No. 4 seed UCLA gymnastics has advanced to the Corvallis, Oregon, regional final and will compete against No. 5 seed Alabama, No. 12 seed Utah and No. 13 seed Minnesota on Sunday, with the two highest-scoring squads punching their ticket to the National Championship in Fort Worth, Texas. Daily Bruin contributor Kate Bergfeld analyzes the competitive field ahead of the matchup.
Alabama
Ranking: No. 5
Strength: Bars
Weakness: Beam
X-Factor: Azaraya Ra-Akbar
Alabama and UCLA have traded the No. 4 and No. 5 spots over the past few weeks.
Yet, the two have not faced each other in the regular season since 2016.
During the season opener at Pauley Pavilion 10 years ago, then-No. 6 UCLA triumphed over then-No. 3 Alabama.
But a lot has changed since then.
The Crimson Tide holds top-10 rankings in all events, with bars and floor resting at No. 2. While the squad earned its highest event tally of the season on bars with a 49.700, both rotations have been marked by fluctuations all season.
With a range of scores between 49.375 and 49.700, it’s difficult to predict what will happen next for the Alabama bars lineup. The team boasts Chloe LaCoursiere and Azaraya Ra-Akbar, who are the No. 1 and No. 2 barworkers in the nation with respective 9.965 and 9.960 NQSs.
Ra-Akbar received a perfect 10 on bars March 8, and is the only member of the squad to collect a perfect score this season. She is a standout athlete for Alabama, having competed in the all-around at the beginning of the season, anchoring the squad’s bars lineup. Ra-Akbar is tied for No. 11 in the national floor rankings, and rests at No. 7 in vault.
While floor is also ranked No. 2, the Crimson Tide has been more inconsistent on the event than on bars.
Alabama has struggled to maintain consistency, bouncing between 49.350 and 49.675. Its NQS is 49.507, however, it is boosted by Gabby Gladieux, who is currently tied for No. 5 nationally with a 9.955 NQS.
While their inconsistency could pose a problem, if they match their higher scores, the Crimson Tide could be competitive in both rotations.
Beam, however, has proven a weakness for Alabama. The squad has dropped below 49.000 twice this season, posting a 48.825 on March 6 and a 48.775 on March 8, leading to a team-low No. 10 ranking, with an NQS of 49.248.
While the squad has improved its scores over the past three weeks, it has not come close to its pair of mid-season 197.950s. The squad has yet to break 198, rather, it hovers around mid-to-low 197 scores, with an overall NQS of 197.498.
The Crimson Tide is coming off a second-place finish at the first round of regionals, where it tied its season-low on floor and received their third-lowest vault score for the second week in a row. They only collected two scores above 9.900, a pair of 9.925s from Ra-Akbar and Paityn Walker on bars.
Since the team has a pattern of up and down scoring, there is no telling which way they will go in the upcoming meet.
Utah
Ranking: No. 12
Strength: Vault
Weakness: Floor
X-Factor: Avery Neff
The floor is not a time to party for Utah.
And things took a turn for the worse when, against UCLA at Pauley Pavillion, Clara Raposo made her collegiate floor debut, which was cut short when she tore her ACL for the third time during a tumbling pass.
Ranked No. 15 nationally, the Red Rocks have dipped below 49.000 twice this season on the event, with a season-low 48.125 on Jan. 25, and a 48.925 on Feb. 6. While it has seen an upswing in the past several weeks and reached a season-high 49.725 on March 21, Utah has recently floated between 49.250 and 49.575.
However, both Makenna Smith and Avery Neff have reached a 9.975 in the event. Smith and Ella Zirbes are also tied for the No. 11 national rank, with an NQS of 9.935.
And Neff has surpassed her floor high with perfect marks on vault and bars. She holds the No. 3 ranking in the all around with an NQS of 39.670, and stands at No. 8 on vault, No. 11 on beam and No. 12 on bars.
Neff isn’t the only one in the rankings – Zirbes is tied for No. 14th on vault, the Red Rocks’ highest-ranked apparatus.
The team boasts a 49.358 NQS, good for No. 3 in the nation. Utah logged a season-high 49.600 on Jan. 10, with multiple athletes flirting with perfection. Alongside Neff’s pair of perfect scores, Ashley Glynn has a high of 9.975, Smith holds a 9.950, and both Zirbes and Zoe Johnson have tallied a 9.925.
However the Red Rocks have seen their own struggles on the event, posting a season low 48.925 on Jan. 30.
Utah rests at No. 9 nationally on both bars and beam. Season highs of 49.750 and 49.550, respectively, stand out across inconsistent showings on both rotations.
The squad notched its lowest event total of the season Jan. 10, with a 47.875 on beam after the rotation saw three falls. They scored in the 48 range once and have multiple scores that narrowly stayed above 49.
Similarly, bars has hovered near the bottom of the 49 range, with five scores of 49.250 or lower. Yet the event also produced the team’s highest rotation score of any event.
The Red Rocks’ path to Fort Worth, Texas, will depend on if they can continue their vault dominance and gain control over the bars and beam rotations.
Minnesota
Ranking: No. 13
Strength: Beam
Weakness: Bars
X-Factor: Arianna Ostrum
The Golden Gophers shine on beam.
So much so that they opted to end the second round of regionals on the event, earning a 49.450 that was just enough to pull them from behind into second place and into the regional final.
But the squad has occasionally struggled to maintain consistency.
They opened the season with a 48.775 and have seen periods of oscillating scores. A season high 49.525 on March 1 helped boost them to No. 12 nationally with an NQS of 49.222 – but they have also dropped below the 49 mark twice since the first meet of the season.
Even with team struggles, individual athletes have found success in the event. Jordyn Lyden and Ava Stewart both own a season-high of 9.950, and five athletes have reached 9.925, including Arianna Ostrum.
Ostrum, who consistently competes in three events and has consistently appeared in the all-around, is a key contributor for Minnesota. She nabbed a perfect 10 on vault and has reached at least 9.925 on every event, owning the highest average on vault and beam for the Golden Gophers.
The freshman is tied for No. 15 in the all-around and No. 14 on vault, with respective 39.415 and 9.910 NQS marks. Lyden also stands in the top 25 for beam and bars.
Although bars is Minnesota’s lowest-ranked event at No. 17, the squad has seen an upward trend. After opening the season with a 48.800 and only dropping once to a season low 48.475 on Jan. 24, the squad has steadily improved.
With scores increasing from 49.175, the Golden Gophers have slowly gotten close to their season-high of 49.425 from March 1, marking a 49.400 during the second round of regionals.
To complete the upset and make it to Fort Worth, the squad will have to remain on an upward trajectory with bars, and post similar scores to their season high on beam.
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