Monday, April 20, 1998
Defending champions fall from grace
W. GYM: Bruin hosts turn NCAA crown over to Georgia Bulldogs
By Christie DeBeau
and Kyla Brooke
Daily Bruin Contributors
After 14 years, the excitement of the NCAA women’s gymnastics
championships was brought back to Los Angeles, but the crown left
Westwood this weekend as the University of Georgia went home with
the championship title.
The 1997 defending champions, UCLA, placed fifth with a score of
195.750 on Friday in Pauley Pavilion. Georgia, scoring a 197.725,
placed first, earning its fourth-ever NCAA Championship title. The
last time the Bulldogs held the crown was five years ago in
1993.
The University of Florida (196.350) placed second, followed by
the University of Alabama (196.300), the University of Utah
(196.025) and in sixth place was Arizona State (195.450).
UCLA began the evening on the balance beam – an event that
helped it win the national title last year. However, this year the
beam proved to be the event that hurt them the most.
The Bruins had three falls on the beam, resulting in the lowest
event score of the evening, a 47.650.
Despite their shaky beginning, UCLA was able to pull together
and succeed on their next three events, scoring first place on
floor with a 49.500.
"There was not much rallying to do (after beam)," UCLA head
coach Valorie Kondos said. "We go event by event. We talk about
winning a lot, but winning to us means leaving the meet with no
regrets. We had a great time tonight.
"We could have left this arena feeling horrible or we could have
left feeling great, and we left feeling great about having stuck
together. Sometimes you are on, and sometimes you are not. They
love it and it’s not about ‘if you can’t win let’s go home.’"
UCLA senior Stella Umeh did not allow a fall on beam to fluster
her later performances – she scored a 10 on the floor. This is
Umeh’s first 10, and she is one of six UCLA gymnasts to ever
receive a perfect score.
"I am not one to carry my anger from event to event; I leave it
where it happened," Umeh said. "I had a rough time on beam but it
did not affect how I performed on floor. I just went out there and
I had fun on floor."
For the University of Georgia, the NCAA championship finals was
a meet where the team was definitely on – scoring the highest marks
on every event but floor.
"I have nothing to say but we did it, and I mean we," Georgia
head coach Suzanne Yoculan said. "This was a total team effort. We
knew we had a special team from the first day of practice. They
were a team that was on a mission the entire season."
Junior Karin Lichy was one of the gymnasts to lead the Bulldogs
to victory, scoring her eighth 10 of the 1998 season on vault to
end the meet. This is Lichy’s third perfect score on vault this
year. She placed sixth at the meet with a total score of 39.050.
Also on vault, Florida’s Susan Hines shared a perfect score with
Lichy.
Fellow Bulldog Kim Arnold also led the team with a a 39.625 all-
around score, placing first in the meet, defending her all-around
title from last year.
* * *
On Saturday the final competition of the NCAAs was held, drawing
in the largest crowd of the three-day tournament. While before,
each competitor was competing for their team, this time they were
competing for individual titles.
On the vault, Larissa Fontaine from Stanford and Susan Hines
from the University of Florida both tied for first place with a
score of 9.8625. Fontaine became the first gymnast in NCAA history
to win the vault title coming into the tournament as an individual
event qualifier. She also became the first women’s gymnast in
Cardinal history to win a NCAA event title.
The uneven bars proved to be a big event for UCLA. Heidi
Moneymaker placed first with a score of 9.950, and Mohini Bhardwaj
placed fourth with a score of 9.850. Moneymaker became the first
UCLA gymnast to win the NCAA bars title and the 8th UCLA gymnast to
win an individual title. "This is one of the best routines I’ve
ever done," said Moneymaker. "I felt so good."
On the beam, Florida’s Betsy Hamm, Georgia’s Kim Arnold and
Jenni Bethard tied for first place with a score of 9.875. This is
the first three-way tie on the beam and the third time on an
individual event in NCAA history.
The last event of the evening was a special one for senior
Stella Umeh. She tied with University of Georgia’s Karin Lichey
with a 9.950 to place first on the floor. After her last
performance as a UCLA gymnast, Umeh received a standing ovation
from the crowd. "I could not have thought of a better way to go
out," said Umeh. " It was hard but really, really fun."
Next year the NCAAs will be held in Utah.
DERRICK KUDO/Daily Bruin
Stella Umeh and members of the UCLA team celebrate after Umeh
scored a perfect 10 on the floor exercises Friday. Umeh won the
floor competition Saturday, and UCLA placed fifth overall.
DERRICK KUDO/Daily Bruin
Lena Degteva in the floor
during the Championships.