Gymnasts win despite injury
By Joseph Kuehn
Jan. 27, 2008 10:57 p.m.
With just two routines left, the UCLA gymnastics team huddled together and decided they were going to win for their fallen teammate.
Just moments earlier the Bruins watched as junior Kristina Comforte took a hard fall during the opening of her floor exercise routine. She had to be carried off the court.
With the whole team watching and the meet on the line, it was sophomore Anna Li and senior Tasha Schwikert who came through with clutch performances in the floor exercise to help the UCLA women’s gymnastics team edge out the Stanford Cardinal by a score of 195.050 to 195.025.
“After Kristina Comforte hurt herself we all got together and decided we were going to finish this off for her, so I went out there and did the best I could and it was one of the best floor routines I’ve done,” Li said.
Led by her first-place finish in the floor exercise, Li won the all-around competition with a 39.2, followed by redshirt freshman Brittani McCullough with a 38.925.
It was the team’s first home meet of the year and Li said it was exciting for the team to finally be able to compete in front of friends.
“(We) definitely had some first-home-meet jitters but we got it out early,” Schwikert said.
Many spectators braved the stormy weather to come support the team in its first home meet.
Pauley Pavilion was packed early on, and most people stayed until the very end as the meet went down to the wire.
After a strong start on the vault, where the Bruins posted a score of 49.225, the team stumbled a bit on the uneven bars where both Schwikert and junior Ariana Berlin fell, giving the team a 48.325, and leaving them trailing the Cardinal after two events.
“We opened the door for them and I asked the team, “˜Lets see what you’re made of, let’s see what kind of team you’re going to be,'” coach Valorie Kondos Field said. “Years past when we had a mistake, it kind of spiraled downward, and it was great to see this team not let that get to them.”
The Bruins recovered with a strong performance on the balance beam, but it was on the final floor exercise where the meet was decided.
After Comforte’s fall, Li came out with what she said was one of the best floor routines of her career, receiving a score of 9.875, and was followed by Schwikert who, with a score of 9.8, helped the Bruins recover and win the match.
“(Schwikert) felt horrible about what she did on bars and she came back with a beautiful floor routine,” Kondos Field said.
It was a rough match all around for UCLA, but Kondos Field believes these kinds of situations are what will define her gymnasts.
“It’s easy for them to do gymnastics when things are going well. It’s how are you going to perform when the going gets tough,” Kondos Field said. “It’s what you do then, that’s what determines your heart, and if you have the heart of a champion or not.”
Comforte, who injured her right knee, is expected to have a MRI on Monday morning to evaluate the severity of the injury.
Comforte is coming off a 2007 campaign where she spent most of the season injured due to off-season shoulder and ankle surgeries.
She had started the season off strongly with a first-place finish in bars and a third-place finish all-around in the meet at Fullerton last week.
“Kristina has an amazing heart, she is one of the most passionate team players I have ever seen in my life,” Schwikert said.
“To see her go down is very hard. We got this (win) for her.”
With Comforte out, the team is without one of its leaders, but Kondos Field said it is up to the other gymnasts to step up and lead the team.
“Our guns are still not competing to their potential and they’re training better than they’re competing right now,” Kondos Field said. “They have got a lot more in them.”
While the routines have looked solid thus far, it is still early in the season and there is room for improvement.
“We still have a lot of work to do to clean things up,” Li said. “But we’re happy with the win.”
