FORT WORTH, Texas — The UCLA gymnastics team fell short in its bid for a national championship, but senior Jordan Chiles won her fourth NCAA event title with another impressive floor exercise routine on Thursday night.
Chiles scored a 9.9750 on the floor, adding this year’s title to the NCAA floor crown she won in 2023. She was also announced as the winner of the AAI Award, given to the top senior gymnast in the nation.
Minnesota took advantage of the Bruins’ struggles on the vault in their final rotation and clinched the program’s first appearance in the NCAA team final, joining top seeds Oklahoma, LSU and Florida to battle for the national title on Saturday.
Minnesota, the No. 13 seed, became the lowest seed to reach the final since the NCAA began seeding in 2014.
The Golden Gophers (197.4625) edged 2025 NCAA runner-up UCLA (197.2750) with a clutch performance on the uneven bars (49.3875) in the last rotation. Lacie Saltzmann posted a career-best 9.9625 that propelled Minnesota into history, while the Bruins scored a 48.9750 on the vault – their first sub-49 score all season and the second-worst vault score of any of the eight teams competing Thursday.
Defending champion Oklahoma led throughout the second semifinal and notched the highest overall score of the day at 198.3000. The Sooners will go for their fourth NCAA championship in five years on Saturday.
UCLA’s return to the team final was precarious throughout the meet, as Oklahoma jumped into a huge lead after the first rotation, and Minnesota’s strong postseason run continued. The Gophers led the Bruins after the first and second rotations thanks to strong marks on the balance beam (49.3875) and the floor exercise (49.4375).
UCLA was solid on the uneven bars in the first rotation, with four scores going 9.8625 or higher, but did not get any scores in the 9.900 range. Chiles, the 2023 and ’25 NCAA bars champion, had an uncharacteristic fall on a handstand early in her routine, and the 9.3625 took her out of all-around contention in her final collegiate meet. The Bruins totaled 49.2650, leaving them in fourth place.
The Bruins made up ground in the second rotation, scoring 49.4875 on the balance beam. All five counting scores were 9.8500 or higher, and the senior standouts, Chiles and Ciena Alipio, capped the rotation with scores of 9.9500 and 9.9375, respectively. UCLA’s two-event total of 98.7500 was just 0.075 behind second-place Minnesota, which had 98.8250.
UCLA made its move in the third rotation with its best event – the floor exercise. After Alipio’s 9.8125, Mika Webster-Longin followed with a 9.8875, and Sydney Barros scored 9.8625. Freshmen Tiana Sumanasekera and Ashlee Sullivan delivered big with scores of 9.8875 and 9.9375, Sullivan punctuating her routine with a stuck double tuck. Chiles wrapped up the rotation with her winning routine that scored 9.9750. She earned perfect 10s from three of the six judges. Their 49.5500 total on the floor moved the Bruins into second place with 148.3000, ahead of Minnesota’s 148.0750 and Arkansas’ 147.8750.
But the Bruins were unable to sustain the lead during the final rotation. UCLA had just three vaults in the 9.8500 or above range – Chiles’ 9.8875 and Riley Jenkins’ and Sumanasekera’s matching scores of 9.850 – and was forced to count a 9.5875, while Saltzmann and Minnesota were finishing strong on the bars.
The Bruins finished fifth overall on Thursday to end their season with a 33-4 record.
“I told the team that this one day doesn’t define our season,” UCLA head coach Janelle McDonald said. “We had a lot of really amazing moments and won a lot of meets and conference championships. There’s so much to be proud of. We’re going to learn from these moments, and the returners we have coming back next year, they’re going to learn from it. It’s going to light a fire to be a little bit more dialed in and a little bit more prepared mentally for these moments.”
Oklahoma took control in the first rotation, recording the second-highest vault score in NCAA championship history at 49.7500. Kiera Wells put up a career-high 9.9750 to take the top spot, and Hannah Scheible and Lily Pederson both added a 9.9500 to give the Sooners the highest vault rotation in the NCAA this season.
The Sooners also had a strong showing on the uneven bars, highlighted by Caitlin Smith’s career-high 9.9125 on just her fourth bar performance of the season.
Oklahoma senior Faith Torrez won the all-around title after stepping in for Addison Fatta, who missed every event except the balance beam due to a hamstring strain. Prior to Thursday, Torrez had sat out the floor exercise all season while only competing in vault five times.
Wells won the individual title in vault (9.9750), Florida’s Riley McCusker took the uneven bars (9.9875) and Minnesota’s Brooklyn Rowray finished first on the beam (9.9625).
Third-seeded Florida won the first semifinal for an opportunity to clinch the program’s fifth national championship.
eMjae Frazier posted Florida’s highest score on the floor as her team moved past LSU into first place at the midway point. Frazier also led the way for the Gators in beam and vault.
The Gators finished at 197.7875 after closing the meet with four consecutive 9.9000s or better on bars, highlighted by McCusker’s 9.9875.
LSU reached the championship for the 11th time in program history – and the third under head coach Jay Clark.
The Tigers held the top spot in four of the five events. Kailin Chio had two of them to help LSU edge Georgia in the final rotation. She tied teammate Kailia Lincoln for the top spot on vault, both putting up a 9.9625.
The Bulldogs were making their 36th appearance in the national championship and the first since 2019.
