Two UCLA Bruins have been recognized for their success and leadership efforts as UCLA Softball’s Rachel Garcia and UCLA Gymnastics’ Peng Peng Lee are your newest Honda Award winners.
It was a season full of heart-stopping moments for UCLA Bruins fans. On one side of the UCLa Athletics Department you had Rachel Garcia lead the UCLA softball team back to the Women’s College World Series and while on the other, Peng Peng Lee scored two Perfect 10s to capture the National Championship for UCLA Gymnastics.
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If your heart didn’t skip a beat through any of that, there is a chance you you could be dead.
The emotion that these two athletes brought to UCLA fans this past season are stories of legends, and that is exactly why Garcia and Lee are the newest Honda Award winners.
UCLA's newest members of the prestigious club of #HondaAward winners - @uclagymnastics' Christine Peng-Peng Lee and @UCLASoftball's Rachel Garcia. Congratulations to the @CWSA_HondaCup Class of 2018! #HondaCup | #GoBruins pic.twitter.com/XAPxgzQcWd
— UCLA Athletics (@UCLAAthletics) June 26, 2018
The Collegiate Women’s Sports Awards presented by Honda took place on Monday night honoring the best in women’s athletics and both of these talented Bruins were honored for their work on the field and on the floor/beams/bars.
Garcia was the National Softball Player of the Year (according to several outlets, including ESPNW). As a sophomore, the softball dual-threat hit .339 (5th on the team) and threw a 1.31 ERA (16th in the nation). She was simply amazing as she helped UCLA make it back to the final four of the NCAA Tournament. What is even better is that we get Garcia back for another few seasons!
As stated before, Lee pretty much brought UCLA Gymnastics’ 7th national title back to Westwood all by herself. The odds were stacked against UCLA during the 2018 NCAA Championship as they were trailing back-to-back champs Oklahoma. Lee had already scored a 10.00 during UCLA’s uneven bars rotation, but scored another in the final event, the balance beam. Needing only a 9.975, she kicked it up a notch with a tear-jerking, yet perfectly executed performance.
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It is truly an inspiration to have these two represent UCLA and in the end, this is what it is all about. Champions made here.