Although the women’s gymnastics team traveled to Utah to compete for the national championship, the Bruins had a huge obstacle to overcome on Thursday before any talk of the 100th national title got serious.
Facing a tough lineup at the preliminary meet, UCLA struggled its way to a third-place finish, holding off LSU to claim a spot in the Super Six event that will take place tonight. The Bruins scored 196.475, cooling off from their recent streak of scores above 197.
“Us coaches were watching the score,” coach Valorie Kondos Field said. “We knew we just had to do our job to move on, and the girls got it done once again today. We’re so thrilled to be in the Super Six.”
Utah and Stanford claimed the other two spots from the evening session. Joining them from the morning session will be defending champion Georgia, top-ranked Florida, and Nebraska. All six teams will go head-to-head for the national championship.
The Bruins, however, know they are fortunate just to have the opportunity to compete in the finals. On a night when the gymnasts were far from perfect, the team’s fate remained undetermined until the final routine.
“We were definitely nervous,” senior Ashley Peckett said. “The whole gym had a lot of energy and it was hard not to get into it.”
Leading the way for UCLA was the youngest member of the team, freshman Anna Li. Her all-around score of 39.500 was the second-highest in the meet, behind Utah’s Ashley Postell (39.600).
The team got off to a strong start on the balance beam, led by Li and junior Tasha Schwikert. Li hit her routine and earned a score of 9.875 and Schwikert followed with a 9.800.
“We had so many athletes that hadn’t competed at the national championships before today, but they responded well in the first event,” Kondos Field said.
However, after a bye, the Bruins looked more like the team that lacked experience. With a makeshift lineup and two of their regulars sitting out, the team struggled and earned a score of 48.800, slightly below their season average.
“We changed our lineup because of Ariana (Berlin) and Jordan (Schwikert’s) injuries,” Kondos Field said. “It wasn’t our regular lineup, and a lot of other girls had to go in.”
Injuries affected the team throughout the night as they used makeshift lineups to give some of the injured gymnasts a rest. Sophomore Berlin has been struggling with pain in her leg and did not perform her floor routine. Jordan Schwikert is also recovering from a hamstring injury and was unavailable to compete on the floor.
But the team recovered on the next event, the vault. Tasha Schwikert, Peckett and Li all earned scores of 9.9, helping the team seize the moment and regain its position in the top three with a score of 49.425. “Vault and bars are our two best events, so we know we have to go out there and take advantage of those chances we get,” Schwikert said.
The Bruins finished the meet on bars, scoring 49.225 to clinch the victory and claim their spot in the final event. Schwikert gave the team the best performance of the night with a score of 9.925.
With less than 24 hours before the team finals, the gymnasts have little time to dwell on their performance.
As they prepare to take on the nation’s best teams, every small detail will matter when they put their entire season on the line.
“You have to dream big,” Kondos Field said. “Leave it all out there and give it your best shot. It would be nice to go out there and hit 24-for-24. But we’ll put it all on the line and see what happens.”