Injuries, inexperience hurt team

With inexperience playing a major role in Friday night’s
loss to the Arizona Wildcats, UCLA gymnastics coach Valorie Kondos
Field couldn’t help but entertain thoughts of how different
the night’s outcome could have been if her depleted roster
had the benefit of a clean bill of health.

“If Tasha was healthy, [Melissa] Chan was healthy, if we
had a healthy team, our freshmen would’ve learned half of
what they had to from the sidelines.”

Indeed, this season has distressed the UCLA squad to the point
where senior Kate Richardson would be justified in pinpointing
these rash of injuries as “the theme for the
season.”

Because sophomore Tasha Schwikert and Michelle Selesky, the team
co-captain, have been inactive due to injuries, the Bruins have
relied heavily on the unproven talent of their freshmen to
outperform just about every competitor this season.

Members of the Bruins’ freshman class are no doubt highly
touted, but they were expected to play more of a supporting rather
than leading role for the team this season.

Their growing pains have become evident with the progression of
the season as the Bruins have lost to teams such as the Wildcats,
who form a relatively strong gymnastics squad but lack the prestige
of the Bruins’ program.

Though their efforts came up short, the Arizona meet last Friday
was another opportunity for freshmen Ariana Berlin, Janelle
Dantzscher and Kristina Comforte to quiet any notions that the
newcomers were not yet ready to lead the team.

Berlin was nearly flawless with a second-place finish in the
all-around, while Dantzscher was close behind with a fifth-place
finish score of 38.050. Comforte also delivered with a team-high
9.90 on the beam. But however encouraging the competition might
have been, UCLA still couldn’t stop its losing skid.

The freshmen’s inexperience was evident during their
routines on the uneven bars as over half of the Bruins slipped to
the floor during their routines.

That the young squad was unable to capitalize upon a change in
routine proved to be a factor in the team’s failure to take
advantage of its scheduling circumstances.

“We should’ve done better, but we never gave
up,” Kondos Field said. “This experience was just
another experience for our young team.”

The upcoming meets against Stanford and San Jose State will
feature the welcomed return of Melissa Chan from a strained left
calf injury sustained during the Bruins’ the Feb. 12 win over
Washington.

According to Kondos Field, Chan will be expected to compete in
one or two events during Sunday’s dual meet at home.

While the team will regain one of its top athletes, at least two
gymnasts will still be inactive or fighting injuries.

Tasha Schwikert is still recovering from surgery on her right
rotator cuff, and freshman Maranda Smith is nursing a stress
reaction in her shin. Schwikert, Smith and senior Michelle Selesky
were all inactive during Friday’s meet.

Schwikert’s sister, Jordan, is still nursing a tender
shoulder on top of everything else.