Willis ties for individual all-around title

By Eli Karon
Daily Bruin Contributor

ATHENS, GA. “”mdash; Many gymnasts compete for personal glory.
Some of the nation’s elite gymnasts are in Athens, GA doing
just that this weekend. However, while individual titles are a
large part of college gymnastics, not everyone is concerned with
being in the spotlight.

UCLA sophomore Onnie Willis, in particular, is so focused on her
team winning its second consecutive NCAA Championship that she
didn’t even know she was in the running for the coveted
individual all-around title.

“I’m in shock, I didn’t know at all,”
Willis said. “Yvonne (Tousek) told me as we were marching
out.”

What Willis learned was that she and University of Michigan
freshman Olympian Elise Ray were tied for first place in the
individual all-around competition with a score of 39.525.

That Willis is more concerned with the team aspect of this
weekend’s meet than her individual performance is indicative
of the entire team’s focus.

UCLA senior Mohini Bhardwaj had an uncharacteristically shaky
day in the arena, though UCLA’s convincing victory was more
than enough to keep her in a positive mood.

“We are very excited about finally hitting 24 for
24,” Bhardwaj said. “It gives me a little more
confidence going into Super Six tomorrow. I am definitely looking
forward to the competition.”

Bhardwaj was tied for third in the all-around with freshman
teammate Yvonne Tousek (39.475), after the first round of
competition.

The story of the day was Willis, who turned in strong
performances on every apparatus. With her family among the 2,037
fans cheering her on, Willis was able to focus on the task at hand
and help her team win the first session by more than one full
point.

“I wanted to go out and hit all my routines,” Willis
said. “But being tied for first was not something I thought
was going to happen.”

Despite her unassuming demeanor, tied for first is exactly where
Willis found herself after the first round of competition. By the
end of the evening, she and Ray had clinched the all-around
title.

As UCLA’s only senior, Bhardwaj remained positive,
acknowledging her sub-par performance and shrugging it off with a
smile.

“Yes I struggled today with some of my events,”
Bhardwaj said. “I’m dealing with it.”

Despite seeing her performance as below average, Bhardwaj
qualified for Saturday’s individual event competition in both
the bars and the floor exercise.

Multiple Bruins qualified for chances at individual titles. They
included sophomore Kristin Parker on vault, freshman Jamie
Dantzscher, Bhardwaj, sophomore Doni Thompson, Tousek, and Willis
on bars; freshman Kristen Maloney, Tousek, and Willis on beam; and
Bhardwaj, Dantzscher, and Willis on floor.

After team competitions are completed on Friday, the Bruins look
to capture some individual titles from the above gymnasts. When
UCLA returns to Westwood, the national championship and a few
individual titles could very well be in the Bruins’
possession.