For perhaps only the second time this season, the UCLA
gymnastics team will face an opponent that poses a serious
challenge.
The Bruins (6-1), whose national rank fell two spots to No. 3
after a sloppy win at Arizona State last Friday, will face a
Michigan team that seems primed to break its five-meet losing
streak against UCLA.
The No. 2 Wolverines (5-1), who had a strong showing in a loss
to Utah last Friday, are the first team the Bruins will face with a
better national ranking. Combine that with the fact that the meet
is in Michigan, and UCLA will have its hands full.
“Michigan is a great place to compete,” UCLA coach
Valorie Kondos Field said. “I’d like to come out strong
after last week.”
To accomplish the team’s goal, Kondos Field has vowed the
Bruins will be using their strongest lineup, though just what
exactly the lineup will look like is somewhat unclear in the
team’s broken state.
Freshman Jordan Schwikert, a nationally ranked all-around
competitor, has been limited to just three events in the
team’s past two meets due to what Kondos Field has labeled as
“turf toe,” an injury that is expected to nag the
gymnast throughout the rest of the season.
Fellow freshman Lindsey Vanden Eykel will likely be limited to
solely competing on the uneven bars after an examination of her
injured back revealed she had sprained one of the joints in her
spine.
Christie Tedmon and Ashley Peckett are both recovering from the
flu, but are likely to compete in some capacity. Sophomore Lori
Winn will also sit out the final meet of her four-meet suspension
for violating team rules.
Heading Michigan’s lineup will be Elise Ray, captain of
the 2000 U.S. Olympic team, who, along with Bruins Kristen Maloney,
Kate Richardson and Tasha Schwikert, brings the total of Olympians
competing today in Ann Arbor, Mich., to four.
Ray, No. 14 in the country in the all-around, will be joined by
No. 21 Lindsey Bruck as part of the arsenal the Wolverines will
throw at UCLA.
But the Bruins lay claim to four of the top six gymnasts in the
nation, with Maloney (No. 1), Tasha Schwikert (No. 3), and
Richardson and Jordan Schwikert (tied for No. 5).
In hopes of rebounding from their lackluster performance last
week, where they had four falls on the floor against ASU, the
Bruins spent the past week focusing on floor exercise.
To make the task more enjoyable, Kondos Field set up a game
called “Bruins” in which the gymnastics squad was split
into two teams. When one team was able to stick a landing, it was
awarded a letter, with the first team to spell
“B-r-u-i-n-s” the victor.
Down B to B-R-U-I-N, the underclassmen were able to come back
with five stuck landings before the upperclassmen could muster an
S, giving the younger team control over the music selection for the
day.
“You’d think it was the National
Championship,” Kondos Field said, describing the excitement
in the gym.