LINCOLN, Neb. “”mdash; During Saturday night’s individual
NCAA championships, Jamie Dantzscher dismounted from her bars
routine, took a step forward, posed for the judges, and walked
away, dejected.
It was Dantzscher’s third and final event, and she had
already been narrowly beaten on vault and floor.
“I was a little disappointed that I took a step,”
Dantzscher said. “I usually stick my dismount. I was just
disappointed that I stepped on my landing. I guess you can’t
stick them all, right?”
Despite the slight miscue, Dantzscher’s routine was good
enough for a 9.9, which tied her with teammate Kate Richardson for
the co-NCAA uneven parallel bars championship. Richardson also
claimed the individual title on the beam earlier that evening.
“Sharing the title with one of my teammates was
awesome,” Richardson said. “The individual awards are
just icing on the cake after winning as a team.”
Richardson bounced back from a rare fall the previous night to
match Dantzscher’s performance on the bars. But it was her
nearly flawless routine on the beam that was perhaps even more
impressive.
“My goal for tonight was to come and win beam,” said
Richardson, who won the title with a score of 9.938.
“It’s been my best event all year so I really wanted to
do that. Bars was a little bit of a surprise, but I wanted to come
and redeem myself from yesterday since I made a mistake on bars.
Being able to share it with Jamie was extra special.”
For Dantzscher, winning the bars was a relief after she fell
just short on the floor routine. Forced to compete first ““ a
daunting task in gymnastics ““ Dantzscher posted a score of
9.938 and had to hope that it would stand up. Unfortunately for her
it was not enough as Nebraska’s Richelle Simpson overtook her
with a mark of 9.963.
“Going first is tough in a gymnastics meet,”
Dantzscher said. “I went out there and did the best floor
routine I could do tonight. I hoped that my score would hold, and
it didn’t, which is unfortunate.”
Even without a victory on the floor, Dantzscher’s
co-championship on the beam was the fourth individual title of her
UCLA career, tying a school record set by Bruin legend Kim
Hamilton. Additionally, Dantzscher has titles in four different
specialities, making her one of only three women in NCAA history to
accomplish that feat.
Other Bruins placing at the NCAA individual championships were
Onnie Willis, who placed eighth on floor with a 9.863 and seventh
on vault with a 9.8435, and Yvonne Tousek, who was part of a
four-way tie for fourth on the uneven bars with a 9.850. Jeanette
Antolin was part of the tie on bars, finishing tied for fourth in
addition to her fifth place finish (9.8815) on the vault.