Emily Lee is a reliable leadoff gymnast for UCLA. She’s hit 83 routines without a fall and has scored 9.900 or higher 55% of the time – but she’s never comfortable.

“I’m fighting for my life to get in lineups,” Lee told reporters on Thursday, “which is the greatest thing a team can have. Being competitive within each other. Trying to make each other better. Trying to fight your way into the lineups.”

The Bruins’ standard is being raised at an opportune time. In a season that features a Big Ten Conference debut, increased scrutiny from judges and two 2024 Olympians on the team, the 11th-ranked UCLA gymnastics team is elevating itself.

The revamped Bruins begin their Big Ten schedule this weekend at No. 23 Maryland and coach Janelle McDonald told reporters that she has 12 gymnasts in each event who are competition-ready, which is a major comfort after injuries led to constant shifts in lineups last season.

“This year just feels very different,” McDonald said. “If somebody is working really hard, really consistent on what they’re doing, cleaning up their built-in deductions and can benefit the team for going in over somebody else, then we’ll make those (lineup) decisions as they happen.”

Jordan Chiles is back after taking last year off to prepare for the 2024 Paris Games and Emma Malabuyo makes her return as well after pulling double-duty competing collegiately and training for the Olympics.

Chiles won a gold medal as part of Team USA over the summer and is very close to competing in the all-around, McDonald said. Even while in three events, Chiles is bringing UCLA to a new level.

“Jordan reminds everybody that you can just have fun and work hard through it and enjoy what you’re doing,” McDonald said.

“And that really opens people up to really being able to continue to grow and learn and strive. When you’re trying to just be perfect, you’re afraid to make mistakes and mistakes is where you learn. And when you learn, you grow and you get better.”

UCLA opened the season with a 195.520 team score at the American Gold Women’s College Gymnastics Classic on Jan. 4 but made a vast improvement the following week with a 197.550 at the Sprouts Farmers Market Collegiate Quad in Oklahoma City. The score was the third-highest in the nation.

“A lot of people were really frustrated and upset about how we came out the first meet,” McDonald said. “We really turned the page on the first meet and realized like, hey that’s not who we are, that’s not how we want this season to go.”

UCLA wasn’t the only team that faced challenges in the first week of the season. Not a single perfect 10 was recorded in college gymnastics – which some attribute to rule changes.

Floor exercise routines now require at least two tumbling passes on two different diagonals, but what truly might have affected the scores was new supervision for the judges. Two judges still evaluate each event but their scoring is now evaluated by an eight-person board.

“The judges are just looking for literally everything that you can take,” Lee said. “Last year, for me, I felt like if I hit a routine then I’m good. But now it’s like, oh my God, were my feet like this instead of this? Having a solid routine is just not enough anymore.”

What could really give UCLA an edge this season is their entertainment-focused style. Chiles is showcasing her personal authenticity with a Prince-themed routine that has already gone viral online. It helped the Bruins score a national-best 49.600 on floor in Oklahoma City.

“The joy that our athletes bring in showing up as their authentic person is really something that sets us apart from other teams,” McDonald said. “We’re in the backyard of Hollywood, which is the entertainment capital of the world. We want to entertain, we want to be at the highest competitive level we can be.”