Full of freshmen, gymnastics falls short against the Utes
By Eric Johnson
Jan. 8, 2006 9:00 p.m.
In terms of rankings, Saturday night’s meet against No. 2
Utah was one of the most anticipated regular season meets for the
No. 3 Bruins.
With 14 championships between the two teams, it was clear that
the battle would be a close one.
After the meet, it was also clear that the season, as well as
the new-look UCLA gymnastics squad, is very young.
Both UCLA (5-1) and Utah (1-0) stumbled through a handful of
their routines, leading to a 194.875-193.85 Ute victory, a
seemingly low final score for two gymnastic powerhouses.
The story of the night for the Bruins was the arrival of their
new leader, Kate Richardson, who for the second time in two meets
won the all-around competition.
Richardson started the night off with a 9.90 on bars before
stepping it up on vault and beam with a pair of 9.95s and finishing
off the night on the floor exercise with a 9.475.
Her impressive 39.275 all-around mark comes just four months
after the senior broke her tibia in practice.
“Kate is extremely disciplined,” coach Valorie
Kondos Field said. “One reason she has been able to come back
so fast is that she is in phenomenal shape, and her mind is just as
strong as her body.”
The only thing that prevented Richardson’s all-around
score from reaching even more impressive heights was a
not-so-impressive floor routine.
Only two Bruins had a score of 9.70 or better on floor, with
freshman Maranda Smith coming away with a 9.775 and fellow freshman
Kristina Comforte a 9.70.
“It was the little things on the floor that we missed that
we need to concentrate on,” Comforte said. “Those
tenths add up in the end so we need to go back into the gym and
concentrate on those details that we missed tonight.”
Comforte was a symbol of the freshmen presence that
characterizes the Bruins this season.
The seven new arrivals have had additional responsibilities
thrust upon their shoulders with the wear and tear that have kept
sophomore stars Tasha and Jordan Schwikert out of competition.
Couple the added expectations with their collegiate
inexperience, and the freshman seven have quite a task ahead.
“It’s not so much pressure,” Comforte said,
“But we know that we have to step it up with Jordan and Tasha
out right now. Part of it is just getting into the college
experience at the same time. We have to learn to compete week in
and week out in a completely different atmosphere.
“It’s much more nerve-racking in the sense that we
are competing as a team as opposed to individually (which we are
used to).”
Kondos Field has been nothing less than impressed with what she
has seen from her youngest competitors this season.
“They have done well so far,” Kondos Field said.
“I was very impressed tonight because even through the
mistakes they remained poised in their performance. That is
something we’ve talked about this year and was a big problem
for us last year. It’s an important lesson to learn, and
I’m glad to see we’ve already got it down.”
Earlier in the week on Tuesday, the Bruins competed in Kailua,
Hawaii, where they handily defeated Oregon State, Arkansas,
Washington, California and Sacramento State with their
freshman-laden lineup.Both Melissa Chan and Comforte competed in
all four events, Jalynne Dantzscher and Smith competed in three,
and Ariana Berlin and Janelle Dantzscher competed in two.
With Jordan Schwikert out until at least the next home meet
while recovering from a shoulder scope and her sister Tasha out for
what will probably turn into the majority of the season while
recovering from shoulder surgery, the Bruins are still confident
that they can live up to their pre-season No. 3 ranking.
“We are a much different team without Tasha and
Jordan,” Kondos Field said.
“But can we live up to our national ranking? Yes, we can
win the national championship. We just need to get everybody
healthy eventually.”
