By Eli Karon
Daily Bruin Contributor
TEMPE, Ariz. “”mdash; Athletes have many ways to handle pre-game
jitters. Some listen to music, some visualize their success and
some vomit. In gymnastics, there isn’t enough time to
contemplate nervousness.
UCLA looks to four gymnasts each meet to set the tone for the
rest of the team. They are placed in the leadoff position, which is
much more difficult than the leadoff position in baseball because
there is no second chance; you either hit the routine or you
don’t.
Junior Malia Jones, the Bruins’ leadoff gymnast on floor
at this weekend’s Regional Finals, shed some light on the
pressures and consequences of leading off.
“I hate leading off on bars,” she said. “But
it’s nice to know that the coaches have confidence in me. The
higher my score is, the higher the rest of the team
scores.”
Of course, there’s the added burden of stingy judging on
leadoff routines, a very real component to scoring. During
Regionals, UCLA was forced to drop three out of four leadoff
routines. For the most part, the gymnasts remain unfazed, knowing
that they serve as a martyr of sorts in helping the team emerge
victoriously meet after meet.
“Leading off is very important,” freshman Michelle
Conway said. “Not so much for the high score, but for the
base score. People don’t realize how significant leading off
is to the success of the team.”
Conway was the leadoff gymnast on vault for UCLA, an especially
daunting task considering it was the Bruins’ final rotation.
By the way, she hadn’t competed all day, so her leadoff
position was coming without the luxury of warming up.
“It was difficult because I hadn’t done
anything,” Conway said. “But my team set me up well. I
was really nervous, but it is comforting to know that the team has
put me in a position where, no matter what happens, we can still
win the meet.”
Some gymnasts falter under the pressures of leading off. Others,
like Jones and sophomore Jeanette Antolin, thrive in the leadoff
position.
“That was probably the best routine I’ve done all
season,” Jones said. “Not because I was leading off,
just because I was ready for this meet.”
Antolin began the Bruins’ march to victory by being the
first to compete on bars for UCLA, earning a score of 9.850, tying
her for fourth-best in the entire meet. Besides Cal State
Fullerton’s Joanna Hughes (9.850), five of the meet’s
top six competitors on bars were all Bruins.
Coincidence? Antolin thinks not.
“I thought I would be nervous, but I hit my
routine,” she said. “It was important for the team to
get their confidence up and kind of light the fire.”
With the exception of Antolin’s bars routine, UCLA leadoff
gymnasts were not factored into the team’s final score. All
of this comes at the expense of team success, far more important to
the gymnasts than individual accolades. In fact, the leadoff
competitors often sacrifice their personal glory for that of other
gymnasts.
“If I score well leading off, it leads to higher scores
for the rest of the team,” Jones said.
Bruin standout Jamie Dantzscher agreed.
“Being last is not as much pressure,” Dantzscher
said. “Especially when the first five hit their
routines.”
Leadoff gymnasts live by the same motto that Rotarians follow
nation-wide: service above self. It’s nerve-racking, judged
differently and more physically taxing. A leadoff score may not
show up in the final score, but the role it plays in the success of
a team is immeasurable.
UCLA’s leadoff gymnasts will be a deciding factor in the
Bruins’ quest for a third-straight national championship
““ not that they’ll have time to think about it.