After sustaining a foot injury on her balance beam routine during a quad meet on Feb. 27 against Maryland, Ohio State and Iowa, Katelyn Rosen was sidelined for the rest of the competition. With the Big Ten title on the line, Bruins coach Janelle McDonald trusted one of the youngest athletes on her roster.

Freshman Nola Matthews was slotted into the floor rotation to replace the injured gymnast.

Matthews took over the leadoff position, but it did not faze her. She was ready to help UCLA secure its second consecutive regular-season Big Ten title.

“Nola had an opportunity to go out [and compete the weekend before] on floor, so I think that really prepared her to feel ready for that,” McDonald said after the win.

Throughout their undefeated Big Ten season, the Bruins’ freshmen have established themselves as a cornerstone of the team. Ashlee Sullivan and Tiana Sumanasekera have each earned three Big Ten freshman of the week awards.

Matthews is averaging a 9.860 on bars and a 9.750 on floor. Jordis Eichman has made the most of her limited opportunities, averaging 9.805 on the balance beam and 9.750 on vault.

“The freshmen are contributing a lot for us,” McDonald said.

Before competing in NCAA competition, they had already competed on the elite stage, the highest level of competitive gymnastics that includes the Olympics.

When associate head coach BJ Das approached Matthews to tell her to be ready, the freshman stepped up without hesitation, a skill she worked on during elite competition.

“She’s the type of athlete that has to work to get some skills and to keep them,” said Cleo Washington, who coached Matthews’ elite team, Airborne. “That’s what I like about her, she understands hard work, she understands the grind, and she’s not afraid of that.”

When Washington first met Matthews, she was self-deprecating. Rather than defining herself by her accomplishments, she focused on her mistakes.

As her gymnastics improved, so did her self value, which has helped develop her into an athlete UCLA can trust in big moments.

UCLA freshman Nola Matthews gets height on her dismount from the balance beam during a meet against Nebraska at Pauley Pavilion on Jan. 17.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

“[She’s] extremely hardworking, has gotten a lot of resilience out of this sport, a lot of grit,” Washington said. “She’s one of the toughest athletes I’ve ever coached.”

Following Matthews on floor during the Bruins’ big quad meet was Sumanasekera, who posted 9.875, adding to her fifth place all-around performance.

Since Week 2 of the season, Sumanasekera has competed in every event. She has finished second in the all-around behind teammate Jordan Chiles three times. Sumanasekera is the highest nationally ranked freshmen at No. 22, with a National Qualifying Score of 39.375.

In elite competition, Sumanasekera and Eichman were teammates. Their coach at World Champions, Cécile Canqueteau-Landi, knew they would both have immediate success at the college level from the moment she started coaching them.

“You’re only able to be successful and healthy if you’re doing everything you can in the gym and outside the gym,” she said. “[They] learned how to manage their time and their recovery and their training.”

Canqueteau-Landi misses coaching them, but she is excited to see them succeed.

UCLA gymnast Tiana Sumanasekera competes on the beam during the Big Fours meet held at Pauley Pavilion on Feb. 27.

(Etienne Laurent/For The Times)

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“They’re always willing to do more and they also have a really good sense of humor, it’s always easier to work with athletes that want to laugh and don’t take themselves too seriously,” she said.

Canqueteau-Landi is the head coach at the University of Georgia and there is a chance she could reunite with her former athletes during the national championships if both teams advance.

“You want the student athletes to succeed because we all know how hard it is to be one,” she said. “But when it’s your former athlete, you want more for them.”

Following Sumanasekera in the floor exercise was Sullivan, whose performance earned her a 9.900, her second-highest mark in that event.

Throughout the season, she’s consistently participated on the vault, uneven bars and the floor exercise, averaging above 9.850 in all three of the events. She’s competed in the all-around twice, earning a season high of 39.325 against Stanford in March.

During their final meet of the regular season, Sullivan earned event specialist of the week honors after winning vault with a 9.975 and earning two 9.900s during the Bruins’ victory over Utah.

While training with coach Marnie Futch at Metroplex Gymnastics, Sullivan tested herself to see what she was capable of.

“I think she even surprised herself with how much she was able to accomplish last season in the elite world,” Futch added.

After clinching the Big Ten regular-season title, UCLA will compete in the Big Ten championship meet Saturday, where the freshmen class will show its skills for the first time at the college postseason level.

Transgender golfer Hailey Davidson has sued the LPGA and USGA for its policies that prohibit biological males who underwent male puberty from competing in women’s competition.

The LPGA said in a statement it was aware of the lawsuit and would “let that process play out on the proper forum.”

“The LPGA’s gender policy was developed through a thoughtful, expert-informed process and is grounded in protecting the competitive integrity of elite women’s golf,” the statement said.

The USGA and LPGA changed gender policies for events in 2025 and beyond, declaring that players must be assigned female at birth or have transitioned to female before going through male puberty to be eligible to compete.

The 33-year-old Davidson didn’t transition until after puberty. Davidson competed in a U.S. Open qualifier and LPGA Qualifying School under a different policy in 2024, falling short in both efforts.

Davidson claimed in the lawsuit that the new policy effectively bans transgender women from competing in USGA women’s events or the LPGA because many states prevent children from taking hormones or blocking puberty.

EX-NCAA WOMEN’S RUNNER INVOLVED IN SCOTUS BATTLE OVER TRANS ATHLETES SPEAKS OUT AFTER JUDGE ADVANCES CASE

When the USGA denied Davidson entry into the qualifier, Davidson claimed the Hackensack Golf Club violated the law by saying the USGA controlled all decisions regarding eligibility. Davidson began hormone treatments in Davidson’s early 20s in 2015 and in 2021 underwent gender-affirming surgery, which was required under the LPGA’s previous gender policy. 

Davidson also filed a lawsuit against the women’s golf tour NXXT in December after it changed its policies to prevent biological males from competing against females. 

NXXT and its attorneys from America First Legal filed its motion to dismiss in February, and believe the suit will be thrown out. 

“We are asking the courts to dismiss the claims, and we’re addressing the matter,” NXXT Golf CEO Stuart McKinnon told Fox News Digital.

“This was about simply protecting women’s sports. So the goal was really clarity and competitive integrity, and, as a professional tour, we believe it was our responsibility to define those categories.”

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NXXT was one of the first women’s tours that stepped up to make a policy change. The LPGA then changed its own policy to bring about more restrictions to protect the women’s category in December 2024.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Harvard-Westlake doesn’t drop too many series in baseball these days, but if there’s one coach who gives the Wolverines fits, it’s Randy Thompson of Bishop Alemany. The reminder happened years ago when Harvard-Westlake had three future first-round draft picks on the same team in Max Fried, Lucas Giolito and Jack Flaherty, and Alemany defeated that powerful Wolverines team with Giolito on the mound.

On Friday, Alemany (8-3, 4-1 Mission League) completed a week in which it took two of three games from the Wolverines with a 10-4 victory. Apparently success against Harvard-Westlake isn’t just limited to the head coach. Thompson’s son, Brody, hit two home runs and a double and finished with three RBIs. Also hitting two home runs was Chase Stevenson, who had three hits and two RBIs.

Alemany had 16 hits on the day.

Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 5, Chaminade 4: The Knights (10-0) stayed unbeaten, with Dru Wilson’s RBI single in the sixth breaking a 4-4 tie. Malakye Matsumoto had three hits and three RBIs, including a home run. Lachlan Clark threw four innings of scoreless relief with seven strikeouts and no walks. Andrew Chute had a home run and three RBIs for Chaminade.

Loyola 5, St. Francis 4: Freshman Anthony Adame closed out the win with two innings of stellar relief and three strikeouts in the eight-inning contest. Austin Junk drove in the winning run with a double.

Sierra Canyon 19, Crespi 2: Charlie Cummings had two doubles, a single and three RBIs for Sierra Canyon.

Royal 6, Simi Valley 2: Dustin Dunwoody struck out 16 in six innings for Royal.

Hart 15, Valencia 14: The Hawks survived a four-run rally by Valencia in the seventh to win a wild Foothill League game. Justin Gaisford had a home run and five RBIs for Valencia. Hart received four hits and three RBIs for Matix Frithsmith. Josh Whitson had three hits and four RBIs and Hayden Rhodes hit a three-run home run. The two teams combined for 49 runs and 11 errors in two games. Another game ended in a 10-10 tie.

El Camino Real 6, Chatsworth 3: RJ De La Rosa and Jackson Sellz each had two RBIs to help El Camino Real stay unbeaten in the West Valley League.

Birmingham 8, Granada Hills 2: Carlos Acuna struck out five in six innings, Aidan Martinez struck out three in one inning of relief and Julius Monroe-Truitt had three RBIs for Birmingham.

Cleveland 3, Taft 2: Ezra Preis had two hits and two RBIs for the Cavaliers.

Bell 17, Huntington Park 1: Daniel Garcia had two triples and three RBIs for 12-1 Bell.

Carson 6, Banning 4: The Colts took control of the Marine League race this week. Skylar Vinson had two hits.

St. John Bosco 13, JSerra 0: For the fifth time in seven games, St. John Bosco (7-0), ranked No. 1 by The Times, recorded a shutout. Jack Champlin started and gave up one hit in five innings. Jhett Ohira had three hits and three RBIs. Ohira was seven for 12 in the Braves’ three-game sweep of JSerra.

Corona del Mar 8, Newport Harbor 1: Stevie Jones gave up one run in 6⅔ innings and Ryan Williams and Grant Horsley each had two hits.

La Canada 6, San Marino 0: Joe Bell threw a five-hit shutout and had two hits and three RBIs.

El Dorado 4, Villa Park 2: Brady Abner had the tying triple and Xavi Cadena hit the winning home run.

Corona 19, King 7: Anthony Murphy had a home run, a double and two singles. He also struck out three batters in his one inning of relief. Trey Ebel added two hits and three RBIs.

Norco 7, Corona Centennial 4: Dylan Seward and Jordan Ayala hit home runs for Norco.

Corona Santiago 9, Eastvale Roosevelt 1: Striker Pence hit a two-run home run and Joshua Angulo had two hits and three RBIs for Santiago. Ayden White threw three innings of hitless relief.

Redondo Union 6, Mira Costa 2: Robby Zimmerman struck out eight in 5⅔ innings.

Cypress 7, Mater Dei 5: Austin Gerken hit a three-run home run for Mater Dei, but Drew Slevcove got the save for Cypress.

Los Alamitos 6, Edison 5: A two-run double by Willie Adams keyed the comeback win.

Bishop Amat 7, St. Paul 0: Ashton Chavez, Kevin Martin and Izaac Muniz combined on the shutout. Omar Arretche had three hits for Bishop Amat.

Softball

Norco 14, Corona Centennial 0: Leighton Gray hit two home runs for Norco.