Almost. But not quite.
Saturday found the No. 1 UCLA gymnastics team upset at the
Pac-10 Championships by No. 6 Stanford. To make matters worse, the
loss was by the smallest margin possible ““ .025 points.
In a field consisting of host Arizona, Arizona State,
California, Washington, Stanford and UCLA, the competition turned
into a duel between the Bruins and the Cardinal, which was decided
by the last routine of the night.
With Stanford holding a slight edge over the Bruins, UCLA took
to the beam, where sophomore Kate Richardson needed a 9.600 to
surpass the Cardinal and seal the victory. Unfortunately for UCLA,
the talented Richardson suffered a rare fall and recorded a score
of 9.425.
The Bruins started the meet off strongly on the floor
exercise. Richardson recorded a 10.0, senior Jeanette Antolin
scored a 9.975, and freshman Lori Winn tied her career-high with a
9.900, en route to a 49.650 team score.
Not to be outdone, Stanford also racked up a 49.650 on its beam
routine, marked by 9.950s from Natalie Foley and Lindsay Wing.
On its second routine, UCLA once again posted a solid score,
recording a 49.575 on the vault. In what has become the norm
this year, Antolin led the team with a 10.0 on the apparatus, while
Richardson and senior Kristen Maloney followed with scores of
9.950. The 49.575 gave the Bruins a 99.225-99.125 edge over the
Cardinal.
UCLA took to the bars in the third rotation, where the team was
led by Antolin’s 9.950. The Bruins would wind up with a
49.500, increasing their lead over Stanford by .225 heading into
the final rotation.
In the fourth and final rotation of the night, UCLA was on beam,
while Stanford took to the vault.
Foley scored a huge 10.0 for the Cardinal, and both Lise
Leveille and Shelly Goldberg added 9.900s, culminating in a 49.400
team vault score, which put the pressure on the Bruins.
Maloney scored a 9.950 for UCLA and junior Christie Tedmon tied
her career-high with a 9.900, but Richardson’s fall, coupled
with Winn’s fall, sealed the victory for Stanford.
UCLA had previously won the last two Pac-10 trophies, with
Stanford’s previous win coming in 2001 (UCLA finished second
that year).Â
As for individual titles, Richardson won the floor title and
Maloney won the beam title, while Antolin won the vault and bars
title. Antolin placed second in the all-around and was later
honored as the Pac-10 Gymnast of the Year.