Monday, April 1, 1996
By Esther Hui
Daily Bruin Staff
What began as one of the most hyped competitions of the season
for the UCLA women’s gymnastics team turned into a nightmare almost
immediately at the Pacific 10 championships held at Oregon State on
March 23.
After the first rotation, the defending champion Bruins were in
last place with three falls in their opening event, the balance
beam, and finished the evening in fourth place (194.625) behind
Oregon State (196.775), Arizona State (195.525) and Arizona
(195.175). It was UCLA’s lowest Pac-10 finish ever. The all-around
was won by Heidi Hornbeek from Arizona with a 39.50.
"It was a huge loss," Leah Homma said. "Beyond disappointment.
We won it last year and there was no question last year whether we
were going to lose. This year we knew that Oregon State and the
Arizonas were stronger than they had been, but we knew we’d win if
we hit. It was a question of putting it together that one night,
and we didn’t."
"On beam you have to sharpen your focus subdue your energy a
little," UCLA head coach Valorie Kondos said. "We misguided our
energy and anxiety."
Kiralee Hayashi and Luisa Portocarrero were the only Bruins who
managed not to fall and the damage done on beam was too much to
overcome, despite no UCLA gymnast scoring lower than 9.80 the rest
of the meet.
UCLA performed solidly on floor (48.875) and they eclipsed 49.0
on vault for the first time this season (49.05), with senior Dee
Fischer coming in second with a 9.95. The Bruins put together a
stellar bar set (49.45, the highest total this season), which
included Homma’s first place 9.975, and Umeh’s 9.95, but it was too
late for the team title.
"We started on beam," Stella Umeh said. "And we couldn’t quite
get all of the kinks out. We didn’t really show the authority the
UCLA Bruins have on beam. We came back like you wouldn’t believe,
but it wasn’t enough."
***
The No. 9 Bruins rebounded after their disappointing performance
at Pac-10s by totalling their best team-score of the year in a
195.725-194.600 win against BYU in the last regular meet of the
season on Saturday. The Bruins counted no falls on the way to the
win, and Homma set the school record and personal best in the
all-around (39.700), and won vault (9.950), bars (9.950) and floor
(9.900).
The season began to take its toll physically on the gymnasts,
with an Achilles injury keeping Umeh from competing floor. The
Bruins will have two weeks to rest before the West Regional
championships to be held at UCLA. Most likely Oregon State will be
seeded first, and UCLA second.
"We were kind of mellow (going into BYU)," Umeh said. "And not
just because of Pac-10, but because it was the last meet of the
season. This season we’ve competed best when we’re mellow rather
than hyped up. It’s the best attitude to not think about beating
everybody, because you don’t end up beating everybody, you end up
beating yourself."
Said Kondos: "This was the most relaxed they’ve been this
season. They wanted to finish on a high note, feeling they’d
redeemed themselves, and feeling good going into West Regionals. A
lot of reporters in Utah were coming up to me and asking, ‘What’s
been going on this year? How come UCLA isn’t in the top rankings?’
It’s the way it’s always been  we peak at nationals; it’s a
rough road getting there."
JUSTIN WARREN/Daily Bruin
Leah Homma set a school all-around record with 39.700.
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