On Sunday evening, Illinois (4-7, 1-4) will take on its toughest test yet. It hosts No. 5 UCLA (9-2, 5-0) at State Farm Center at 4 p.m. CST. UCLA is full of stars, and Illinois will have to be on top of its game in order to compete.
Illinois has sophomore Chloe Cho, who is ranked 8th on the uneven bars nationally and 6th in the all-around. Rankings have shifted from the previous week due to the beginning of the National Qualifying Scores (NQS).
NQS is how NCAA teams acquire post-season seeding, with the top 36 teams advancing to regionals. NQS underwent some changes this past offseason. It’s now calculated by taking a minimum of nine meets with a maximum of five home scores allowed to count.
These changes will incentivize teams to be consistent throughout the season. It penalizes teams that typically receive higher scores at home and lower scores away. Now that NQS is in play, meets matter more than ever, and the gymnasts below are going to be key players.
Must-watches for UCLA
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Jordan Chiles: The No. 1 gymnast in the country for all seven weeks of the NCAA season has been Olympic gold and silver medalist Jordan Chiles. The senior claimed all seven Big Ten Gymnast of the Week titles and is competing well above the typical NCAA standard of difficulty. She competes a big Yurchenko double twist, which is considered the standard elite vault. She also competes a floaty Piked Tkatchev to Pak Salto combination, clean transitions between skills on the beam, and a show-stopping double layout to open her floor exercise.
Floor is where Chiles is undeniable, scoring five tens for the past five weeks. She has mentioned before that she wants to break the all-time record for NCAA tens. Three athletes currently hold the record. Jenny Hansen of Kentucky, Jamie Dantzscher of UCLA and Trinity Thomas of Florida, all have 28 tens. Chiles has 13.
Ciena Alipio: Senior Ciena Alipio has had a breakout senior season for the Bruins after battling with foot and other injuries throughout her entire career. She was a beam specialist for her first three seasons and scored her first perfect 10 on the balance beam last year in Ann Arbor, Michigan, during the Big Ten Championships en route to becoming the conference champion. She added bars and floor this season, where she got career highs of 9.950.
UCLA lost many star athletes last season, including Chae Campbell and Olympians Emma Malabuyo and Brooklyn Moors. This step up by Alipio has been crucial and impressive amongst the star-studded freshman class.
Tiana Sumanasekera: Speaking of young stars, freshman Tiana Sumanasekera was so close to making the 2024 Paris Olympic team, being labeled as an alternate at the Olympic Trials. Her case for the team was reliant on her smooth and difficult beam and floor routines, but she has evolved into an all-around athlete for the Bruins.
As an elite gymnast, she struggled immensely with the uneven bars, typically scoring in the high 11.000 to low 13.000 range. However in college, she’s been able to score a 9.900 twice. Her floor exercise routine pays homage to her Sri Lankan heritage, and she’s been the Big Ten Freshman of the Week three times.
What can Illinois do?
In order to be competitive against these high-flying and high-scoring athletes, Illinois first has to not count any falls, as it did twice last week against Nebraska. It will also need to capitalize its biggest routines from Cho, junior Lyden Saltness, junior Olivia Coppola and freshman Summer Clancy. The Illini will need a little luck as well, but in gymnastics, anything can happen.
