No. 5 UCLA gymnastics falls to No. 23 Southern Utah
Sophomore Lichelle Wong performs her floor routine at the Pac-10 Showcase. Wong finished with a score of 9.8 on the balance beam against Southern Utah.
Gymnastics
| So. Utah | 194.75 |
| UCLA | 194.425 |
By Patricia Lee
Jan. 17, 2011 11:57 p.m.
Every move in gymnastics is a step-by-step procedure. Everything is preplanned and every gymnast changes her routine for a reason. Even a gymnast’s warm-up before a meet is planned.
No. 5 UCLA’s warm-up procedure was called into question after the team was upset by No. 23 Southern Utah University in Cedar City, Utah, on Friday.
The Bruins lost 194.75-194.425 after falling behind early to the Thunderbirds. With two falls on the uneven bars, the Bruins fell behind by 0.575 in the first rotation, making for an uphill climb.
“We need to reevaluate our warm-ups,” coach Valorie Kondos Field said. “We need to warm up right to perform well during the meet. … (The gymnasts) only get one chance during the meet, not three.”
UCLA could have used those extra chances with all of the mistakes that occurred or even an extra round of warm-ups.
“Even though I am disappointed in our performance, this was a good opportunity for the younger players to gain more experience,” Kondos Field said.
Freshman Olivia Courtney had a fantastic performance with the top score in the all-around with a 39.3.
Courtney was not the only bright spot for the Bruins. They beat the Thunderbirds in the balance beam event, which has long been a thorn in the side of the Bruins, who finished in fourth place on the event in the Pac-10 Showcase on Jan. 9.
This time around, UCLA outscored Southern Utah by 0.475 in the event with a season-high team total of 49.1, led by Courtney’s 9.875 performance and senior Niki Tom’s score of 9.825.
“We started off poorly in the first few events, so by the time the last rotation came around, we had nothing to lose,” said sophomore Lichelle Wong, who scored a solid 9.8 on the balance beam.
The Bruins gave everything they had in the last rotation, but it was not enough as the Thunderbirds sealed the win with scores of 9.7 and 9.775 in their last two floor performances.
For a team that began the season at No. 1 in the rankings, the first three meets have not gone as the Bruins planned. They remain winless so far and finished second in the Pac-10 Showcase.
With that said, the Bruins hope to move on from this meet and focus on their next meet against their biggest rival, Stanford, at Palo Alto.
“We just need to figure out what we have to do as a team and what works for us as a team,” Tom said. “We can’t rely on the things that worked for us last year because we are not the same team as last year. It’s a whole new year and a whole new team.”
