NCAA Gymnastics Regionals: Heartbroken Fans Comfort Former Team USA Member Emma Malabuyo

With names like Margzetta Frazier, and 2020 Olympics team member Emma Malabuyo, the Bruins were the favorites to triumph in this year’s NCAA Gymnastics Regionals. However, the California Regionals halted the UCLA women’s squad’s journey abruptly and fans are understandably shocked by the results. 

With the FIG World Cup’s last leg in Doha coming up, gymnastics connoisseurs were expecting a thrilling showdown with the Paris Olympics looming in the background. As the final scores came to the fore, fans flocked together to express their emotions across social media.

NCAA Gymnastics Regionals see the Bruins out

A post on X by the official UCLA account braved the disappointment of sharing the scores from the night, highlighting how the Bruins barely missed the qualifying sport to move on to the next round of the NCAA Gymnastics Championships 2024. For No. 11 UCLA, taking on Denver, Arizona State, and Washington shouldn’t have been too steep a climb, or the fans would have believed before last night’s results.

The Bruins came in third behind Denver and ASU with a difference of only 0.1 keeping the UCLA women from progressing onto the next round of the NCAA Gymnastics Championships 2024. For the 2020 Olympics team alternate Malabuyo, it has been a hectic schedule since February, trying to qualify for the Olympics, while also lending her skills to her alma mater for their NCAA season. Despite that, heart-wrenching scenes couldn’t be avoided.

One post on Twitter showed UCLA senior Selena Harris silently registering her dissatisfaction as the Sun Devils celebrated the NCAA Gymnastics Regionals result. However, UCLA’s fans did their part to make sure Emma and her teammates didn’t feel alone on their night of broken dreams.

Fans rally behind the UCLA ladies

In response, user Poor Lawyer noted that UCLA’s representative of the national team can still keep the Paris hopes alive in Doha. “UCLA misses it by 0.1. UCLA’s season ends here. Emma Malabuyo can probably go to Doha…“, commented the fan.

Nichole wrote, “I really want to see her qualify to the Olympics, but my heart breaks for UCLA“.

Gymnastics loyalist Lari thinks Emma should brush off the temporary setback and take on the upcoming challenges with renewed enthusiasm. “anyways i look forward to seeing you in paris this summer, emma malabuyo.“, wrote the fan in her post after the Bruins’ defeat last night.

For Holly, the shocking results were only an add-on after what she thinks was a poor display of sportsmanship from the meet in California. “These upsets would be so much easier to swallow if there was good-faith, consistent scoring across the board but alas“, fumed the comment.

Sarah shared an image of a teary-eyed Malabuyo and tried her best to console the latter with her comment reading “emma noooooo baby don’t cry“. 

What do you think sunk the Bruins’ boat this early into the NCAA Championships? Share your analyses with us below!

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