UCLA gymnastics starts the year ranked in thetop five of the preseason coaches poll and, for the third straight year, first in the preseason Pac-12 poll. Read more...
Photo: Sophomore Sophina DeJesus and UCLA gymnastics hope their young team and improve this season.
After a year of competing in the United States, rising sophomore gymnast Danusia Francis represented her home country, the United Kingdom, last week at the 2013 World University Games in Kazan, Russia. Read more...
Photo: Rising sophomore Danusia Francis competed in the World University Games for Britain last week. Her execution score, which tied for first, helped the British national team finish sixth overall.
Senior Vanessa Zamarripa has been a pivotal member of UCLA gymnastics since her first year of competition. As a freshman, she placed third in the all-around at the NCAA Championships and earned All-American honors in the all-around, vault, balance beam, floor and uneven bars. Read more...
Last weekend at the Pro Gymnastics Challenge in Pennsylvania, seniors Alyssa Pritchett and Vanessa Zamarripa didn’t know whether they were competing as gymnasts for the last time in their lives or for the very first time as professionals. Read more...
Photo: Although she believes many college gymnasts are burned out by graduation, senior Alyssa Pritchett intends to continue using her skills by going into stunt work, a common career path for former gymnasts.
Standing sideways on the balance beam, freshman Danusia Francis paused, her focus visible on her face. She took a deep inhale before flipping through the air in an inverted aerial, a move never before tried in a college competition - and one she only decided to try the night before. Read more...
Photo: According to UCLA coach Valorie Kondos Field, freshman Danusia Francis’ sideways aerial on beam was the first completed at the NCAA level.
I blinked for a second during Vanessa Zamarripa’s vault in Saturday’s team finals. She landed on her knees and I blinked again. Wait, what? Was that practice? Read more...
Photo: Senior gymnast Vanessa Zamarripa holds back tears as she is comforted by coach Valorie Kondos Field after scoring a 9.100 on vault, the final event for the Bruins in Saturday’s NCAA team championships. The team placed fourth behind Florida, Oklahoma and Alabama despite an early lead.
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. Read more...
