Swanson: UCLA gymnastics seeking improved vibes and results in new era

The vibes, they weren’t immaculate.

And in college gymnastics, they kind of need to be.

That’s what makes the sport, in this venue, so special. It’s a team thing, a departure from the often individualistic, one-for-one nature of the sport at the Elite level.

And it’s no secret that those vibes were off with UCLA last season, which began with multiple reports of some Bruins coming forward, accusing a teammate of singing racist lyrics, allegations that were met with counter-allegations of bullying. All of it made for a season of angst, frustration and disappointing results, as the Bruins missed the national meet in consecutive seasons for first time in the program’s decorated history.

A month later, in May, came the resignation of Chris Waller, who’d served as the Bruins’ head coach for the final three years of his 20-year-long coaching tenure at UCLA.

Three weeks later, the Janelle McDonald era began.

Sometimes in sports, it’s pretty clear when a team need to repair its defense. Or perhaps there’s a glaring issue with roster construction. Or maybe it’s a matter of getting and staying healthy.

Other times, what a team really needs is some salve for the soul. A palette cleanse. A positive, caffeinated jolt.

Seems that’s why UCLA hired McDonald. Not so much for her track record as an uneven bars coach, which is impressive: At Cal, she coached Maya Bordas to the Golden Bears’ first NCAA individual championship in 2021 and led the uneven bars squad to the regular-season No. 1-ranking, with an NCAA record team score (49.825).

So she can coach, but for the Bruins, McDonald’s most significant selling point had to be her sunshiny disposition, her “no negative talk” style. Her good vibes.

“Super-positive person,” said Selena Harris, UCLA’s freshman phenom. “Even though sometimes I be walking into the gym not a morning person, she’s always got that coffee and that smile and I’m like, ‘I guess I’ll crack a dimple for you.’”

That seems like what Athletic Director Martin Jarmond was referring to in the news release announcing McDonald’s hiring: “Her enthusiasm and energy is contagious.”

It could be effective, too.

We’ll find out soon, when a deep and talented Bruins team opens its season Saturday at the Super 16, the largest women’s collegiate invitational in the regular season. Three hundred-some gymnasts and 14 teams will converge on Las Vegas’ Orleans Arena for a two-day event, the second day of which will feature UCLA competing against formidable opponents like Arizona State, Auburn, BYU, California, Iowa, Michigan and Oklahoma.

McDonald hopes the Bruins will have reason to feel good about themselves afterward: “We want to be a team that competes consistently and confidently. And so that’s really our focus going into these first competitions, to get a few competitions under our belt and keep gaining confidence and work to show consistent gymnastics.”

UCLA first-year gymnastics coach Janelle McDonald (Photo courtesy Jesus Ramirez/UCLA Athletics)

UCLA’s years of consistent success under longtime coach Valorie Kondos Field made it a dream school for gymnasts. She retired in 2019, after leading the Bruins to seven NCAA championships and earning four national coach of the year awards – all while fostering a happy, loving environment.

“We start training at 7:45. By 7:50, I’ve had at least 20 hugs and ‘Good morning, Miss Val,’” Kondos Field said as she was stepping away.

That matters in college gymnastics, McDonald said on a Zoom video conference earlier this week, when I butted in on a round table with Daily Bruin reporters all asking good questions.

“Developing and building your team culture is probably one of the biggest parts of my job,” McDonald told us. “When your team is connected and is working towards a common goal, the sky’s the limit for what they can accomplish. And so definitely you know the team aspect is what makes NCAA gymnastics so special and so fun. And so rewarding.”

UCLA recently was rewarded for recruiting another top assistant coach from the Bay Area to get an always-promising program back up to speed.

After getting bounced in the first round of the NCAA tournament in 2021, the Bruins women’s soccer team captured the program’s second national championship last month, getting it done under first-year head coach Margueritte Aozasa, who arrived via Stanford and turned out to be precisely the calm, flexible leader the team needed.

UCLA’s endeavor to flip the script in gymnastics this season will, of course, have as much to do with the athletes performing as the woman coaching them up.

The other notable newcomer – on a team otherwise headlined by Olympic silver medalist Jordan Chiles, U.S. Olympic team alternate Emma Malabuyo and returning forces Margzetta Frazier and Chae Campbell – could help raise the bar.

UCLA gymnastics freshman Selena Harris (Photo courtesy Jesus Ramirez/UCLA Athletics)

Harris, the freshman who was rated by College Gym News as the No. 1 recruit in the 2023 freshman class, will debut Saturday in her hometown of Las Vegas, the springboard for a season that she hopes ends with some NCAA titles.

To say Harris is excited for it to get started in her own backyard, that’s an understatement: “Oh my god, I can’t even explain how I feel!” she said before she and the Bruins boarded the flight to Las Vegas on Thursday. “Being able to have everybody that’s helped me get to this point there to watch me for my first ever college meet, it’s a full-circle moment. It’s going to hype me up even more.”

Harris arrived in Westwood having won eight Level 10 titles and recording first-place finishes in the all-around, vault, bars and floor at the 2022 Level 10 championships.

“Obviously, when you have a freshman coming in with a lot of experience, it helps the entire team rise,” McDonald said. “And I think freshmen bring kind of a new light and joy and enthusiasm to every team each year.”

That could be just what the Bruins need, as their new coach is well aware.

Mirjam Swanson is a sports columnist for the Southern California News Group. For the previous four years, she covered the Clippers, the NBA and the L.A. Sparks. Before that, she wrote about LeBron James and the rest of the Dream Team at the 2004 Olympics (where, yes, they took bronze), Tiger Woods winning the U.S. Open on one leg, and also had a tour reporting on city government, education and the occasional bear in a backyard