The UCLA women’s gymnastics team has started the season strong, with four freshmen – Nola Matthews, Tiana Sumanasekera, Ashlee Sullivan, and Jordis Eichman – making their debut on the floor during their meet against Washington, California, and Oregon State. Her jitters came and went during the first meet of her college career. Now, it\u2019s time for UCLA freshman Nola Matthews to focus on her training and routines.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow I practice is the standard that I want,\u201d Matthews said, \u201cso now, I just need to implement that into competition.\u201d The UCLA women\u2019s gymnastics team sent four freshmen (Matthews, Tiana Sumanasekera, Ashlee Sullivan, and Jordis Eichman) to the floor during their meet against Washington, California, and Oregon State on Saturday. After earning three wins during the competition in Washington, the Bruins swept the Big Ten Conference weekly awards, including freshman of the week award for Sumanasekera after she placed second on the balance beam and the floor exercise.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have so much experience just through their time with being elite athletes and things like that,\u201d coach Janelle McDonald said about her freshman class. \u201cI think it really is going to bode well for them for their longevity and their NCAA career.\u201d \u201cI\u2019m excited to see them continue to grow throughout the season and really on what they\u2019re capable of doing out on the competition floor,\u201d she added. The win made the Bruins the No. 1 team in the country, a distinction they say they are not going to worry about. Instead, they\u2019ll just concentrate on themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re only going to be focused on what we\u2019re doing, staying in that bubble, staying together, staying as one team,\u201d Matthews said.<\/p>\n
When they first hit the floor, McDonald noticed nerves from the freshmen. Their execution wasn\u2019t perfect and they performed a bit too tight. Since it was their first meet, their coach expected it, but what impressed her the most was their adjustments. \u201cWe\u2019re going to have so many things throughout the year thrown at us and really being resilient through those moments and just really being able to turn the page and focus on what\u2019s next is just so crucial to being a successful team,\u201d McDonald said. The grit they showed was supported by the leadership the newcomers got from Jordan Chiles and the rest of the returning members.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just thought Jordan did that phenomenally and our returners did as well,\u201d McDonald said. \u201cThose were the things that I took away that I was really excited about.\u201d \u201cThey\u2019ve really taken all of us under their wing, and they\u2019ve been there for us, especially when we\u2019re having bad days,\u201d Matthews added.<\/p>\n
McDonald understands that the leadership skills her returning team members bring to competition is the key to success for the Bruins this season. In order for UCLA to maintain its No. 1 ranking it needs to worry about what it can control and not the noise from outside. \u201cWe\u2019re really focusing on what we can do to continue to improve and get better in our gymnastics and our connection with each other and how we show up for each other as we head into this next meet,\u201d she said. \u201cYou can\u2019t always control your scores, you can\u2019t always control your ranking, but you can always control how you show up in each moment and how you prepare for those opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their next meet will be against Oklahoma, Utah, and Louisiana State on Saturday on national television. The lights will be bright, a target will be on their back as the best program in the country, but they will tune out the noise by focusing on their work. \u201cWe all just have to keep our heads down, keep doing what we\u2019ve been doing,\u201d Matthews said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been working so hard this preseason and I feel like we\u2019re in a really good spot.\u201d<\/p>\n
The UCLA gymnastics freshmen have shown great promise in their debut, and with the guidance of their experienced teammates, including Jordan Chiles, they are poised for a successful season. By focusing on their training, routines, and teamwork, they can maintain their No. 1 ranking and achieve their goals.<\/p>\n
Q: Who are the four freshmen on the UCLA women’s gymnastics team?
\nA: The four freshmen are Nola Matthews, Tiana Sumanasekera, Ashlee Sullivan, and Jordis Eichman.
\nQ: What award did Tiana Sumanasekera receive after the meet against Washington, California, and Oregon State?
\nA: Sumanasekera received the freshman of the week award after placing second on the balance beam and the floor exercise.
\nQ: What is the team’s approach to maintaining their No. 1 ranking?
\nA: The team is focusing on what they can control, such as their training, routines, and teamwork, and not worrying about external noise or their ranking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Introduction to UCLA Gymnastics Freshmen The UCLA women’s gymnastics team has started the season strong, with four freshmen – Nola Matthews, Tiana Sumanasekera, Ashlee Sullivan, and Jordis Eichman – making their debut on the floor during their meet against Washington, California, and Oregon State. Her jitters came and went during the first meet of her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":26825,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-26823","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/ca-times.brightspotcdn.com\/dims4\/default\/2e614ec\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/3746x1967+0+0\/resize\/1200x630!\/quality\/75\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa4%2F00%2F8ac9f92c4c1cbb1ea8a56c123a5e%2Fimage0.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26823"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26823"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26826,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26823\/revisions\/26826"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/los-angeles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}