Last season, the UCLA women’s gymnastics team failed to qualify for the NCAA Championships for the first time in 15 seasons.
This year, the team was determined not to let failure haunt their dreams once again.
“Out of all my years of coaching, this one means more to me than ever before,” coach Valorie Kondos Field said. “After a while you start taking it for granted, so this one really meant a lot.”
In West Virginia for the NCAA Southeast Regionals, the Bruins picked up where they left off at the Pac-10 Championships, overcoming some tough scoring to beat out second-place LSU, 195.975 to 195.950. Both teams qualified for the NCAA Championships, which will take place in Salt Lake City, Utah, on April 26-28.
Junior Tasha Schwikert also continued her dominance, winning the all-around for the sixth consecutive meet with a score of 39.525. Her final routine on the floor exercise earned a meet-high 9.9 and allowed the team to hold off LSU.
“The scoring was a little lower than usual but they were fair across the board and we just kept going,” Schwikert said. “I was happy with my performance and we’re all super excited (about the championships). We’re peaking at the right time.”
Still, it was not an easy meet for the Bruins. As usual, last-minute injuries forced the team to change its lineup, but the team once again pulled through. Ariana Berlin and Jordan Schwikert were unable to compete on the floor exercise and were replaced by Janelle Dantzscher and Ashley Jenkins. Both gymnasts performed new routines for the first time and helped the Bruins stay in the game.
Even more surprising, however, was the clutch performance of sophomore Melissa Chan. After missing the whole season and just recently rejoining the team, Chan entered the balance beam needing to nail her routine because of two falls from teammate Ashley Peckett. She completed her roundoff to two-footed layout and stuck her landing to earn a score of 9.75.
“We fought really hard and came out the victors,” Kondos Field said. “The girls stayed focused and refused to let up. Injuries forced us to go with a late lineup change but the other girls came in and did a great job.”
The team began the meet on vault and surged to an early lead as all six gymnasts earned scores of 9.8 or higher to give the team a total of 49.275. They followed this up with another solid rotation on the uneven bars, closing with freshman Anna Li’s career-best score of 9.95.
“It was a lot of fun,” Li said. “We came in really prepared and pumped up. I was confident and, even though the scoring was low, I hit my routines.”
Li, competing in her first NCAA event, finished once again in the top three all-around with her score of 39.275. Li won the uneven bars and also finished first on the beam.
The team struggled in its third event on the balance beam but both of its stars, Li and Tasha Schwikert, hit their routines to help offset low scores. However, it was on the floor that the team really showed depth. Despite the injuries, the Bruins came up big and made the most of what they had as they held on to win the meet.
“I believe we’re all headed in the right direction right now,” Li said. “We are pulling together at the right time. Everything is going well. We are performing perfect rotations, having perfect landings, and getting great scores.”
With two weeks to go before the NCAA Championships, the Bruins are already counting down the days, as they hope to bring UCLA its long-awaited 100th national title. But the rest will be necessary and, more than anything, the team hopes to be in good health for that meet.
“We need to really just get some rest,” Kondos Field said. “We will also have some decisions to make because of the strong performance by our substitutes, but that is a welcome challenge and we’re OK with that.”