Sunday, May 5

UCLA finishes day three of NCAA gymnastics competition


After a roller-coaster two days of team competition, UCLA’s gymnasts had an equally mixed bag of results in today’s individual event championships.

Freshman Danusia Francis had one of the day’s more dramatic moments during her performance on balance beam. Instead of doing a flip along the length of the beam, she attempted the more challenging feat of flipping over the beam’s narrow width.

She stuck it, but only moments later, Francis lost her balance and wobbled off the bar on a routine move and wound up placing second to last.

UCLA fared no better on floor, with junior Olivia Courtney placing last after an uncertain landing

On vault, however, UCLA saw some success. After Alabama and LSU claimed the top two spots on vault, Bruins snagged the next three, earning scores of 9.9 or higher.

Junior Olivia Courtney led the Bruins with a 9.9167, followed by seniors Kaelie Baer and Vanessa Zamarippa, who fell in the Bruins’ last team event yesterday. However, senior Lichelle Wong ended up in second-to-last with an unstuck landing.

UCLA had no athletes competing in uneven bars.

Compiled by Zachary Lemos, Bruin Sports contributor.


Comments are supposed to create a forum for thoughtful, respectful community discussion. Please be nice. View our full comments policy here.