Sun Devils await m. gym at club championships
By Emmanuelle Ejercito
The UCLA men’s gymnastics club team heads to the USA Collegiate
National Championship this weekend hoping to prove that it is one
of the best teams in the country.
Out of the 15 eligible club teams in the nation, only the top
four teams qualify for the championship in Denton, Texas.
Qualification is determined by the average scores in at least four
other meets. The teams with the four highest average scores vie for
the championship title.
UCLA enters the competition with the second highest meet average
(220.55), which is one-and-a-half points behind the Arizona State
University Sun Devils. ASU, last year’s club national champion,
comes in with the highest average (221.03). There is a large
disparity in average scores between the top two teams and the other
two teams. Miami-Dade College North enters with a 195.38 team
average, while the University of Washington has a 190.40
average.
As the top teams, UCLA and ASU are expected to battle for first
place in the Friday competition.
"It will be a tremendous meet between us and UCLA for the first
place spot," ASU head coach Scott Barclay said.
UCLA and ASU are no strangers. The two teams have competed
against each other twice this season. UCLA won the first meet with
ASU winning the second. The big difference for UCLA in those two
meets occurred in the second meet when they competed without star
gymnast Steve McCain, who was competing in the Pan-American Games.
However, for this competition UCLA will have its full team.
"It’s a big boost getting (Steve) back," UCLA head coach Art
Shurlock. "Plus everybody else has gotten a lot more stable since
the second meet (against ASU). I’m expecting us to do a lot better
job in this competition."
The Sun Devils are aware that the presence of McCain will make
it more difficult to repeat its victory over the Bruins.
"Steve will make a big difference," Barclay said. "We just have
to pull together as a team even better than when we beat UCLA."
The Sun Devils are also at a disadvantage because of injuries.
One gymnast who is a five- event specialist for the team is
suffering from kidney problems and may not compete. Another blow to
the team is an injury to their No. 2 all-arounder, freshman Nate
Quinn, who is suffering from two cracked ribs.
"We’ve got injuries," Barclay said. "We’re running pretty thin.
We’re just going to try to hold out and see what happens."
The Bruins also know that ASU will still be a tough
contender.
"I think ASU will do really well," Shurlock said. "I’m sure that
they’ve gotten better. They know that they need a good team effort
to win it. I’m sure they are going to put together an outstanding
team competition."
Meanwhile, UCLA’s gymnasts are healthy. Shurlock is pleased with
the display of the gymnastics that he has seen in recent practices,
and feels that the team has not had a meet this season in which
they performed to their full potential.
"I’m hoping that this will be the meet where we really put out a
good team effort and perform up to our level," Shurlock said.
"We’ve been solving a lot of problems in practice … we’re finally
more consistent on the routines, and stable. That’s what it takes
to win."
The top individual all-around scorers will go on to vie for the
individual crown on Saturday. With Mike DeNucci, Jim Foody, Greg
Umphrey and McCain competing in the all-around, UCLA hopes to sweep
the top three or four spots.
"If everyone hits (their routines), then we’ve got a chance to
go one, two, three in the all-around," Shurlock said. "It’s just a
matter of if we get started well and gain the momentum. Steve,
Greg, Jim and Mike have all been looking good in practice."
Although the competition is not as prestigious as the NCAA
Championships, the Bruins are still excited about competing and
plan to give their best effort. They feel that if they can win,
they would prove that UCLA gymnastics is still one of the top
programs in the nation.
"Whether it’s the NCAA Championship or the Team Club National
Championship, if you work hard all year you want something in
return for it," Shurlock said. "The last thing we have to save our
season and show that we are an outstanding team is this meet. If we
go out and compete great, we can show that we belong in the
NCAA."
* * *
Although this is UCLA’s rookie year as a club team, their
opponents, the University of Washington and ASU, are veterans.
The teams also admit that any changes that have occurred are
financially. The routines, workouts and opponents are the same.
The Sun Devils, whose athletes were able to keep their
scholarships, felt that the quality of their team remained the
same.
"The quality has gone quite well," Barclay said. "In fact it has
gotten better."
It might seem that with an outstanding program like UCLA
becoming a club sport, there is a trend occurring in men’s
gymnastics. Barclay, however, feels that there are other
alternatives.
"You can cut budgets without cutting sports," Barclay said. "I
don’t see (cutting sports) as a continuing trend. I think we need
some better financial managers."