Seniors shine in final home meet
By Michael Wozny
March 9, 2008 9:10 p.m.
The UCLA gymnastics team’s last home meet of the season left the fans and gymnasts with mixed emotions.
For seniors Tasha and Jordan Schwikert, their last meet at Pauley Pavilion could not have gone much better. They captured first and third in the all-around, respectively.
But redshirt freshman Brittani McCullough’s season came crashing to an end after she ruptured her left Achilles tendon during the opening pass of her floor routine.
No. 8 UCLA dominated the quad meet through two rotations but fell behind when falls on beam and floor exercise coupled with McCullough’s injury. The Bruins scored 195.8 to place third behind No. 12 Arkansas (196.425) and No. 6 Alabama (195.925), beating only Cal State Fullerton (192.625).
“Overall, the meet went really well, but it is really heart-wrenching when you have a season-ending injury like Brittani’s,” coach Valorie Kondos Field said. “We are a deep team and have quite a few athletes who can come in, but it is just really hard to see an athlete go down like that.”
McCullough knows what it is like to have a season-ending injury, because she tore her Achilles two seasons ago and then missed all of last season after being injured in a car accident. She is optimistic about the future though.
“I’m bummed, but I’m very strong in my faith, and I know that God has everything happen for a reason, so I know that I’ll come back stronger next year,” McCullough said. “For now I’m just going to keep pushing my team and do what I can to help.”
Immediately after McCullough’s injury, Tasha Schwikert came in with an astounding floor routine to finish the meet and her days of competing in Pauley Pavilion. Her season-high 9.975 propelled her to a season-high all-around total of 39.675.
“Tasha is one of the best athletes in the world,” Kondos Field said. “Her floor exercise was one of the best I’ve seen. She definitely knows how to compete.”
The 4,622 fans in attendance provided motivation for Schwikert to compete at her best, and she set the pace for the Bruins in their first rotation by contributing a 9.925 on vault.
“The crowd was really inspiring and got my adrenaline up, and tonight more than any other meet this season I definitely just embraced the atmosphere and really felt every moment,” Schwikert said. “It also meant a lot to me to get 9.975 on floor because I am the anchorman and always end on floor, and it was a great way to end my years of competing at Pauley.”
Jordan Schwikert also turned in an impressive final home performance, earning season-high scores of 9.9 on vault and 39.4 in the all-around.
“Jordan just did great and was beaming as she went from event to event,” Kondos Field said.
Despite solid results from its top competitors, UCLA (14-3) still has work to do to be able to defeat top teams such as Arkansas and Alabama because they were unable to maintain the five-tenths of a point lead they held after two rotations.
“We’ve got to hit our routines on beam and start getting into our rhythm in that event,” Kondos Field said. “We are humble winners and gracious losers, but we’d rather be on the winning side more often than not. We’ve got a great team and are still in contention for a national championship.”
