Monday, February 3, 1997
By Lisa Quon
Daily Bruin Contributor
Reaching the midpoint of their season, the UCLA women’s
gymnastics team feels confident at where they stand. Routines are
being executed with precision, and the team chemistry is
impressive.
This was apparent as the team defeated Louisiana State
University, UC Berkeley and UC Santa Barbara in the 20th annual
UCLA Invitational meet on Saturday. The Bruins led from the first
rotation and coasted to an easy win, earning their 11th
Invitational victory, including the past six in a row.
The final scores were not even close, as UCLA obtained a total
of 195.15 points and second-place LSU received 192.725. Berkeley
and Santa Barbara fell behind with totals of 190.8 and 186.725,
respectively.
The Bruins simply outmatched the other teams in talent and in
consistency. Going into the meet, LSU appeared to be UCLA’s most
formidable opponent. But many falls and an injury generated for LSU
more trouble than they could handle. On the bars, no Lady Tiger
scored above a 9.6. LSU’s Aparna Ray had an especially rough night,
falling on the beam and not even finishing her floor routine due to
an injury.
Berkeley and UCSB also struggled with wobbles, falls and an
overall lack of dynamics incorporated into their routines.
The quality and depth of the Bruins’ performance was especially
obvious on the floor exercise, where all of UCLA’s competitors
scored 9.7 or better. These high scores were due to the
choreography as much as the actual difficulty of the routines:
Bruin head coach Valerie Kondos is recognized as one of the best
choreographers in the nation.
Though the outcome of the meet may not show it, not everything
went the Bruins’ way. Freshman Lena Degteva had uncharacteristic
falls on the bars and beam and received a deduction on her floor
excercise for stepping out of bounds. Also, freshman Deborah Mink,
who competed in her first all-around, was knocked out of top-three
contention with a fall on beam.
Even sophomore Luisa Portocarrero, an All-American on beam and
noted for her consistency in the event, had a near-fall from the
apparatus itself. She missed a step on the beam and fell to hang
onto the beam’s underside with all four limbs. Her determination,
however, kept her from touching the ground in a perfect
illustration of the team’s pride and perseverance.
Although one of the strongest members of the team, junior Stella
Umeh, was out with an injury, others stepped in her place with
strong performances.
"Even if certain people aren’t competing, there’s a lot of
depth," freshman Heidi Moneymaker said. "Everyone on the team is
just amazing."
This cast of amazing team members certainly includes senior Leah
Homma, who wowed the crowd with her strong performances on every
event and her execution of the move named after her, the Homma
Flairs. Homma went on to win the all-around for the second time in
this annual invitational meet with a score of 39.45.
The Bruins swept the top three spots in the all-around
competition, as sophomore Kiralee Hayashi came in second and
Moneymaker came in third.
"Talent-wise, we have one of the best teams ever," senior Anne
Dixon said. "There is a lot of team cohesion. We’re all really
going for the same goal."
That goal is to make it to the NCAA nationals, to turn in strong
performances and, hopefully, to become the 1997 national
champions.
AARON TOUT
Kiralee Hiyashi finished in second place.