Deep roster lets UCLA mix it up
By Misael Peraza
Feb. 2, 2009 10:51 p.m.
It is now the second third of the season in women’s gymnastics and the all-arounders, who have been mostly freshmen, are in need of serious rest.
For this next segment of the season, the coaches will insert a fresh wave of reinforcements that have been training intensely to make the lineup. Senior Ariana Berlin, junior Anna Li, and sophomore Brittani McCullough are going to be substituting for some of the all-arounders that have been performing in the past five meets. Coach Valorie Kondos Field said that this collegiate level of intensity is new to most of the freshmen.
“We’ve had four meets in three weekends,” Kondos Field said. “We’ve competed a lot of freshmen, and the issue with that, is that before they get to college, gymnasts only do about five to six meets per year. It’s a big, big change for them. I think that with the girls that have been performing all-around, we’re seeing a bit of fatigue. We’re trying to rest them up as much as possible.”
Fortunately for the Bruins, they have a strong 16-person squad that gives the coaches some depth to choose from. The gymnasts have been competing amongst themselves to be in the all-around line up. The coaches currently have nine all-arounders to choose from, Kondos Field said.
“That’s going to take a lot of maneuvering with the coaches and figuring out our line up every week,” Kondos Field said. “But it’s a good problem to have because we’ve got a lot of depth, finally, and it takes a lot of thought. We’re hoping to put out a team each week that’s going to keep us in that top-three position nationally.”
“There’s a lot of factors we look at,” assistant coach Chris Waller said. “At this third of the season we still have an opportunity to give people experience. So if we have two athletes that show the same preparedness during the week’s training, if one of those gymnasts needs experience then we’ll probably put them in there. We also look at whether or not they’re 100 percent healthy. If they’re a little cold, then we might take the opportunity to put someone else in there.”
On the floor, Berlin’s double Arabian front has been a long-discussed routine that is expected to bring success for the Bruins. After three years of practicing that specific routine, she is finally able to present it in front of the judges. Last Friday, she performed it in front of a mass audience for the first time and earned a 9.8.
“That’s my event,” Berlin said. “I love competing floor. We’ve been putting little goals in front of us and reaching each little goal. We decided to try and get two-tenths better each time. We just try to improve our high score.”
After a long recovery from surgery, Li feels she is now ready to participate in all four events. Since her freshmen year, she has performed as an all-arounder in almost every single meet. She is currently working on her floor routine as well as her vault and maintains a positive attitude for the rest of the season.
“I’m actually really excited to do floor because I have a new floor routine that no one has seen yet,” Li said. “It’s all exciting. Everyone just needs to stay healthy. The people who’ve had surgeries and who are injured are actually getting better and are starting to train more. Everyone will be back in at perfect timing.”
