It’s almost as if the schedule played a practical joke on the gymnastics team. After starting the season last weekend with an upset over then-No. 3 Alabama, No. 5 UCLA faced an even tougher foe Friday in defending NCAA champion Florida.
Despite scoring higher than they did in the home win against the Crimson Tide, the Bruins found themselves on the losing end of a 197.675-196.925 showdown with the Gators in Gainesville, Florida.
“We came out with a solid score, but pretty solid performance as well, especially considering the circumstance,” said associate head coach Chris Waller, who filled in for coach Valorie Kondos Field as she dealt with a family emergency. “The fact that we came across the country, three time zone difference, the first away meet for our freshmen against a very highly ranked team, without the head coach – I think they were outstanding.”
UCLA displayed massive improvements, raising its vault score from 48.900 in the Alabama meet to 49.125 against Florida and its uneven bars score from 48.775 to 49.350.
“There were many improvements on details,” Waller said. “We had much better landings. We had more sticks. The form in the air on vault was much better. And generally, our hand stands on bars and landings were much cleaner.”
Senior Sophina DeJesus led the bars scoreboard with a team best of 9.925, followed by career highs from three other Bruins. Sophomores JaNay Honest and Melissa Metcalf both scored 9.85, while freshman Katelyn Ohashi impressed the crowd with a 9.9.
“(The bars event) was a little crazy,” Ohashi said. “I just had to keep my nerves down and go out there and do what I always practice. It just all came together in that second.”
Ohashi, a former AT&T American Cup all-around champion who has competed in elite-level gymnastics over the past few years, said she finds the college audience to be louder and more involved in the meet. She said she felt the Bruins won over the Gainesville fans.
“At first I thought it was going to (be daunting), to be honest,” Ohashi said. “It was almost (more fun) to be not at home. I’m pretty sure the crowd loved us, but couldn’t really cheer for us.”
Senior Danusia Francis also said the opposing fans seemed to enjoy the team’s display.
“We got comments from the crowd, we got comments from the other team, saying we were just really fun,” Francis said. “The energy was amazing and the crowd was into us. I couldn’t be more proud of our team.”
Ohashi and her fellow freshmen have, according to Waller, contributed a bold attitude to the team’s atmosphere.
“The freshmen have brought with them a certain – and I mean it in a positive way – freedom and levity,” Waller said. “They just don’t seem to compete with any fear. They just go out there and go for it. I think that that combined with the character of the rest of the team is going to be very powerful for the rest of the season.”