Gymnastics team seeks No. 1 spot in nation

Last week was about working off the rust and getting back into competition mode.

With rankings changing to regional qualifying scores and scores lower than usual, UCLA fell to No. 3 from No. 2 after the home meet last week.

“I was surprised how rusty we were with quite a few performances,” coach Valorie Kondos Field said. “They were excited to get competing again, which was important.”

The Bruins won the meet but the week off showed.

This week is about returning to form and to the top spot in the nation.

The No. 3 UCLA gymnastics team travels to Lincoln, Neb. for a Sunday showdown against three teams from across the nation.

The Bruins (7-1) will be competing at the Masters Classic against No. 12 Nebraska (4-2), Minnesota (5-3), and North Carolina State (8-7) in a quad meet.

Now the team is back to their weekly regimen, and with the postseason approaching, it is time to find out who will outperform everyone else.

“The (Bruin) athletes know we are working on solidifying our lineup,” Kondos Field said. “Right now, it’s who can score that extra quarter of a tenth to make it into the top six in our lineup. That is weighing heavily on them, and they are rising to the challenge and training really well.”

Despite being ranked significantly higher than the rest of the field, the team does not expect to come out with an easy win.

“Nebraska is always good and N.C. State and Minnesota are two of those teams that are going to come out and be clean and they’re going to hit,” Kondos Field said. “If we’re not on our game, it’s going to be our meet to lose.”

The Masters Classic will give the team a chance to see the site for nationals, an event the Bruins hope to attend in April.. UCLA has had luck in Nebraska in the past and hopes to have success this week.

“We’re extremely excited to go to Nebraska because the last time we competed there, we won the national championship (in 2004),” Kondos Field said. “We are looking at Nebraska being one of our peak performances this year.”

NOTES: At the last meet freshman Vanessa Zamarrippa earned her second perfect 10 of the season on vault with her Yurchenko full. Freshman Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs took the all-around title…The Bruins may be without freshman Aisha Gerber, who injured her ribs during warm-ups last Sunday. She is cleared to compete, but her status will be determined Sunday.

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