Coming off of their season’s best performance at Berkeley
on Friday, the 11th-ranked Bruins followed up with a not-so-perfect
performance as they hosted the Washington Huskies in the first John
Wooden Challenge.
Earlier in the weekend, the team recorded a season-high score of
196.5 en route to a victory at the quad meet over Sacramento State,
Berkeley, and UC Davis. Kate Richardson, Ariana Berlin, and Melissa
Chan swept the all-around finishing first, second, and third,
respectively. But on Sunday, the story was different. Although they
defeated the Huskies with a score of 195.55-193.2, the team made
many errors on both the beam and the floor, leaving the team
slightly disappointed.
“I was very surprised tonight. I thought after Cal, we
would come in with a lot of confidence. But they didn’t and
they let one mistake get to everybody else. We shouldn’t have
done that, plain and simple. We’re too good of a team to
allow that,” coach Valorie Kondos Field said.
On an afternoon in which both athletic and academic excellence
were being honored, the only real shining star proved to be
freshman Ariana Berlin as she finished first in the all-around with
a career-high score of 39.200.
“I was very surprised. I was not prepared to win at all.
Each competition is one step up and it just keeps getting better
and better. Hopefully it just keeps going up,” Berlin
said.
Entering into the season, the team hoped to use Berlin as a
backup, performing mostly on exhibitions. However, she has quietly
emerged as one of the team’s top performers, posting an
average score of 38.975 in her last four meets.
After completing an excellent floor routine, Berlin brought the
crowd to their feet as she raised the roof and called them out to
cheer. Beyond Berlin, however, there was much room for improvement.
All-American Kate Richardson, who has led the team throughout the
season, fell on the beam and then stepped out of bounds on the
floor. She finished with her worst score of the season at
38.35.
“I really don’t know what happened. I have no idea.
I guess it just happens sometimes,” Richardson said.
The team also faced yet another major setback when freshman
Melissa Chan, who has largely helped fill the void of their
veterans, injured her leg during warm-ups prior to the final
round.
The team hopes to fill the void with the return of sophomore
Jordan Schwikert, who underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgery in
November. After missing the team’s first two meets, Schwikert
seems to have returned to full form. Against the Huskies, she
posted a career-high on the floor exercise with a score of 9.9.
“It feels really good to be back. I really missed
gymnastics and to be able to compete in front of the home crowd
again is just exciting,” Schwikert said.
Although it will be several weeks before she can get on to the
bars again, having her back will give the team a sure boost,
especially with Chan’s injury and the continued absence of
sister Tasha Schwikert and Michelle Selesky.
As the team prepares to take on the 1st-ranked Georgia Bulldogs
this week, the girls know they will have to be at their best to
defeat the reigning champions. However, if they execute like they
did at Berkeley, it would not be a surprise to see the Bruins come
out on top.
“It’s all about confidence. It’s about having
no regrets. When you hold back you have regrets. If you go hard and
make a mistake, you don’t feel bad. We went 196.5 at Cal, so
it’s not out of reach for us,” Kondos Field said.