Monday, 8/11/97 Resilient squad faces nationals MENS: Four
dedicated Bruins to vie for spots on world team
By Steve Kim Daily Bruin Contributor There’s a reason why they
nickname the horizontal bar "high bar." The apparatus doesn’t look
very big on television, but up close, it is dauntingly high. Steve
McCain is 10 feet up in the air, swinging one full circle after
another on the bar, trying to refine a tricky skill which requires
a lot of concentration and courage. "Come on, Steve," calmly
supports one of his teammates, Jim Foody, as he intently watches
from the floor. So far, McCain is on. He’s swinging well. Suddenly,
he gets his foot caught on the bar. In frustration, he releases a
loud grunt. "That’s fine, Steve. It’s okay," his coach, Doug Macey,
encourages. With his focus disrupted, McCain lets go of the bar and
drops 10 feet to the ground, only to get back up on the apparatus
and repeat his skill all over again. McCain, along with Foody,
Spencer Slaton and Chainey Umphrey, has qualified to compete in the
U.S. National Gymnastics Championships in Denver, Colorado, which
will take place Aug. 13 to 16. Each will vie for one of six
American spots on the world team. The top 14 from the competition
will make the national team, while the top six will make the world
team. The latter will train in Colorado following nationals and
move on to the world championships in Lausanne, Switzerland from
Aug. 31 to Sept. 7. It takes a special kind of dedication to be a
gymnast. In preparation for a major competition such as the
upcoming nationals, they train about 35 hours a week. With constant
pounding, somersaulting, swinging and mental focusing, injuries are
inevitable. Practically every top gymnast goes through injuries in
his career. Slaton tore a knee ligament. Foody had surgeries on
both his shoulder and hip. After seriously injuring his shoulder,
Macey decided to stop competing in gymnastics and start coaching
his former teammates. Training may have brought Umphrey injuries in
the past, but it now brings him much success. After experiencing
his career highlight of making the ’96 Olympic team, Umphrey still
tours nationwide with his Olympic teammates. Through academic
dedication, he has been accepted to medical schools and is thinking
of staying with UCLA. For now, however, he’ll defer enrollment to
train. "I wanted not only to be one of the best athletes in the
world, but to also go to medical school," says Umphrey. "To do
that, you gotta be competitive in both the gym and classroom. I
just knew it was going to take some sacrificing." His sacrifice and
hard work paid off. Umphrey is now focusing on his gymnastics to
make the world championship team and bring home a medal. "Chainey’s
been working harder than ever," says his coach Art Shurlock. "Even
harder than he did for the Olympics, because there is a whole new
code of points." Hard work is one of Umphrey’s philosophies. "I
know through hard work, there’s nothing I can’t achieve. There are
always going to be a lot of obstacles, but if you’re determined
enough, you’re going to get there." Umphrey’s determination and
persistency have brought him to a level of gymnastics where he can
do such jaw-dropping moves as his trademark three-to-five
reverse-hecht releases in a row on the high bar, the number
depending on "however he feels" that particular day. While Umphrey
was training for the ’96 Olympics, Slaton sat out because of his
knee injury, just after making the national team at age 19. Now 22,
he’s back in the gym with a fresh attitude. "Before the injury, I
wasn’t as serious about gymnastics. So when I got injured, I took a
long break," Slaton admits. "Later I wanted to come back, so I
talked to Doug (Macey) because he has such a great gymnastics
knowledge which I value." With the help of his coach, Slaton is
making a comeback. "Spence has improved and added a lot more
difficult moves in a short amount of time before the nationals,"
says Macey. "He has an amazing competitive mind." Slaton’s
repertoire of moves, such as the double back-flipping high-bar
release move called the Kovacs, will keep him competitive for
nationals. His goals for this competition, however, involve more
than just winning. "I want to stay as healthy as I can. If I do the
best that I can and don’t make the national team, I’ll still be
really happy with myself," Slaton said. "I just got my life back on
track again, which was the most important thing to me. I’m just
going to go in there and have fun." Foody, "Food with a Y," as he
puts it, is a humorous, laid-back kind of guy. Outside of the gym,
he’s even done some commercials, but there’s one commercial he’d
still like to do. "I wouldn’t mind being in commercials doing back
flips on a pair of Levis," says Foody. Aside from his casualness,
Foody has a grounded perspective. He, too, has had to stop training
due to injuries. Now in good health, he is seriously concentrating
on gymnastics. Foody has a new appreciation for what he does. "Now,
I think of it as a job because now I’m 23 years old. I mean, if I
wasn’t doing gymnastics, I’d be working," he said. "So I try to
appreciate the fact that I’m able to be an athlete and compete at
my age while enjoying it at the same time." According to Macey,
"Jim doesn’t have as much competitive experience as the other guys,
but he’s extremely talented." His talent is reflected by his
ability to do the extremely difficult full-twisting double layout
on floor, which most gymnasts cannot even perform. Though Foody
takes gymnastics seriously, he handles the pressures of a national
championship in a relaxed manner. He realizes, "I’ve finally come
to the conclusion that if you just go in there and do your
gymnastics, and focus on what you have to do rather than what
anyone else is doing, you’ll be fine." For McCain as well,
gymnastics is an enjoyable part of life. "I’ve been doing this for
so long, but I love it. You gotta enjoy what you do," he said. In
February, he outscored former national champion John Roethlisberger
and Olympian John Macready to win the Winter Cup Challenge. Winning
such a major competition now puts the spotlight on him at
nationals. McCain just shakes off the pressure brought on by his
success. "Well, you’re always going to be nervous, but that usually
works in your favor," McCain said. "You always want to kick ass and
win, but I also look at every competition as an opportunity to
shine and show everybody what I’m capable of." McCain will have
plenty of chances to shine. One of his most spectacular passes can
be seen on the high bar, where he does the double-flipping Kovacs,
and continues in a combination with a half-turning back flip called
the Gainer. He’s the only American who plans to perform this
difficult combination skill. Should McCain make the world team, his
goal is to be a finalist on the individual events. As an
experienced gymnast, he plans to help guide younger, less
experienced teammates. "When I first made the world team a few
years ago, I was the youngest with least experience. This time, I
want to be like the guys who helped me when I was younger." Indeed,
it takes a special kind of dedication to be a gymnast, especially
at UCLA. Not only does he have to give it his all in the gym while
attending class, a male gymnast here has to deal with receiving
little school support. Once the colossal giant of American men’s
gymnastics, the program is no longer supported by the athletic
department; thus it is no longer eligible to participate in NCAA
events. Since the shocking dismissal of men’s gymnastics and men’s
swimming programs in 1993, men’s gymnastics now exists as a UCLA
Recreation club. Head coach Shurlock volunteers full-time to train
Umphrey, while Macey does the same for McCain, Foody and Slaton.
Although UCLA still honors the student-athlete scholarships, their
annual budget for competition and travel has plummeted from
$160,000 to $10,000. "We’re barely scraping by," admits Macey, "but
what’s done is done." So they trudge on. Shurlock, the mild and
friendly mannered coach who has enjoyed the success of gymnastics
legends like Mitch Gaylord and Peter Vidmar, has had to pay out of
his own pocket for some of the traveling expenses when times got
tough. But this year, he hopes to raise most of the $10,000 budget
through a fund-raiser golf tournament held at the Calabasas Country
Club today. His gymnasts such as Gaylord, Vidmar and Umphrey will
be there to support their coach and friend. "Even if we don’t raise
a lot of money, it’s going to be a lot of fun bringing together so
many former gymnasts I haven’t seen in a long time," Shurlock
anticipates. "One of my former gymnasts, who I haven’t seen for 30
years, is bringing some friends from San Diego to participate in
the tournament." There is a serene, secure quality to Shurlock’s
voice as he communicates to his pupil, refining his skill on the
pommel horse. "All right, Chainey, good," he reassures. Now in his
34th year as UCLA’s men’s gymnastics coach, Shurlock declares,
"I’ll probably stop coaching when Chainey stops competing. I’ll
probably stay until the 2000 Olympics and then retire." Against so
many odds, the men’s gymnastics program continues to produce one
world-class gymnast after another, and these four are no
exceptions. Macey’s attitude reflects the team’s: "It just shows
that we stuck it through and still maintain a really successful
program." What comes after nationals and worlds? With the exception
of Umphrey, who is opting to set short-term goals year-by-year,
these gymnasts have their sights on the 2000 Olympics. More years
of training lie ahead of them. But for the near future, McCain, for
one, has his own plans. "I’m going to stick around in Europe after
the worlds, travel for a couple of weeks, come back … and start
school." How easy it is to forget that they are students, too.
PATRICK LAM/Daily Bruin Chainey Umphrey chalks the parallel bars
while training partner Bryson Counts practices on the pommel
horse.