Former Bruin gymnast Kate Richardson won the Pac-10 Woman of the
Year award on Friday. Richardson, who graduated this spring, will
represent the conference for the NCAA Woman of the Year Award. She
earned 14 all-conference awards in her career, including the
all-around, vault, beam and floor in 2006. Richardson also won her
third national title this year, claiming the floor exercise
championship with a score of 9.95. Richardson led the Bruins to
consecutive team national championships in 2003 and 2004, and
competed for the Canadian team in the 2004 Olympics. She is also a
three-time Pac-10 all-academic selection.
WOMEN’S SOCCER: The U-21 women’s national team fell
to Germany 2-0 in the final of the Nordic Cup on Saturday. UCLA
sophomore Danesha Adams scored three goals in the semifinals
against Norway, but was held scoreless in the final. Coach Jillian
Ellis, who also coaches the Bruins, acknowledged that the U.S. was
outplayed in the final.
WOMEN’S TRACK: Sophomore Rhonda Watkins broke the
Trinidadian junior high jump record at the 2006 Central
American/Caribbean Junior Championships from July 14 to 16, with a
mark of 6.0. She also tied the triple jump record with a mark of
21-6.25. Watkins also won the high jump at the Pac-10 Championships
this year.
WATER POLO: Men’s and women’s water polo coach Adam
Krikorian has replaced his longtime assistant coach Nicolle Payne
and also hired a second full-time assistant. The new hires are
former UCLA players Brandon Brooks and Coralie Simmons. Both
coaches are former Olympians who led their respective teams to
multiple championships while playing for the Bruins. They will be
joining Matt Flesher, who is starting his second year as an
assistant with Krikorian. All three will coach both the men’s
and women’s teams. Simmons was named National Player of the
Year twice during her UCLA career, and helped bring home a silver
medal for the U.S. Olympic team in Sydney during the 2000 games.
Brooks will specialize in the training and development of
goalkeepers, as he holds the UCLA record for all-time career saves
at 700 stops. Following his UCLA career he joined Team USA for
competition in Sydney at the 2004 Olympic games. In Flesher’s
first year, he helped coach the men’s team to a No. 5 finish
in 2005. The new coaching staff has been involved in a total of 13
national championships since Krikorian’s time as a
student-athlete in 1995.
Compiled by Bruin Sports senior staff.