W. gym rolling through early season
Bruins give Kondos
her best start in six years as head coach
By Esther Hui
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
It was a wild night of gymnastics at the Wooden Center Saturday
night, where the UCLA women’s gymnastics team defeated Stanford and
Santa Barbara by almost five points (193.275 – 188.500). It was the
highest Bruin team score for the second meet performance since
Valerie Kondos stepped up to the head coaching position at UCLA six
years ago. The next highest team score was a 190.55 scored in
1993.
With no major injuries sustained in either of the first meets,
the solid gymnastics of this years’ Bruins looks to carry them to
even greater heights than the fourth place NCAA finish of 1993.
"The veterans are slowly becoming more and more aggressive,"
Kondos said. "Stella (Umeh) and Amy (Smith) are natural
competitors. That brings our juniors and seniors up a level. No one
is dragging the team down, the athletes see nothing to hold them
back."
The returning athletes also seem to have brought something new
to the 1995 season.
Sophomore Leah Homma won Saturday’s all-around competition with
a 39.225, bettering her all-around score for the second meet of the
1994 season by almost two points. Senior Kareema Marrow competed in
just three events on Saturday because of an ankle injury, but would
only have needed an 8.45 to equal the 37.900 which she scored last
year. The Bruins have started the season with new blood and a new
outlook, all backed up by solid performances.
"It’s been a process starting when Kareema and Megan (Fenton)
were freshman to get the gymnasts competing aggressively," Kondos
said. "During team meetings the gymnasts always say, ‘don’t forget
to have fun, we do best when we have fun.’ I’ve tried to tell them
that if you compete hard, the fun will follow. Competing
confidently has the capability of spreading like wildfire, and
that’s what it’s done this year."
* * *
It was about 9:30 p.m. Saturday when UCLA began the floor
exercise. It was the last apparatus of the evening and what has
become the nearest thing to a spectator event the sport will ever
see. In front of the crowd of over 900, the Bruins could do no
wrong.
"The crowd was probably the most supportive, enthusiastic, fun
crowd we’ve ever had in the Wooden Center," Kondos said. "We’ve had
more people, but as far enthusiasm per person it was incredible. It
was exciting to have so much support for the athletes."
Included in the excitement were three back to back standing
ovations. One following Homma’s 9.750 floor routine which included
a soaring double piked back flip with a stuck landing for the
opening pass. Following Homma was Umeh’s double layout first pass,
and tucked double back second pass which brought the fans to their
feet yet again.
The last routine of the evening for the Bruins was Marrow’s, who
tumbled a double layout first pass, layout through to a double
twist second pass, and stuck a double pike to finish as the crowd
went wild.
"It’s exciting, it motivates me that (the crowd) is there to
support me," said Marrow. "Each year the team’s getting better and
better. The crowd sees the different styles and its exciting for
them. We’ve gained momentum, and we want to keep moving
forward."