It was all smiles for the Bruins on Sunday as the team posted a
season-high score of 196.075 to defeat the Oregon State
Beavers.
Coming off of Friday’s meet at Washington, in which they
defeated the Huskies, the Bruins did not seem the least bit tired.
Full of energy and excitement, the girls gave the home crowd
glimpses of the vast potential of the team.
“The future of UCLA gymnastics looks really bright,”
UCLA coach Valorie Kondos Field said. “It’s awesome.
The way the freshmen competed was why they were recruited. It was
great for them to come out and win a meet like this.”
Freshmen Melissa Chan and Kristina Comforte led the way,
finishing first and second in the all-around with personal best
scores of 39.375 and 39.350, respectively.
Chan thrilled the crowd with her first-place floor routine that
earned a score of 9.9, capping a career day for the rookie.
“It was very exciting for me. I went out there and did my
best. I tried to have fun and show off everything that we do at
practice, and it all worked out,” Chan said.
At the start of the season there was a lot of uncertainty for a
team yielding seven freshman gymnasts.
But any concerns were put to rest this weekend with the
girls’ two strong meets. Showing poise and determination, the
young Bruins looked like anything but rookies.
“Our freshman class is coming along really well. At first
we were trying to get used to it and everything. But now
we’re just trying to have fun. We’re all coming
together a lot better as a team and I think it’s
working,” Comforte said.
While the freshmen have stepped up their performance, the team
has continued to have to fight through injuries.
Jordan Schwikert made her first appearance this season at
Washington but was forced to sit out of Sunday’s meet due to
lingering back problems.
“It felt good to be out there on Friday. There are
definitely going to be bumps on the road. It’s hard and
it’s going to take time but what keeps me going is that I
know I can come back,” Schwikert said.
With both of the Schwikert sisters as well as co-captain
Michelle Selesky out with injuries, Kondos Field was forced to send
out a line-up with only seven gymnasts.
“It’s all we got right now. Coming home from
Washington, I was thinking we need to mix it up and give our other
people a chance to compete but I realized we don’t have
anybody else. This is it,” Kondos Field said.
The team next competes on Feb. 3, and that may give sufficient
time for the girls to recover from their bumps and bruises.
Nonetheless, the team is excited about what looks to be a great
season ahead. With the return of the veterans and the continued
improvement of the freshmen, the Bruins hope to be a legitimate
contender for the national championship in April.
“We need to become consistent. We’ve posted better
scores but we haven’t peaked,” Kondos Field said.
“We still made mistakes out there and we have room to
improve in every event. We need to make this level consistent and
clean up.”