Monday, February 22, 1999
UCLA sparkles with 12th invite win
INVITAIONAL: Bruins dominate meet, sweep events, never falling
behind Arizona, Florida, Cal State Fullerton
By Traci Mack
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Good thing Saturday night at the Bruin Women’s Gymnastics
Invitational was Disco Night because there was more suspense in the
disco dancing contest than the actual meet.
The UCLA Bruins (10-4 3-2 Pac-10), who have won the meet a
record 12 times, easily rose above the field to capture their
eighth consecutive Invite title. Arizona, Florida and Cal State
Fullerton, respectively, finished in the next three spots.
UCLA didn’t trail at any point during the meet, making few
mistakes on their way to a total team score of 194.275. The Bruins
were in total control, a fact that head coach Valorie Kondos said
the squad knew well.
"I think they understand that this meet is their meet; they feel
that they own it, it belongs to them," said Kondos.
"When (the team) steps on the floor for this one, you can just
feel how much they love being Bruins."
Evidently, that Bruin pride translated into the team’s
performances. UCLA gymnasts swept the event titles, dominating the
meet from the get-go. From the first rotation on the vault, on
which the Bruin squad scored a season high 48.975, it was clear
that everything was going their way.
All-American Heidi Moneymaker was just that – money. She tied
for first with teammate Luisa Portocarrero to win her fifth
straight vault crown. Portocarrero’s win was no less impressive,
considering she had only vaulted once before in a collegiate meet
and had sprained her foot in the process. Her Invitational score of
9.850 was a personal best.
"No one expected (Portocarrero) to be able to come back and
vault like that," explained Kondos, "so for her to do it is really
amazing."
Junior Lena Degteva, last year’s Pac-10 champ in the vault,
would tie for third along with teammate Kiralee Hayashi.
Degteva wasn’t done there, however. She would go on to win the
uneven bars in the second rotation, again tied for first with
Hayashi. The team’s lead of .800 jumped to 1.500 after the second
event due to clean, consistent performances from every gymnast.
The story of the third rotation was the return of sophomore
All-American Mohini Bhardwaj. After sitting out the last four
meets, she saw some action on the balance beam. Even though
Bhardwaj suffered a fall during her routine, Kondos admits having
the former U.S. National team member back is a plus.
"It’s a huge boost for us having Mohini back," said Kondos.
"She’s a consistent 9.8 or 9.9, and we’ve been replacing her with a
9.4 or 9.5. By Pac-10 Championships, she’ll be competing in three
events."
Except for falls by Bhardwaj and Portocarrero, the third
rotation went smoothly for the Bruins. Degteva wrapped up her
second event title with a score of 9.775, edging out teammate Susie
Erickson.
By the end of the third rotation, it was all but in the books
for UCLA, leading by a considerable margin heading into the final
rotation. On the floor exercise, freshmen continued to perform like
veterans for the Bruins, with Valerie Velasco and Lindsey Dong in
particular coming through for the team.
"It’s been very surprising,"said Kondos. "In the long run, it
was worth it for Mohini and Susie to get hurt. Who knew that the
freshmen would step up and compete in the all-around? What a
wonderful experience for them."
The meet as a whole turned out to be a "wonderful experience"
for the Bruins. Degteva went on to win the all-around with a season
high score of 39.25, barely beating out Hayashi for the honor.
UCLA is improving with every meet going into the last weeks of
the regular season, heading toward the NCAAs. It’s encouraging to
Kondos that her team just seems to get better and better. Is
another championship season in the works?
"We have the talent and drive," says Kondos, "and we’ve worked
harder than any other team."
"At this point in the season, I feel exactly how I was feeling
two years ago when we won it all."
And that’s a good sign.GENEVIEVE LIANG/Daily Bruin Senior
Staff
Senior Susie Erickson performs during an earlier competition
against the University of Georgia.
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