The No. 2 Bruin gymnastics team proved to be unstoppable once again this weekend in its first and only quad meet of the season.
In front of 3,190 fans, freshman Vanessa Zamarripa scored her second perfect 10 on vault this season. Zamarripa’s performance led the Bruins to their fifth win of the season, with a final score of 196.375. Boise State was second with a season-best 195.7, Washington came in third with 194.4 and Cal State Fullerton placed fourth with 193.15.
“I think they handled it very well,” UCLA coach Valorie Kondos Field said. “Even though there were 3,100, it felt like 6,000 (spectators). There’s a different pace with these quad meets because you warm up and then you go. With a duo meet, you wait and lose consistency, and the gymnasts don’t like that. So I think it was a very good meet.”
It was also a memorable night for freshman Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs, who won the all-around spot with a cumulative score of 39.375. She tied her high score on vault with a 9.85. Adding to the Bruin’s success on vault was freshman Aisha Gerber, who earned a 9.9 in her routine. The Bruins were strongest in the vault event, with a combined 49.525; they earned a 49.250 on bars, a 49.200 on beam and a 48.400 on floor.
When UCLA canceled its meet against Stanford two weeks ago because of a team-wide norovirus, players and coaches expected the Bruins to show signs of lack of practice, and it appeared they did. Although the Bruins took the victory, they did not achieve their goal of topping their high score. But Kondos Field did not blame it on the illness.
“You can’t blame the rustiness,” Kondos Field said. “I don’t know what happened, but we just weren’t able to beat our high score. But overall, I think we did a good job.”
ALUMNI HONORED: Once the meet was over, Kondos Field honored the 1984 men’s gymnastics team to celebrate the 25th anniversary of UCLA’s first gymnastics title. More than 30 alumni from past UCLA gymnastics teams traveled to Pauley Pavilion.
Among the returning alumni were 1984 U.S. Olympic gold medalists Mitch Gaylord and Tim Daggett and two-time Mexican Olympian Tony Pineda.
“It was really important for the girls to see that because they are just a symbol of excellence, and that’s what UCLA stands for,” Kondos Field said. “They had a lot of fun and were glad to meet the alumni.”