making appearances in three.

“We always make the decision that’s best for the team, and so we’re gonna make our lineups not necessarily based on who gets to do all-around, but who are the best six for each event,” McDonald said.

Matthews and Sullivan are practicing for all events, with the latter close to participating on beam.

UCLA gymnast Ashlee Sullivan performs her floor routine during a quad meet in Utah on Jan. 10.

(Tyler Tate / Associated Press)

“We kind of restructured [Ashlee’s] beam routine about a week and a half ago, just to be a little bit cleaner,” McDonald said, “but she’s known as a beamer.”

McDonald is excited to see her freshman go up against a challenging adversary like No. 21 Michigan State.

“So far this season, they’ve showed up and just really delivered,” McDonald said. “I’m excited to see them get to have this opportunity against a great, great team.”

A Big Ten rivalry in the making

Michigan State, the 2024 Big Ten champion, will offer a big test for the Bruins as the two teams renew their budding rivalry.

“Some of our favorite memories were against Michigan State last year, I know the dual meet we had was just incredible [with] us coming back,” McDonald said.

During a dual meet in February, UCLA came back from 0.7 points down in the last rotation to win. They met again in the Big Ten championship, and Michigan State led after two rotations, 99.1-98.9. After an incredible floor rotation — highlighted by a perfect 10 from Jordan Chiles — and a school-record 49.75 on beam, the Bruins took the title.

This year’s meet will be shown live on Fox at 10 a.m. PST, marking the second time this season the Bruins have been on national television.

“It’s just a very cool opportunity to get to be a representative of our sport and get some different eyes on our sport,” McDonald said. “It’s not something we take lightly and it’s definitely something we want to show up for.”

Balancing NCAA success with Olympic dreams

With the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics fast approaching, McDonald and her coaching staff understand the importance of maintaining and developing the elite skills in their gymnasts that will carry them in national and international competition.

Sumanasekera has been working with UCLA coaches to improve her NCAA routines while also bolstering the elite skills that could improve her chances of making the U.S. Olympic team.

“It’s really about maintaining elite skills, making sure she has them in her pocket so that we can just pull on them when it’s time to build those elite routines back up,” McDonald said. “There’s so many different people that have a hand in our program to help them continue to feel good and to be as strong as possible in all of those things.”