Looking to jump right into one of the toughest gymnastics schedules in the country, six-time champion No. 6 UCLA will host a top-10 matchup Sunday afternoon when fellow six-time champion No. 3 Alabama rolls into Pauley Pavilion for the teams’ season-opening meet.
The Bruins will face elite programs all season long, as the Crimson Tide represent just the first of nine top-25 teams on their schedule, which also includes all of the top five finishers from last year’s NCAA team competition. Although wins and losses are not as important in collegiate gymnastics as the raw team scores are, the tough opposition should push UCLA to elevate its performances.
“If you need to score higher than all these top teams at the end of season, you might as well figure out how to score higher than them during season,” said Coach Valorie Kondos Field. “I’m looking to have our athletes go out and understand what it takes to go from a 9.8 to a 9.95 or a 10.”
Despite losing reigning NCAA All-Around Champion Samantha Peszek to graduation and having redshirt junior Christine Peng-Peng Lee recovering from thumb surgery, the Bruins garnered their No. 6 preseason ranking thanks to the fresh talent and gymnasts they have available.
National champions Madison Preston and Katelyn Ohashi headline the freshmen corps, while Australian Stella Savvidou competed at the 2015 World Championships alongside senior Danusia Francis.
Against a Tide team that has finished in the top four each of the last seven years, the team’s upperclassmen will focus on bringing out their best gymnastics with fun energy.
“No matter who we have, we shouldn’t change our mindset,” said senior Sophina DeJesus. “We want to use each meet as a ladder to keep climbing and progressing.”
The freshmen newcomers will draw on their national and international experience to kick off their collegiate careers this weekend.
“(The) first time being with a team is nerve-wracking, but (it) definitely helps to have the whole team’s support,” Ohashi said. “We just want to get out there and show everyone we’ve been practicing and what ‘Bruin Strong’ is.”
With a different scoring system on the vault and a new team atmosphere in place, Kondos Field said she hopes the rookies will be able to overcome any jitters and perform to their potential.
“They are the perfect blend of confidence and enthusiasm,” Kondos Field said. “But not cocky and arrogant. They’re the people you want to go to battle with.”
The home meet against Alabama is simply an opener for an even tougher matchup against three-time defending champion No. 2 Florida. In a battle of two of the nation’s elite, the Bruins will hope to topple the Gators and 21-time All-American senior Bridget Sloan in a Friday night meet on the road.
