LOS ANGELES — Ciena Alipio stared up at the Pauley Pavilion crowd as she took a deep breath from under the uneven bars, the weight of years of yet-realized effort lifting off her shoulders as the senior leaped from the ground to swing.
“I was so excited and nervous at the same time,” Alipio said. “I hadn’t competed bars or floor in Pauley before.”
The Pauley Pavilion crowd, attended mostly by UCLA gymnastics die-hards at the preseason Meet The Bruins intrasquad meet Dec. 21, roused with cheers in notice of Alipio’s bars routine as she stuck her dismount. Teammate Jordan Chiles hopped in the air as her screams reverberated across the sparsely filled arena, before grasping Alipio’s hands.
Injuries, including a thumb injury in her fourth practice at UCLA after falling off the bars, and timing had kept the senior Bruin off the events in which she flourished across her elite career before arriving in Westwood in 2022. Alipio had represented the United States National Team four times, finishing ninth in the all-around at the 2022 U.S. Classic.
Yes, Alipio had her star turn on the balance beam, becoming the 2025 Big Ten Beam Champion, with a perfect 10, and a first-team All-American on the event. However, the San Jose native missed the rest – the imaginative display of floor exercise and the power attached to bars.
So when the 2024 season ended and Alipio met with the coaching staff ahead of the 2025 season, she had one thought on her mind.
“At the end of last season, I really knew, I only have one year of gymnastics left – I really want to make the most of it,” Alipio said. “(I told the coaches), I just want to do what I can. I want you guys to be able to rely on me if we need it.”
Coach Janelle McDonald was game. Alipio – along with junior Katelyn Rosen – remained in Westwood and trained all summer, trying to advance skill set and consistency.
“We had conversations about what was possible, and I really thought that if she went through the summer and just really dialed in some of her technique and her consistency on floor and bars that she absolutely could be in the picture for lineups for us,” McDonald said of Alipio, the Bruins’ beam specialist, with nine 9.9-or-higher beam scores in 2025. “And she really did just that. She trained all summer long.”
It wasn’t about just checking boxes, McDonald said. For Alipio to be in the conversion for lineups – or as the gymnast put it herself, “on the bubble” – she needed to prove that she was all in on the grind on numerous events.
UCLA’s fourth-year coach added that as Alipio’s offseason commitment rose, so did her voice in the gym.
“I think going into your senior year with that mentality, it’s just so inspiring, because it’s so easy to just be comfortable and to rely on kind of your experience at that point,” McDonald said.
Alipio was once the quiet gymnast off to the side while longtime Bruins, such as Margzetta Frazier or Chae Campbell, led the way in practices and meets.
“I kind of just took a back seat,” she said.
Alipio said last year she felt her confidence in team meetings blossom into a role where she felt comfortable to voice her opinion. Alipio, now outnumbered by underclassmen on the 2026 roster, has learned to raise her leadership pitch in support of her new teammates.
“Even though you don’t think that you’re a leader,” said freshman Tiana Sumanasekera, who turned to Alipio during media availability earlier this week. “I know you say you’re not that vocal, but you, you really help us whenever we need it.”
Sumanasekera, also a former United States gymnast with elite experience, said that just a week ago, Alipio recognized that a few Bruins needed a shoulder to lean on – and immediately stepped in. McDonald said Alipio has become that pulse she can turn to from a coaches’ perspective as well.
Whether Alipio debuts competitive routines on bars and floor Saturday in No. 4 UCLA’s season-opening quad meet, against No. 17 Oregon State, No. 20 California and No. 34 Washington in Seattle, is yet to be decided.
But Alipio’s growth in commitment in and out of the gym will be on full display from the moment UCLA’s first rotation begins.
“If for some odd reason, tomorrow was my last day of gymnastics, I think I’d be very content with where I’m at,” Alipio said, “and what I was able to accomplish over summer and just in preseason.”
Best of the West Quad
Who: No. 4 UCLA, No. 17 Oregon State, No. 20 Cal and No. 34 Washington
When: 3 p.m. Saturday
Where: Alaska Airlines Arena, Seattle
TV: B1G+
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