W. gymnastics looks forward to NCAA in Florida

Monday, 4/7/97

W. gymnastics looks forward to NCAA in Florida

Low score on floor keeps team from complacency in finals

By Lisa Quon

Daily Bruin Contributor

The great individual performances bring a team together and give
them what it takes to become champions.

On Saturday, the UCLA women’s gymnastics team relied on just
that to take home first place at the NCAA West Regionals in Boise,
Idaho.

Scoring a 196.3, UCLA outperformed its regional competitors to
receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Nationals on April 17-19 in
Florida.

The only other team to make it from the West region was
Washington, finishing second with a 195.75. Highly-regarded Oregon
State placed third with a 195.075, and narrowly missed the score
needed to qualify for nationals. (Excluding the winners from each
region, the top seven teams of the five regions receive at-large
bids.)

Though the Bruins did not hit every routine perfectly, they were
able to come together with enough great individual efforts to come
away with the victory.

"I was very pleased and proud that we still won because we had a
really off night," UCLA head coach Valorie Kondos said. "We fought
really hard for each routine."

This year Amy Smith took home a first with her near-perfect
vault, scoring a 9.95. Freshmen Deborah Mink and Heidi Moneymaker
tied for third with a 9.85.

Moneymaker also placed on bars, taking home first with a 9.95.
Teammates Mink and junior Stella Umeh tied for second, each scoring
a 9.9.

The Bruins had stellar performances on beam, sweeping the event.
Freshman Lena Degteva came in first with a 9.95. Senior Leah Homma
came in second with a 9.925, and sophomores Kiralee Hayashi and
Luisa Portocarrero tied for third with a 9.9.

But the floor exercise caused problems for the Bruins. The
usually steady Homma had two uncharacteristic falls, and junior
Carmen Tausend had one. The Bruins ended up with the lowest team
score of the season on floor, a 48.2.

"This wasn’t nearly one of our best performances of the year,
but we hung in there," Hayashi said.

Teammate Degteva agrees. "This wasn’t the best day we’ve had,
but I still came away feeling good for it being my first regional
competition."

The team believes that the Regionals were a great practice for
the ultimate trial, the imminent NCAA Championships.

"Having an off night was actually the best thing that could’ve
happened to the team," Kondos said. "This fires them up and ensures
that they don’t get complacent entering Nationals."

Kondos also believes that the team learned a valuable lesson.
"One of the greatest feelings as a coach is to see the athletes
thinking and performing smart gymnastics as they compete. Many of
them altered their routines to meet the situation, and that small
change is what national champions are made of."

Junior Stella Umeh only competed in vault and bars because of a
perpetually swollen ankle. She expects to be ready to compete in
all-arounds at Nationals.

The NCAA Championships will consist of a field of 12 teams,
competing in two rounds on Thursday, April 17. As the No. 2 seed,
UCLA is in the early round and will face LSU, Georgia, Utah,
Nebraska, and Penn State, all of whom are a threat to win the
title. Out of the six teams, only the top three will make it to the
super six finals on Friday. Likewise, three teams go from the
second round, which includes the No.1 seed Michigan, Alabama,
Florida, Washington, Arizona St., and Minnesota. And on Saturday
the event final will take place.

Though nerves are high, Kondos keeps the team grounded by
reminding them that "rest, diet, and mental preparation are as
important as physical training." Kondos said.

For now, the team will continue to train daily. Hayashi said,
"We’re really excited and hope to return from Florida as the new
NCAA Champions."UCLA Sports Info

Amy Smith