It seems like the only consistent way to see a team win in
Pauley Pavilion is to attend a UCLA gymnastics home meet.
The fifth-ranked Bruins recorded another dominant home victory
in front of 1,415 fans on Sunday afternoon, beating Arkansas
198.175-193.475.
The meet marked the second time this season UCLA has broken the
198 barrier, and it could not have come at a more opportune
time.
The Bruins dropped from first to fifth in the nation following
their loss at Oregon State last weekend, and the high score should
catapult them back toward the top of the standings.
Incredibly, UCLA achieved the score without Jamie Dantzscher,
arguably UCLA’s strongest competitor. Dantzscher, who had
been competing on a sore ankle all season, recently sprained her
good ankle in practice.
“(This win) is huge. We wanted to come out and get our
rhythm back,” senior Onnie Willis said.
“Things were kind of thrown out of whack because Jamie was
out today with an injury, but I think everyone stepped in well, and
we kept the energy flowing.”
It was that energy that led to three perfect tens on the day for
the Bruins, including one by Willis on the floor exercise. Freshman
Kate Richardson was also perfect on floor, while Yvonne Tousek
recorded a flawless bars routine for UCLA.
Each mark ties a UCLA home meet record. Richardson also won the
all-around competition with a 39.75, her career high.
“That was really cool; I wasn’t even thinking about
(setting a career high),” Richardson said. “We had to
make up a lot of points today because we wanted to go up in the
rankings and regain our dominance.”
Dominance would be a massive understatement. UCLA had five
all-around competitors, and each scored higher than Arkansas’
lone all-arounder.
Jeanette Antolin continued her solid performances for the Bruins
with an all-around score of 39.65, a personal record.
Antolin captured the vault title with a 9.950 and had a personal
best score of 9.950 on the balance beam as well.
“I told the team, “˜Jamie’s not able to go, and
you all need to step it up. You all need to get in the zone,”
head coach Valorie Kondos Field said. “That’s what it
means to get each other’s backs. We’ve got tremendous
leadership. I’m thrilled from a team standpoint.”
The Bruins never trailed in the meet, starting off strong with a
49.375 on vault. The home victory is the 31st consecutive home win
for UCLA.
Arkansas is a new program, in its first year of competition
under the direction of head coaches Mark and Rene Cook.
The Razorbacks were competing during the day for the first time
this season, a change from their normal evening competitions.
UCLA’s next competition is in Palo Alto against Stanford
on Friday.
Two days later UCLA returns home to host Washington at Pauley
Pavilion Feb. 9.