The weight of expectations hung on Katelyn Rosen’s shoulders.
Rosen was fresh off a freshman campaign at UCLA in which she earned All Pac-12 honors, often competed in the all-around and filled a void while Jordan Chiles prepared for the Paris Olympics, but January tested her like never before.
A gymnast who proudly embodies a character while she competes — like her “Dark Witch” persona — in order to focus in and perform in the moment, Rosen hit a roadblock, unable to break through on two of her signature events.
“I am someone who's gonna spiral,” said Rosen, now a sophomore with the Bruins, who are seeded fifth in the second round of NCAA regionals in Salt Lake City that begins Thursday at noon PT.
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Uncharacteristic routine hiccups pushed Rosen out of UCLA's lineups for the first time. First, she underrotated a back layout 1.5 into a front tuck on her final floor routine pass, almost falling to the floor in Maryland and securing a large score deduction. A week later, in the Bruins' home debut against Illinois, she dismounted early during a beam routine, scoring below a 9 for the first time in her career.
Rosen, cheerful, saluted the judges after that beam routine. Seconds later, her smile sank. Rosen buried herself into assistant coach Lacy Dagen’s arms. The sophomore slump, that so many of her teammates had warned her about, had begun, Rosen said.
“If something goes wrong, I'm gonna overanalyze it from every single angle, and that usually takes me down into a dark place that I really don't need to be,” said Rosen, who explained she struggled with mental health during the season. “After having such a phenomenal, dream-type freshman year, there were a lot of expectations put on me, and usually I welcome those expectations, and I thrive under that sort of pressure, but for whatever reason this year, it kind of cracked me a bit.”
Coach Janelle McDonald stripped Rosen’s gym preparation back to the basics. The coach stressed to Rosen — and other Bruin athletes — that negative social media commentary can only hurt, and to choose to focus on what individuals within the “Bruin bubble” share for feedback.
Rosen worked back, week by week, featuring exhibitions at many of UCLA’s meets through February and March, away from the pressure of competing in the lineups. The week before the Big Ten Championships — in which UCLA competed in Salt Lake City against Utah — proved vital for the Texas-born gymnast.
In exhibition routines, Rosen scored 9.8 or higher in balance beam, uneven bars and floor exercise. For Rosen, this was not only a signal to herself that she was back and ready to compete, but for McDonald too.
“I felt the moment I stepped in, on ...
