Bruins begin season by facing Bulldogs, barking fans

Daily Bruin File Photo Junior Malia Jones
performs on the beam in last year’s NCAA regional finals. The
gymnastics teams kicks off the season this weekend.

By Adam Karon
Daily Bruin Staff

The UCLA gymnastics team explodes into the 2002 season this
weekend when it travels east to face five of the top 25 teams in
the nation.

The Bruins start competition today with the Super Six Challenge
in Gainesville, Fla. They will square off against No. 2 Georgia,
No. 4 Alabama, No. 7 Florida, No. 11 Louisiana State and No. 12
Penn State in what should be one of the tougher meets of the
year.

Two days later, they will hop on a plane and head north to face
Georgia for the second time in three days.

“It’s just rigorous scheduling,” junior Carly
Raab said. “It’ll be tiring, but it will definitely be
a great challenge for us.”

It should be a trying weekend to say the least.

“Going out to see the best teams in the country is a good
way to start the season,” junior Doni Thompson said.
“It’s a good way to see how prepared we are.”

Each team in the Super Six Challenge is expected to compete for
the national title this year. The annual tournament usually
provides a good forecast for which teams will be most successful
during the regular season and playoffs.

For the Bruins, it will be their first look at Penn State and
LSU in the past few years.

Last year the Bruins beat the Bulldogs in a dual meet at Pauley
Pavilion. They also defeated Alabama in a quadrangular meet. At the
national championships held at Georgia, they defeated Florida .

The Gym Dawgs finished runner up to UCLA last year at nationals,
so the Bruins already have a taste of the fabled Georgia crowd.
Notorious for barking at opponents, Bulldog fans provide their team
with a rare gymnastics home-court advantage. The Bruins, however,
are not worried.

“I love the crowd,” Thompson said. “The
louder it is, the more exciting it is.”

Georgia opened the season with its best start ever, posting a
196.875 to beat Nebraska.

The Bruins return almost their entire starting rotation, having
only lost senior Mohini Bhardwaj to graduation. This experience
should help the team cope with the travel and harsh conditions
within Georgia’s Stegeman Coliseum.

“This gets us focused early,” head coach Valorie
Kondos Field said.  “Our goal for the meet is to go out
and compete hard.”