Following last weekend’s two gymnastics meets, the No. 3 UCLA women’s gymnastics team will now travel to Tempe, Ariz. to compete against No. 16 Arizona State. After the Bruins’ second meet this season they have shown nothing but improvement by topping their high score with every meet. Last weekend, they improved their season average to 196.544 but still dropped down one spot in the national rankings.
In their last meet back in 2007, the Bruins edged the Sun Devils by a slight 195.725-195.275 margin. Currently, the Bruins hold a 43-23 regular season record against ASU, winning the last eight consecutive contests.
“Our goal is to remain in the top 3 ranking nationally,” coach Valorie Kondos Field said. “If you just look at the scores, our scores have improved every single meet … The reason why we’ve improved every meet is because we sweat the small stuff. We’re tied with the highest score in the country and we’re still not at full strength. We still have Ariana (Berlin), Anna (Li), and Brittani (McCullough) coming back to the lineup so if we can keep them healthy and do our job and not over-train them, they should be able to keep getting better.”
On top of improving their season average, UCLA’s freshmen have proven to be outstanding performers. Both freshmen Vanessa Zamarripa and Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs are the reigning Pac-10 gymnasts of the week.
“I think that’s pretty cool,” Hopfner-Hibbs said. “It’s a big accomplishment so I’m really excited about that. Practicing and trying to get more consistent is what has helped me get there.”
So far this season, the freshmen have seen a lot of action and have received the most attention. But seniors Berlin and Li will no longer be limited to just one event. Instead, they will take part in all-around action. After doing some extra training over the summer, Berlin believes she is capable of handling a much more complex routine on floor than she has done in the past three seasons.
“My first three years I was just doing the same passes,” Berlin said. “I’ve always wanted to get a more complex first pass. I decided to stay here over the summer to have some consistent training and to really work towards my goals. It’s nice that my hard work has finally paid off, and I’m really excited to be back in the line up and competing on floor.”
Although this is a competition against a Pac-10 team, the squad sees it as an opportunity for personal growth.
“I try to think of each competition as a competition against ourselves,” Hopfner-Hibbs said. “Every meet we have a goal to better our team score by one-tenth, two-tenths, or three-tenths. The team we’re competing against doesn’t really get into our team bubble.”