February 20, 1996
Bruin gymnasts beaming as wins propel them closer to top
spot
By Esther Hui
Daily Bruin Staff
When freshman Susie Erickson dismounted from the beam with a 2
1Ž2 twist and a step during Sunday’s triangle women’s
gymnastics meet at the Wooden Center, there was no way of knowing
that that small step would be the only imperfect landing of the
afternoon, and probably UCLA’s biggest error.
The Bruins had no falls and no major wobbles on the beam,
sweeping the top five places on the event, and scoring a phenomenal
49.400, eventually winning the meet with a Wooden Center record of
195.100.
"They were rock solid," UCLA assistant coach Mark Cook said.
"It’s a mental event, and usually it’s the event that will make you
or break you."
Erickson was followed by freshman Louisa Portocarrero, who
performed her third flawless beam routine in a row for the Bruins –
which includes her signature frontwalkover sideways on the beam for
a 9.85. Kiralee Hayashi reaffirmed herself as a definite threat
with a back-handspring layout, layout and a stuck double-back
dismount (9.875).
Corinne Chee nailed a layed out full twisting punch front
dismount (9.875), while Leah Homma performed the Homma flares, and
stuck her full twisting dismount off the side to win the event
(9.925).
And Stella Umeh, eventual all-around winner with a 39.250,
performed the layout step out mount she fell on at the UCLA/Gilda
Marx Invitational and a four-trick tumbling run of a back
handspring, layout punch, handspring, layout step out. She then
stuck her double back dismount for a 9.875. It was like
clockwork.
So if the beam is usually a good indicator of a team’s overall
stability, and the major error of the afternoon was a tiny hop by
the first gymnast up, then the third event for the Bruins on Sunday
was nearly perfect.
"It really helps having someone up first like Susie," UCLA head
coach Valorie Kondos said. "It puts the rest of the team at ease
knowing she’ll be giving 100 percent. Following with Louisa, who is
so solid, gives the team a sense of calm, and you build from
there."
The Bruins were steady on vault, counted one fall on bars when
Hayashi missed her hands on her Jaeger release move, and finished
strong on floor with no major errors.
After Friday night’s win over No. 5 Oregon State
(194.325-193.200), the No. 10 Bruins have had three solid
performances in a row. Counting only one fall in four events on
Sunday, and no falls against Oregon State, the Bruins have shown a
spark which harkens back to last year’s record-setting team, and
may have finally nabbed the consistency which eluded them in the
first part of the season.
"There are no magic words, there’s no magic wand," Kondos said.
"You just have to put it on the line. This week I said, ‘This is
what will happen if you keep on this track (of inconsistency), this
is what will happen if you fight,’ and this team has really risen
to the occasion."
The Bruins have now put themselves in good position for being
top-ranked in the West Regional, which will be hosted by UCLA in
April, and almost seemed out of reach until this weekend’s
performance.
"Since the (UCLA) Invite we realized what we would need to do to
be ranked first going into regionals," Dee Fischer said. "Val
helped us to kick it in gear, almost by scaring us. We don’t have
many chances left."
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© 1996 ASUCLA Communications Board
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