Asian American women lead UCLA to Pac-12 championship in gymnastics

UCLA

Kyla Ross, seen here on the uneven bars, says this event is her favorite specialty.

LED BY A trio of Asian/Americans, UCLA claimed the 2018 Pac-12 Women's Gymnastics Championship over the past weekend (March 25-26).

Former U.S. Olympian Kyla Ross, Peng-Peng Lee and Katelyn Ohashi helped UCLA record a 197.500 team score to capture first place in the competition at McKale Center at the University of Arizona. Utah came in second with a 197.350 score followed by UC-Berkeley and Washington.

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Sophomore Ross and Utah’s MyKayla Skinner tied for first place in the all-around with a score of 39.675. Ross also led her squad on vault with a 9.900 and took home the win on bars with a 9.975. 

Ross, 19, was a member of the 2012 Olympic women's gymnastic team known as the Fierce Five, which won a team Gold Medal in London. She is majoring in bioengineering at the California university.

Toronto native Lee, who is competing in her last year for UCLA, received the only perfect score of the night for her performance on beam in the evening session, earning her gold with her fifth perfect 10 this year, four of which were on beam. This marks her eighth perfect score of her career.

Ohashi, a freshman, who won the additional honor as the Pac-12 Specialist of the Year, took home a share of the gold in a three-way tie with Stanford’s Elizabeth Price and Utah’s MyKayla Skinner, each posting a 9.950. The Bruins squad took home top marks on beam with a team score of 49.600 and on floor earning a 49.475.

UCLA

Asian/Canadian Peng Peng Lee on the beam for UCLA.

Monday (March 27), it was announced that UCLA's Lee has been selected as one of 10 finalists for the AAI Award, which is presented to the most outstanding senior female gymnast in the country.

Lee, who was on the Canadian Olympic team, has had a standout 2018 season, scoring a national-best four perfect 10s on balance beam and five perfect 10s overall. The eight-time All-American and 2017 Scholastic All-American will be graduating this year with a degree in sociology.

Next up for this loaded team is the Western Regionals where UCLA will likely receive the top seed. The top two teams from each of the six regionals , will then move on to the NCAA National Championships.

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