Gymnasts kick off promising season

The women’s gymnastics team kicked off its 2006 season on
Sunday with the annual Meet the Bruins exhibition. The event
featured sneak peeks of several of the team members’ floor
exercise routines as well as skills demonstrations on the bars.
More importantly, it was a chance for fans to meet the athletes and
get to know a bit about them. With seven freshmen on the roster,
there are plenty of new faces on the team and many questions to be
answered. “The team chemistry is great. They’re all
very talented and very eager to do what it takes to move
forward,” coach Valorie Kondos Field said. Known for their
winning tradition, the gymnasts have many reasons to be excited
this season. The team is full of young talent and with a solid
preseason, the Bruins look ready to make a return trip to the NCAA
Finals in April, where they have big shoes to fill. Last season,
the Bruins finished fourth at the NCAA finals. Individually, Tasha
Schwikert and Kristen Maloney became the first pair of teammates to
finish first and second in the same season. “Our main goal
right now is to do everything we can to stay healthy. We want to
start off strong and go into every meet jelling as a well-oiled
machine,” Field said.

RICHARDSON STILL OUT: Senior Kate Richardson, a
two-time Olympian and two-time NCAA champion, was limited in her
participation during Sunday’s event and continues to recover
from her leg injury. She fractured her left tibia while practicing
in September. “Kate is now crutch- and brace-free. She is
still a long way away from being able to flip and twist, but
she’s making good progress,” Kondos Field said.
Additionally, junior Ashley Peckett underwent arthroscopic surgery
on her ankle and should be out for the beginning of the season, as
will sophomore Jordan Schwikert who is out with a labrum (shoulder)
injury. Despite these setbacks, the team hopes to get a boost with
the arrival of Maranda Smith, who will join in late December.
Smith, a senior at Union Mine High School in Placerville, CA, is
graduating early to join the team for the 2006 season.

RECRUITING: Last week, Alicia Sacramone, Anna
Li, Brittani McCullough, and Ashley Jenkins all signed letters of
intent with UCLA. The gymnasts will join the team for the 2007
season. “This is one of the best recruiting classes we have
ever had. We signed four excellent athletes that compliment each
other very well,” Kondos Field said. Sacramone, a member of
the U.S. National Team, is a competitive gymnast and one of the
nation’s finest on the vault. Her solid all-around talent
will be a good addition to a team that will only lose one senior.
Li hopes to carry on a family tradition. Both of her parents
competed for China in the 1984 Olympics and won medals at Pauley
Pavilion. A qualifier for the U.S. Championships in both 2004 and
2005, she is a proven gymnast with tremendous poise and
presence.

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