As UCLA gymnastics prepares for its final meet of the regular season on Sunday, the team seems to have finally picked up the momentum it lacked in the first half of its season – in fact, its recent success suddenly means it could be a serious contender for an NCAA title come April.
While every NCAA-title-winning team since 1995 has managed a combined score of 197.15 or higher at the championship meet, for the first seven weeks of UCLA’s season the team’s scores barely wavered around mid-196. But two weeks ago against Arizona, the team shook its inconsistencies and broke well past the 197 barrier, scoring 197.500.
And though the team’s performance on beam was plagued by falls and preventable mistakes through the early parts of the season – to the point that coach Valorie Kondos Field doubled her athletes’ practice repetitions on the event – a strong showing on beam to start last weekend’s tri-meet in Michigan spurred the team onto scoring over 197 for the second time all year.
Keeping their recent successes in mind, this weekend UCLA (7-3) faces off against Utah State and Bowling Green in Pauley Pavilion and another strong showing would help establish the team’s ability to consistently score at an elite level.
With the team’s major issues seemingly fixed, Kondos Field said that going forward, the Bruins will look to address some of its more minor issues, namely unstuck landings, as it pursues consistent mid-to-high 197 scores.
And for the last time this season, UCLA gets the motivation of a Pauley Pavilion crowd behind it as it tries to prove its status as a true contender.