It took 12 meets and 62 days for the UCLA gymnastics team to
engage in a battle royale worthy of Rocky Balboa/Apollo Creed
status.
UCLA’s regular-season finale saw the meet determined by
the last routine of the night, as the No. 1 Bruins won on the road
by their smallest margin of the season, a 198.250-198.225 victory
over No. 7 Florida.
“The performance wasn’t stellar, but I was excited
to see the fight in the team,” UCLA coach Valorie Kondos
Field said. “They realized it was going to be a tough meet to
win and got fired up about the competition.”
UCLA started the meet impressively on bars. Seniors Jeanette
Antolin and Jamie Dantzscher led the Bruins on the apparatus, both
scoring 9.950s en route to a 49.600 team score. Shockingly, they
still found themselves trailing.
On their first routine, the Gators scored a school-record 49.650
on the vault behind freshman Savannah Evans’ perfect 10.
“I didn’t feel like we were going to win,”
Kondos Field said. “Florida’s a better team than they
look.”
The Bruins would claim the lead during the second routine as
Antolin scored her fifth-straight 10 on the vault and senior
Kristen Maloney earned a career-high 9.95. By the end of the
routine, the Bruins had equaled their season high on the apparatus
with a 49.675.
“I knew I had a good vault in me,” Maloney said.
“Everyone on the team did well.”
On their second routine of the night, the Gators scored a 49.425
behind Erin Dooley and Kristen Stucky’s 9.925s, but found
themselves trailing the Bruins 99.275-99.075.
The third routine saw the Bruins take to the floor, where
Antolin and sophomore Kate Richardson each scored 9.925, leading
the team to a 49.450, while the Gators scored a 49.525 on the
beam.
Heading into the fourth routine, UCLA held a minute 0.125
overall lead, forcing the Bruins to perform flawlessly on the
beam.
Senior Yvonne Tousek scored 9.950 on her beam routine, and
moments later, Richardson’s 9.950 sealed the win for
UCLA.
“I believe we absolutely achieved our goal of proving our
legitimacy in the East,” Kondos Field said.
Although the win gives UCLA momentum going into the Pac-10
Championships, the Bruins still feel they must make improvements in
the coming week.
“We’re going to have to face good teams (in the
Pac-10 Championships),” Maloney said.
“Now we have to work on the little things which are going
to make or break the rest of our season.”