MARY HOLSCHER Sophomore Jamie Dantzscher
performs on the balance beam. UCLA 196.925
Stanford 195.025
By Eli Karon
Daily Bruin Contributor
Fans who attended UCLA’s gymnastics meet Sunday afternoon
at Pauley Pavilion didn’t even realize what Bruin Jamie
Dantzscher had done.
Due to the lengthy judging process, by the time Dantzscher
earned her perfect 10.0 in her fifth consecutive meet, the Bruins
were well on their way to their first dominant victory of the
year.
“It was absolutely essential for us to turn it
around,” UCLA head coach Valorie Kondos Field said. “We
had been waiting for something to happen to fuel our fire, instead
of fueling our own fire.”
The No. 11 Bruins turned it around and turned up the intensity
on No. 7 Stanford. The 196.925 to 195.025 final score was
reminiscent of the Bruins’ complete dominance of a year ago,
and was accomplished with an unexpected lineup.
Sophomore Alyssa Beckerman stepped in and performed flawlessly
on beam, earning a score of 9.9, the highest possible for her
routine. In addition to Beckerman’s beam performance, she
competed on floor for the first time all year.
“I stood back, stepped away from the meet for a minute,
realized it’s just gymnastics and did it,” Beckerman
said. “I was really excited. We took this meet as a symbol of
the start of the rest of the season.”
For the Cardinal, the newfound intensity of UCLA came at a bad
time. On paper, the meet looks like an upset; in reality, there was
never any doubt about which team would win.
Dantzscher captured the all-around title with a personal best
39.725, including her 10.0 on floor, a career-high 9.875 on beam
and a 9.975 on bars.
Jamie Williams was the final piece used to solve the puzzling
lack of intensity, exciting her teammates and the crowd with her
second-consecutive personal-best 9.775 on the floor.
“Doing it for the team is so much different than doing it
for myself,” Williams said. “During the (two-week)
break, we tried to re-focus and re-group. I think this will help us
so much. We needed the high score.”
Perhaps the most impressive performance of the day came from
Lindsey Dong, who had not done any gymnastics in four or five
weeks. Dong worked the past week on her vaults because there was a
possibility the team would need her, despite suffering from some
injuries.
“(Dong) came to me on Friday and said, “˜I will get
to my feet. If you want to put me in I will get to my
feet,'” Kondos Field said. “She didn’t feel
good, but it’s that kind of guts that winning teams are made
of. It’s not about talent.”