SAMANIEGO HELPS BRUINS WIN FIRST NATIONAL TITLE

By Patrick Lujan

The UCLA Bruins have just won their first ever women’s basketball national championship, and Guam has its fingerprint on it!

All the grind. All the extra reps. The proper techniques in the weight room is a part of the championship equation.

Team trainer and Guam son Ashley Samaniego has been with the team for two seasons now and has sat at the end of the bench, watching a talented squad take the championship over South Carolina in convincing fashion 79-51 Sunday afternoon in Phoenix.

Before all the spotlight and national TV fame, the behind-the-scenes hard work at practice and in the training room must be trekked. Guiding these elite college players to their peak performance is Samaniego, a former juvenile delinquent roaming the northern streets of Guam before venturing into kinesiology. Prior to signing with UCLA, Samaniego was at CSUN where he shared his story with GSPN in 2023.