The UCLA gymnastics team will travel north to face Cal on Monday night. But for redshirt senior Sadiqua Bynum, a Berkeley native, it will be more like a home meet.
“I’m excited that there’s a lot of family coming, and a lot of friends and everything,” Bynum said. “If I try to think of it as any different, then I’m gonna get too excited, or out of my norm. So I just have to think of it as a normal meet.”
Having started the season with two wins out of three meets, losing only to current NCAA champion Florida, UCLA is now No. 4 in the country. The Bruins’ opponent, the No. 21 Golden Bears, have only won twice in the all-time 67 regular season meets between the two teams.
In preparation for the meet against Cal, coach Valorie Kondos Field has made some minor adjustments in search of earning a few extra tenths of a point.
“We are focusing on landings,” Kondos Field said. “And I’m making a few changes to skills on beam where we are losing half a tenth to a tenth every time they compete.”
Senior Sophina DeJesus and freshman Katelyn Ohashi will both compete with a new dismount for their beam routines. In last weekend’s meet against Arizona, Ohashi fell on the apparatus after the edge of the beam fell off.
“People may think I’m changing Katelyn’s dismount because of the fall she had last weekend,” Kondos Field said. “That’s not the truth at all. I just feel like with that dismount that she was doing, which is the hardest dismount in the country, she wouldn’t be able to score a perfect score of a 10. She’s certainly capable of that on that event, so I needed to restructure the routines.”
READ MORE: Last week’s scare and Ohashi’s recovery.
Although Ohashi didn’t receive any serious injury and was able to complete her routine on her second go, Kondos Field said the freshman hit her chest with her chin during the fall. As a result, Ohashi hasn’t been training this week due to lingering soreness.
“It’s getting better every day,” Ohashi said. “So I’m hoping that I compete on Monday all-around. But it’s probably a call we are gonna make there.”
Redshirt junior Christine Peng-Peng Lee is also on the Bruins’ injury list. Recovering from a thumb surgery last November, Lee has only competed on beam this season. Kondos Field said Lee started practicing on vault recently and will hopefully feature in the event on Monday.
The meet versus Cal will be the third and last consecutive road meet on UCLA’s busy beginning of season schedule.