Veteran experience has proven time and time again to be oh-so-valuable.
But sometimes, a fresh face can do the trick.
For UCLA gymnastics, this season will be all about finding the perfect balance.
The Bruins concluded their last campaign in fifth place across the two national semifinal meets with a score of 197.275. The conclusion of the 2026 season also marked the end of a handful of standout Bruin gymnasts’ time donning the blue and gold.
Jordan “That Girl” Chiles punctuated her time with UCLA by claiming her second national floor title with a 9.975. Her senior season was a testament to her talents and the cherry on top of her collegiate career.
As a Bruin, Chiles collected 131 individual victories, some of which were Big Ten and national titles. She tallied 19 perfect 10s – 12 of which were on floor – and anchored all but one event during the Bruins’ 2026 season.
That one event was beam, over which former Bruin Ciena Alipio reigned supreme, posting 9.900 or above at nearly every meet as anchor. She captured the 2025 Big Ten beam title as well as multiple All-American beam honors in her time at UCLA. During her senior year, she broke into the floor and uneven bars lineups as well, consistently making appearances in both events throughout the season.
With the departures of Chiles and Alipio, UCLA will need to fill all of its anchor positions for the upcoming season.
And a crop of incoming athletes may be able to help bolster the squad.
Incoming freshman Zoey Molomo boasts an abundance of elite and international experience. She was a member of the 2022 and 2024 U.S. National Teams and was the youngest athlete to compete at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials, where she placed eighth on beam. She also won team gold at the 2022 Pan American Championships in addition to three individual medals across the 2022 and 2025 Jesolo Trophy meets in Italy.
An elite athlete at Metroplex Gymnastics, Molomo was fifth all-around at the 2024 American Classic and a top eight all-around finish at the 2022 U.S. Championships. She has found individual success with five medals at the Winter Cup – three for vault, including a gold medal in 2025.
That’s promising for the Bruins, given that vault is the place Chiles’ absence may be felt the most. The three-time Olympic medalist competed a 10.000 start value vault every meet, and her Yurchenko double full earned perfect marks Jan. 17. She consistently scored a 9.900 or above, making her a reliable source of points for the Bruins.
Vault, though, was the straw that broke the camel’s back in the national semifinal. Then-junior Katelyn Rosen, who was second in the lineup, fell on her landing and consequently received a 9.2125, which put additional pressure on the rest of the team to perform. Another landing mishap from then-sophomore Mika Webster-Longin, who tallied a 9.5875, ultimately created a hole too deep to climb out.
Aside from Chiles, Madisyn Anyimi, who earned a 9.805 NQS on vault last season, also graduated, leaving another empty spot in the vault lineup.
Enter: Cami Tassone.
As the 2025 Development Program Nationals, 2025 Region 5 and Level 10 State Champion on vault – the latter of which she secured with a perfect 10 – Tassone will bring needed skill to a rotation that often leaves fans biting their nails.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see her in other events, either. Tassone was the 2024 Development Program Nationals all-around champion, with a second place finish on floor and third on bars and beam. In 2025, she was the runner up in both the all-around and uneven bars.
That same year, she took the all-around, bars and beam titles at the Region 5 Championship alongside a sweep at Level 10 State Championships. The 2025 Nastia Liukin Cup resulted with Tassone taking silver on vault and floor en route to a bronze all-around finish.
The transition from elite to collegiate gymnastics is often rocky, so it helps to go into it with a familiar face. Luckily, Michelle Pineda, Molomo’s Metroplex Gymnastics teammate, will also begin her Westwood career this season.
Like Molomo, Pineda has international experience. She is a member of Mexico’s National Team, having won four medals at the 2024 Pan American Championships: gold in the all-around and balance beam, silver on floor and bronze in the team competition.
She has seen floor success at other competitions, including bronze at the 2025 Antalya World Cup and gold at the 2023 American Classic, the latter of which she paired with a bronze all-around finish.
And if there is any program that specializes in floor, it’s UCLA.
The Bruins’ “floor parties” were in full swing through the 2026 campaign, with last year’s freshman class jumping right into the fray. Sophomore Tiana Sumanasekera drew on her Sri Lankan heritage for inspiration, earning a NQS of 9.905 her freshman year. Sophomore Ashlee Sullivan also made waves on the floor, channeling Britney Spears for her routine. She consistently competed in the fifth position, right before Chiles, and ended the season with a 9.930 NQS.
Another face broke into the floor lineups partway through the season, one who had taken part in the “Bruin magic” for the past three seasons.
Current senior Sydney Barros entered the floor lineup at the second meet of the season against Michigan State with a 9.900 and retained her position throughout the rest of the campaign. While she posted five 9.900 scores, she stepped out of bounds on her tumbling pass on two different occasions. She broke into the beam lineup Jan. 30 with a 9.850.
Barros also competed on bars, where she earned a season-best of 9.950 at the Big Ten Tournament, tying with Chiles for the title. Chiles and Alipio were both regulars in the beam lineups as well, serving as the anchor and leadoff, respectively.
Their departures might leave the perfect entrance point for the 2024 Nevada bars champion.
Incoming freshman Brooke Katz will join the program as a Level 10 gymnast at Flip for Me Gymnastics in Las Vegas. At Development Program Nationals, she came in fourth, sixth and fifth on bars in 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively. At Level 10 Region 1 Championships, she won back-to-back bars titles in 2023 and 2024, also coming in second for the all-around in 2024.
Molomo, Tassone, Pineda and Katz bring undeniable experience and skill. They’ll now be tasked with applying that to a novel environment: collegiate gymnastics. Luckily for them, the Bruins have a talented crop of veterans who can guide them through the adjustment. Those freshmen will have Chiles, too, who announced Sept. 1 that she’d return to the Bruins as a student coach.
[Related: After a historic run, Jordan Chiles returns to UCLA gymnastics as a student coach]
The Bruins may have lost some of their top performers, but they’re certainly capable of putting together new lineups that could help them make another run at a national title.
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