EDWARD LIN/Daily Bruin All-around winner sophomore
Onnie Willis competes on the balance beam during
the UCLA Invitational on Feb. 11. Pac-10 Championships 1.
Stanford 197.85 2. UCLA 197.8
By Adam Karon
Daily Bruin Staff
Momentum and maturity are both important heading into a national
championship run.
The top-ranked UCLA gymnastics team had their momentum after an
eight-meet winning streak stopped last weekend in Washington when
it was defeated by Stanford for the Pac-10 championship.
But the young Bruins hope they’ve gained maturity,
something that could prove invaluable as they begin their quest for
a more important prize ““ the national championship.
The Cardinal team, which lost a dual meet to the Bruins earlier
in the year, turned in its best performance on the season,
outscoring UCLA 197.85-197.8.
The meet could have easily gone the other way for the Bruins.
Sophomore Doni Thompson was deducted a full tenth of a point for
being under her beam time, and there was a judging discrepancy on
sophomore Kristen Parker’s vault.
The Bruins, however, are making no excuses.
“Stanford had an incredible meet,” sophomore Onnie
Willis said. “They were focused and ready to win. We
weren’t.”
Willis was referring to the Bruins’ recent lackluster
performances that featured three falls on the beam a week before
the Pac-10 finals. Head Coach Valorie Kondos Field believes that
the loss will benefit the Bruins over time.
“I think that (losing) was the greatest gift we could have
been given, regardless of how difficult it is to work so hard and
lose by a tenth,” Kondos Field said.
Because of its skill, the team has been able to compete
throughout most of the season without much of a test.
There have been meets where the Bruins have been able to count a
fall and still blow away the competition. This must change heading
into the final stretch of the season.
“I feel like it is going to take hitting 24 for 24
(attempts) to win the national championship,” Kondos Field
said.
Although the team did not take the Pac-10 championship, two
Bruins returned to Westwood with coveted individual prizes.
Senior Mohini Bhardwaj won the all-around with a Pac-10
championship-record 39.8. She also won the vault for the second
consecutive year. In addition, Bhardwaj was named the Pac-10
Gymnast of the Year.
Freshman standout and Olympian Jamie Dantzscher won the floor
exercise for her first Pac-10 title.
Despite the individual awards, the Bruins are staying focused on
the team’s ultimate goal of taking home their second
consecutive national championship.
After the loss, spring break distractions were put aside as the
team got back into the gym with a reminder from Stanford that
winning will not be easy the rest of the year.
“(The loss) made us want to work harder in the gym,”
said freshman Jeanette Antolin, who earned a career-high 9.9 on the
vault.
“Usually when we get back we are kind of tired. This
really lit a fire under us.”