With one final rotation remaining and Pac-10 rival Stanford putting on the pressure, the UCLA women’s gymnastics team decided that it had come too far to let this one slip away.
The Bruins entered the Pac-10 Championships in Tempe, Ariz., coming off of a disappointing loss to the Cardinal, and after losing to them twice this season, the team was determined that the third time had to be a charm.
“It’s a tribute to Stanford,” coach Valorie Kondos Field said. “They are a great team and have great talent. When you’re UCLA, it’s hard to feel that you are second-best to anybody. After we lost the last two meets, we were determined to take it.”
Capped by junior Tasha Schwikert’s perfect beam routine that earned her a 9.95, the Bruins reclaimed the Pac-10 championship, holding off Stanford by a narrow margin of 197.200-196.950.
The victory gave UCLA its 13th Pac-10 title, more than double the number any other school has. It also was a major step in the team’s journey to become national champions again.
“It just adds fuel to our fire,” Schwikert said. “It gives us a lot of momentum going into regionals. It gives us the confidence to know we are one of the best teams in the country and that we’re capable of bringing home the title.”
After a disappointing season last year and a slow start this year, the Bruins have fought hard to get to this point. The team has overcome various injuries and lineup changes to reestablish themselves as the team to beat in the West.
On Saturday though, the team looked nearly perfect as they posted a season-high score, led by Schwikert’s stellar performance. Schwikert posted an all-around score of 39.750 and won her second all-around Pac-10 title in three years.
“I think she’s better than she was before,” Kondos Field said. “She is more mature and she is more poised. She can really take charge of her emotion and energy and she is literally training like she’s going for the Olympic team.”
Perhaps no one individual has exemplified the team’s journey better than Schwikert. Last year, she sat out most of the season hampered by shoulder injuries. This season, after getting off to a great start, injuries slowed her down again. Problems with her Achilles tendon limited her action and she had not competed on floor since January.
“I’ve had Achilles issues for a while but it didn’t affect me,” Schwikert said. “I’m going to have to tape them up and deal with it. I was nervous on floor cause it had been five meets but I just went all out and I ended up with the best routine I did all year.”
On Saturday, Schwikert showed a resemblance to the same gymnast who was once the best in the nation and competed for the U.S. Olympic team. Competing for the first time in two months on floor, Schwikert was flawless and scored a 9.95. Most importantly, with the team needing a flawless routine from her on beam, she secured UCLA’s victory with a clean dismount and a first-place score.
“When we realized Stanford wasn’t that far ahead of us, we got pumped up,” Schwikert said. “Before beam, Michelle (Selesky) got us together and said it’s going to be a hard win but we’ve done it before so lets get up and do it. I knew that if I hit, we would win and if I didn’t hit, we were going to lose. I definitely didn’t want to sit there and be on the losing end, so I just focused on doing the best.”
The team received yet another solid performance from freshman Anna Li. She has been the most consistent gymnast for the Bruins this year and the Pac-10 Championships did not change that. Li showed no signs of nervousness in her first major meet and finished third in the all-around with a score of 39.450. Tasha Smith of Oregon State finished second with a score of 39.475.
“It was really overwhelming, but I was really excited cause our team was pumped and ready to win,” Li said. “I was nervous at first but after that I was fine. After I finished beam, I felt like we were going to win and we were so excited.”
The victory gives the Bruins some much needed confidence and enthusiasm as they head into the NCAA Regionals. The toughest part of the season begins now and the Bruins know that they have just as good of a chance as anyone else.
“This was a great start to championship season,” the senior Selesky said. “Coming off a victory like this, we know we are ready for regionals. We feel like we are right there in contention for the national title this year.”