There are multiple “grandmas” on the UCLA gymnastics team. They’re the fifth- and sixth-year seniors who are called so because they have seemingly been through it all in gymnastics.
Nya Reed is one of them. She’s assumed a role in the matriarchy, even though it’s her first year with the Bruins as a graduate transfer from Florida. She’s helping No. 8 UCLA rise not just with her leadership, but also with her scores.
The Bruins, with Reed’s help, have the chance to continue to rise with a meet at No. 18 Oregon State on Friday.
“I am being that person that I wish I would have had in my undergrad experience,” Reed said. “I’m just trying to be the best person that I possibly can be and just be there for them. It’s been very, very exciting to be able to come to a new team and kind of just step up and do what really needs to be done.”
UCLA struggled on vault last season and was seeking ways to boost its scores when Reed reached out to the Bruins in an offseason email.
She had stepped away from gymnastics for a year for an undisclosed reason while continuing to pursue an undergrad degree in Applied Physiology & Kinesiology but earned All-America first-team honors in floor exercise and second-team recognition in vault in her senior year.
“Knowing her success that she had had on vault and floor in particular,” coach Janelle McDonald said. “I thought she was someone that could really be the puzzle piece of what we were putting together.”
After calls with McDonald and BJ Das, the Bruins’ floor choreographer, and an official visit to UCLA, bringing Reed to Westwood was a unanimous decision.
It paid off in UCLA’s win over Arizona on Feb. 4. Reed tied for first on floor with a 9.95. She also scored a season-high 9.950 on vault with her Yurchenko one and a half, which has a 10.0 start value, to win the event.
Her efforts earned her Pac-12 Specialist of the Week honors and helped the Bruins surpass a 198 team score for the first time this season. She now ranks ninth in the nation in average floor score.
“My first couple of meets were not the best, but I literally came back after the last home meet and just dialed in on landings,” Reed said after the meet. “We did so many vault landings it was ridiculous. My goal was to stick five vault landings every single day about this and that’s really what I did.”
Floor exercise has also been a journey for Reed. She was confused when Das planned a routine with two tumbling passes for her — she had always had three-pass routines leading up to this point. Das assured her that the dance choreography would take up a lot of energy and justify the decision.
“I did my first routine and I was like, I am literally so tired,” Reed said with a laugh. “I am so exhausted. My chest is cold. I cannot breathe. I can’t even think about doing a three-pass right now.”
Reed’s floor routine draws on her involvement with Delta Sigma Theta, a sorority that is one of nine Black Greek organizations under the National Pan-Hellenic Council. The music includes the Baltimore Bounce — a tribute to her DMV hometown area — as well as HBCU music, which she chose to raise awareness for the lack of gymnastics programs at HBCUs.
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UCLA is ranked No. 2 in the country alongside Oklahoma in terms of average event score on floor (49.530) and No. 5 in vault (49.335). Reed has said that she thinks the Bruins can be No. 1 in vault, and her belief has been infectious even beyond the event.
“She sees what we are capable of,” junior Emma Malabuyo said. “That pushes us. We want to be better when we see it in her and she kind of gives us this energy of like no guys, we’re that team.”
Reed may not be at UCLA for long, but her presence could exceed the length of her stay.
No. 8 UCLA at No. 18 Oregon State
When: 8 p.m. Friday
Where: Gill Coliseum, Corvallis, Oregon
TV: Pac-12 Oregon