UCLA’s gymnastics team is close to unbeatable ““ the
Bruins say so themselves.
“For the majority of the country to beat us, we’d
have to have some falls and they would have to be completely
flawless,” coach Valorie Kondos Field said.
“I don’t think there’s any other team that can
compete with us physically or mentally,” added senior
Jeanette Antolin, who is the No. 1-ranked all-around gymnast in the
nation.
Following Sunday’s record-shattering score of 198.875,
UCLA (8-3) has reclaimed the top spot in the nation as it travels
to Washington to take on the No. 15 Huskies (6-3-1) in Bank of
America Arena today at 7 p.m.
Going into tonight’s dual meet, the Bruins lead the nation
on the balance beam (49.495) and uneven bars (49.410), while
ranking second in the nation on both the vault (49.405) and floor
(49.430).
Washington is coming off a tie against Arizona in which the
Huskies posted a 197.300 team score, the highest road score in
school history.
Washington is led by senior Emily Pritchard who holds the top
individual ranking in the nation on the bars.
In her last meet, Pritchard scored a career-best 39.725 in the
all-around competition, the second highest total in
Washington’s history.
In last year’s meeting between the Bruins and the Huskies,
UCLA came out on top by a score of 198.577-194.800 in Pauley
Pavilion.
UCLA has easily dominated the rivalry, holding a 35-1 all-time
record over Washington.
Today’s meet will find some of the Bruins changing the
routines they have used all year.
“We’ve got three or four people who are going to be
adding things to their routines,” Kondos Field said.
With only three meets remaining before the Pac-10 Championships,
UCLA hopes to utilize today’s meet to work out any kinks the
team may have but stresses that the postseason is not yet its main
priority.
“Our goal is to go out and hit 24 for 24 (routines) and
improve our overall performances,” Antolin said. “There
are still little things we can improve on.
“We’re just concentrating on the meets at hand, and
the rest will fall into place.”