The UCLA gymnastics team has coined a new term: sidelineography. A noun describing the energy that the Bruins bring for every meet, something that will be very valuable as the team enters the NCAA Raleigh Regional on Thursday.

“We’ve wanted to embrace and support how each of our student-athletes gets into their own zone,” Coach Chris Waller said, “which means that everybody else who’s not competing on that event, they’re all in.”

Bringing energy on the sidelines as well as in routines has made the difference between a slow start and a strong start in No. 14 UCLA’s meets this season. Starting Thursday, two berths in the NCAA Championships are on the line.

Session 1, which features LSU, Missouri, Iowa and North Carolina State, is slated for 10 a.m. PT. Fourth-seeded UCLA will compete in Session 2, alongside Michigan, Maryland and the winner of Wednesday’s Towson/North Carolina meet, at 4 p.m. PT. Both sessions will be at Valvano Arena at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The top two teams from each semifinal will then compete at the regional final on Saturday. The top two teams from that meet, along with the top individual all-around competitor and top event finishers who aren’t on a qualifying team, will advance to the NCAA Championships, which are scheduled for April 14-16 in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Bruins (9-9), who finished fourth at the Pac-12 Championships, will begin Thursday’s session on vault, similar to the event rotation that the team has done at home meets at Pauley Pavilion. Sophomore Chae Campbell earned All-Pac 12 first-team honors and All-American second-team honors in the event this season and currently ranks 15th in the country in the event.

“It’s kind of a comfortable spot for me in particular, just starting off on an event that I know that as a team we can nail and then just kind of helps us get into our flow,” Campbell said. “And then we get to end on floor, which is obviously one of our favorite events to just kind of dance it out and have fun.”

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Campbell is one of several underclassmen who have shined this season. In March, she logged four perfect 10 scores – two in floor exercise and two in vault. That same month, Emma Malabuyo became the first freshman since Kyla Ross in 2017 to achieve a perfect score on the balance beam. Jordan Chiles, another freshman, has scored perfect 10s in both floor exercise and uneven bars.

Each will also play a vital role in the sidelineography that Waller, Campbell and fifth-year senior Pauline Tratz emphasized during media availability on Wednesday afternoon. Some will wear gaudy sunglasses, others will offer enthusiastic cheers and sideline dances.

“The team has been the closest it was this season,” Tratz said. “And I’m really thankful for us focusing on the common goal of going to Nationals and doing the best gymnastics we can and being there for each other as much as we can in the gym and just supporting that goal.”

NCAA RALEIGH REGIONAL, SESSION 2

When: Thursday, 4 p.m. PT

Where: Valvano Arena at Reynolds Coliseum, Raleigh, N.C.

TV: ESPN+