LOS ANGELES — Calling Katelyn Rosen’s sophomore season a slump, rocky, or up-and-down may have been an understatement.
This time last season, the former elite gymnast entered the week-three meet after recording a pair of 9.9 scores the week prior. But after nailing her first two passes of her floor exercise routine on Jan. 18 of last year, Rosen fell on her third – under-rotating a back layout 1.5 into a front tuck on her final floor routine pass, just the second time in her collegiate career she had fallen on any event.
A week later, Rosen dismounted early during her balance beam routine, tallying a score below a nine for the first time. Across the next month, Rosen watched from the sidelines – occasionally competing in an exhibition routine in the meantime – ultimately returning in late March before emerging to become a staple during the postseason, competing in three events during both NCAA Championships meets.
Rosen didn’t want to face that struggle again – the self-defined “spiral” she explained during the dog days of spring in 2025.
The Lone Star State native remained in Westwood during the summer, working through routines and skills so that her yips-like woes in January 2025 wouldn’t re-emerge in 2026. The junior, whom coach Janelle McDonald called the “pulse” of her team during the preseason, rose in confidence and leadership skills.
And so far, her efforts have paid off – joining Jordan Chiles as one of two Bruins to have competed the all-around in both meets to start the season.
“I have to say, I was in the gym almost every single weekday (during the summer),” Rosen said, a few days before No. 9 UCLA’s home-opener against Nebraska on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Pauley Pavilion. “After having the start of the sophomore season that I did, I did not want to repeat that again, so I really committed to keeping, like, almost routine-level – keeping my parts locked in and really focusing on the basics so that I could build a really strong foundation for my third year.”
Rosen worked with assistant coach Mark Freeman during the summer, hammering home her Yurchenko 1½ vault that has a starting value of 10.0 – one of potentially six Bruin vaults in any given lineup that could hit for perfection. Re-emerging into vault lineups, Rosen said, was important to her, a goal she wanted to achieve for 2026.
Through two meets, she’s scored 9.8 or more on her pair of vaults.
“I can’t tell you how many private (training sessions) I had of just me and Mark on vault,” Rosen said.
Her teammates are noticing, too. Chiles, who is back-to-back Big Ten Gymnast of the Week and currently leads the nation with the top all-around score, said that watching Rosen bounce back from her sophomore season has made her a proud teammate.
“You’re going to learn from it, and you’re also going to thrive for a minute,” Chiles said of Rosen’s last year. “So I definitely can say that Kate did that. I’m very proud of her that now she’s in this all-around position that she can just dominate in how she wants to dominate.”
Rosen’s not just a leader – carving a path as a role model for the likes of Tiana Sumanasekera and Ashlee Sullivan – but a shoo-in in lineups where McDonald needs her, as well.
“Having (Rosen) be a leader and an example in those roles is just, it’s so beneficial,” McDonald said. “And I think it’s definitely the energy we want to carry into each event.”
“She brings that for us,” she added.
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