[Online Exclusive]: Fresh gymnasts roll in for injured teammates

Nothing is stopping the women’s gymnastics team these
days. Not the challenge of the top-ranked team in the country. Not
the lack of experience for the rookies. And not even an incomplete
lineup.

With almost every passing day, it seems as if the team loses yet
another gymnast to injury. And yet, over the past weekend, the
Bruins made it clear that they may be down, but they are definitely
not out.

Despite having only five gymnasts on three of the four events,
No. 7 UCLA posted its best score of the season, 196.675, to win the
quad meet at home against 12th-ranked Arizona State, Cal State
Fullerton, and UC Davis. The win came two days after the Bruins
fell short against Georgia, 197.525-195.2, in Athens, Ga.

“As a coach, when you have athletes that all of a sudden
aren’t cleared to compete, you literally take a deep breath,
take a nice long look at your ever-increasing short roster, and
start filling in the necessary competitive spots … if you
can,” coach Valorie Kondos Field said.

Senior all-American Kate Richardson, who did not travel to
Georgia due to a tricep injury, led the way in the quad meet as she
won the all-around with a 39.55. Freshman Kristina Comforte
finished right behind her teammate with her 39.45.

The biggest surprises, however, came from sophomore Jordan
Schwikert and freshman Janelle Dantzscher.

After a fall on the beam by one of the Bruins, the coach had to
send up a sixth gymnast to compete. Schwikert, who had slightly
injured her ankle on the vault and was not initially planning to
compete in the event, was summoned. She stunned the team with her
performance, scoring a meet-high 9.85.

Dantzscher also had her set of heroics this weekend, as she
helped fill the missing spots in lineup. The freshman had competed
in the all-around only once prior to Friday’s meet, but with
eight spots needing to be filled, she quickly stepped up.

Scoring career-highs on all four events, Dantzscher finished the
meet fourth in the all-around with a career-high of 39.125.

“It didn’t take long before I started to get excited
for our athletes who would be filling in. I felt the opportunity
they would have in competing this weekend could be the turning
point in their competitive careers,” Kondos Field said.

With Richardson and freshman Melissa Chan staying back to rehab,
the Bruins flew to Georgia on Friday to take on the defending
national champions. Despite the outcome, the team put on a gutsy
effort in a 195.2-197.525 loss to the Bulldogs.

“It isn’t often that coaches and a team can feel
exuberant and excited after losing a competition. But Friday night
at Georgia, we competed the entire depth of our roster and it was
awesome,” Kondos Field said.

Comforte led the short-handed attack for the Bruins, posting a
team-high score of 39.300, finishing third in the all-around. The
competition marked the debut of freshman Alyssa Kitasoe. She had a
solid effort with a score of 9.600 on both the beam and the
floor.

“It was so exciting to have these girls, all who
haven’t competed much on some of these events, come up to me
and say “˜Miss Val, I’m ready to compete hard, and
I’m confident I can hit.’ We weren’t perfect, but
their commitment to our goal never wavered,” Kondos Field
said.

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