NCAA champion Bruins to hold meet-and-greet

  Daily Bruin File Photo Mohini Bhardwaj,
the 2000 NCAA uneven bars champion, will be among the Bruins
performing at Sunday’s gymnastics exhibition. WOMEN’S
GYMNASTICS Meet the Bruins Sunday, 2 p.m. Collins Court
Wooden Center

By Scott Schultz
Daily Bruin Contributor

The defending national champion UCLA women’s gymnastics
team will be hosting its second annual preseason “Meet the
Bruins” exhibition this Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Wooden
Center.

The event is free to the public and the gymnasts will be
available for autographs and conversation during a one hour
“meet and greet” after a one hour exhibition. Cameras
will be permitted in the gym.

Head coach Valorie Kondos Field, last year’s National
Coach of the Year, is excited about the program.

“It gives the fans an opportunity to understand gymnastics
better,” she said. “They can learn how the sport is
scored and have an opportunity to have a somewhat lengthy
conversation with a world-class gymnast.”

This year, the defending national champion Bruins have added
what Kondos Field called “the best freshman class
ever.”

The incoming freshman class, led by 2000 Olympians Kristen
Maloney, Yvonne Tousek and Olympic alternate Alyssa Beckerman will
be joining an already dominant team.

Among the nine returning letterwinners from last year’s
team are 2000 NCAA uneven bars champion Mohini Bhardwaj and Pac-10
Freshman of the Year Doni Thompson.

The Bruins are looking forward to meeting their fans and
supporters, especially the children who look up to them as role
models.

Freshman Christy Erickson, whose sister Susie competed for UCLA,
understands the importance of these public relation events.

“I’m so excited,” she said. “We have so
many great fans. I know because I used to be one. There’s
going to be whole bunch of little kids, so I’m really
excited.”

Maloney is also getting revved up for Sunday’s
festivities.

“I’m really excited,” she said. “I think
it will be a lot of fun to meet the students and the
fans.”

Kondos Field says that on Sunday, the team will do all of the
events but will not perform with the intensity it does during an
actual competition.

“We’re not going to take any chances during the
exhibition,” she said. “I don’t want any of the
gymnasts to get hurt before the season starts. There’s not
going to be lights and sizzle.

“It’s a forum to ask as many questions as you
like,” the coach added. “It’s a great opportunity
to have a conversation with a national champion, Olympian or an
All- American.”

Sophomore Doni Thompson is grateful for events like this where
she can thank the fans.

“We’d never done anything this personal in
club,” she said. “It’s really nice to meet the
people who are supporting you. Everyone that comes to meet us and
supports us is like our family.”

UCLA has been consistently one of the top gymnastics programs in
the country. They have won nine out of the 14 Pac-10 championships
since women’s gymnastics entered the conference in 1987. They
have also won two national titles in the last years.

The Bruins will begin their gymnastics season on Friday, Jan. 5
at the Maui Invitational.