Gymnasts prepare for championships
By Misael Peraza
April 7, 2009 11:12 p.m.
The Bruins fought for a shot at a national championship ““ and now they have it.
“We have been preparing for the NCAA Championships all year,” assistant coach Chris Waller said. “We don’t talk about the regionals, we talk about the championships. The girls have all proven that they like the pressure. The more the pressure, the more they rise up to it. We’re going to do what we’ve been doing, only we’re going to refine the little things.
Last Saturday, after placing second behind the No. 6 Florida Gators, the Bruins qualified for the preliminary championships for the 25th time in school history.
The shift from the regionals to the championships will not be an easy one, as UCLA will face a team that has already placed higher than them in competition earlier this season ““ No. 2 Utah. Also adding to the pressure is the meet format. The first preliminary meet will take place next Thursday where the Bruins will face-off in the evening session against Utah, No. 3 Alabama, No. 8 Oregon State, No. 10 Arkansas and No. 14 Illinois. Prior to this, Georgia, LSU, Florida, Oklahoma, Stanford and Penn State will compete in the afternoon session. If the Bruins place at least third in their grouping, they will then advance to the Super Six Team Finals on Friday. Saturday will be the individual finals.
The NCAA Championships may put a lot of added pressure on the freshmen Bruins to perform. Seven of the UCLA’s 16 gymnasts are freshmen, and they have played an integral role in the team’s success so far this season. But although they have not experienced this level of team pressure prior to UCLA, the freshmen say they are as confident as ever.
Freshman Aisha Gerber said that because she has been performing so much this season, she has not stopped to think about the championships. She added that it will be like any other meet but with more excitement and energy.
Freshman Vanessa Zamarripa, ranked as the No. 1 vaulter in the nation, believes the regional has indicated how the team will handle the pressure for nationals.
“We know what to expect,” Zamarripa said. “After seeing what we did in the regionals, I think we’ll do better in nationals. We like pressure and competing, so we are going to do really well.”
The 12 teams that qualified were re-seeded according to their National Qualifying Score, which is a combination of the team’s regional championships score and the Regional Qualifying Score. UCLA is the No. 7 seed.
With the week and a half they have to train, the Bruins plan to step up their routines to continue on to the Super Six.
“We all need to trust our abilities,” Zamarripa said. “We’ve been doing this all year and we know we can do it. We have just as good a chance as everyone else out there.”
