High bar set for defending champion, No. 1 gymnasts

The UCLA gymnastics team will tell you that winning a national championship can be a double-edged sword.

After winning their sixth national title last year, the pressure of living up to the hype surrounding their preseason No.1 ranking rests heavily on the Bruins’ shoulders.

“There is no doubt that there is pressure,” said assistant coach Chris Waller. “It’s always harder to repeat than to win a championship, but we have been trying to ignore the expectations because at the beginning of every competition, everyone starts with a zero. We have to ultimately stick to our own game plan.”

Starting fresh has become the Bruins’ motto throughout the preseason as a way to alleviate the heavy burden of expectation that can often plague teams after a successful season.

“This is a new team,” sophomore Monique de la Torre said. “We haven’t done anything yet and we haven’t won anything yet. This is a new group of girls and we are ready to start fresh.”

Redshirt senior Brittani McCullough echoed the sentiment.

“Right now we can only focus on what we have control over,” she said. “We just have to make sure that we train hard and compete as well as we can. Whatever happens from there is not in our hands.”

Filling in for the injured
With all but one gymnast returning and four top recruits joining the team, the Bruins seemed to be clear favorites to repeat their national championship until the injury bug bit.

In early December junior Vanessa Zamarripa tore her left Achilles tendon after performing a simple exercise on vault.

A U.S. National Team member and Pac-10 all-around champion, Zamarripa was one of the most consistent Bruins last season, competing in almost every meet. A month later, the team was dealt another blow when freshman Samantha Peszek, an Olympic silver medalist, unexpectedly fractured her foot.

“Competition is my favorite part of gymnastics, so I am disappointed that I have to wait a little longer to perform,” said Peszek, who is expected to return mid-season. “At the same time, the injury will give me time to strengthen other parts of my body and work on core conditioning.”

With two star gymnasts injured, UCLA will have to rely on the depth of its roster to win meets.

“On the negative side of things we lost them, but on the positive side, it has made every single team member recognize their importance more,” Waller said. “Everyone feels a greater responsibility to step up and perform well.”

Relying on the underclassmen
Veterans to international competition, freshmen Sydney Sawa and Olivia Courtney are expected to be impact players for the Bruins this year. Sawa was the 2009 Canadian national champion while Courtney has competed for the U.S., placing 10th in the Olympic trials.

“They have been training really well”, Wallace said. “Olivia has shown a lot of consistency throughout her intersquads and she has an ease with which she does her gymnastics that will surprise people. Sidney has a finesse and polish that everyone will recognize when she competes.”

Sophomores Monique de la Torre and Lichelle Wong will also see their roles on the team expand compared to last season.

“It was an amazing experience to win a national championship during my freshman year, but I’m hoping that this year I will be able to give more to my team routine-wise on all events,” de la Torre said. “I’m also excited to be able to give more support to the freshman just because now I’m more comfortable with how the team works.”

Hitting the ground running
After opening the season away against Utah, the Bruins will return to Pauley Pavilion on Sunday for the first ever Pac-10 Showcase. All seven teams will be competing, including rival No. 6 Stanford. Six of the seven Pac-10 teams are ranked in the top 25 of the coaches’ poll, proving an opportunity for UCLA to establish its dominance within the conference.

“This weekend is especially difficult because we are travelling first to Utah and then coming back and hosting what is essentially a Pac-10 championship”, Waller said. “We have tried to put together two teams that are a little bit different for each competition to prevent fatigue.”

Whether or not the Bruins will shine on Sunday is uncertain, but for now, the focus in on completing routines without any major mistakes.

“We are not expected to start this season with the same polish as we finished last season,” said Waller, who was quick to emphasize that this year’s team should not be considered just an extension of last season.

“That is not the goal. We want to just do clean gymnastics that will get us started.”