The elusive 100th national title proved to be too difficult to catch once again for UCLA, as the women’s gymnastics team placed fourth on Friday at the NCAA Super Six Finals in Utah.
UCLA finished with a team score of 196.925, well behind Georgia, which continued its domination with an incredible 197.850 to become just the second team in NCAA history to three-peat as national champions.
“Consider who we had competing and the adversity we were competing with ““ we feel like we won the national championship,” coach Valorie Kondos Field said. “The girls hit the best routines they were capable of hitting and it was just an amazing experience.”
After missing the Super Six last season for the first time in 15 years, UCLA battled through a tough season full of injuries and overcame all odds just to reach the national championships.
Of the six teams competing in the event, the eighth-ranked Bruins were the lowest ranked.
The Bruins were also one of the youngest and least-experienced teams in the finals, with only three gymnasts having national championship experience. Given the circumstances and together with their list of injured gymnasts and their makeshift lineups, even the team’s fourth-place finish felt like a championship.
“In these championships, everyone contributed,” Kondos Field said. “The girls learned that you have to be mentally, emotionally and physically ready to come in and hit because you never know when you’re going to be called upon. What this team learned is something they will carry forward to next year.”
The Bulldogs, meanwhile, showed no signs of slowing down despite having to compete without two of their top gymnasts, seniors Ashley Kupets and Kelsey Ericksen.
With both Kupets and Ericksen watching from the sidelines, Georgia proved that it remained the team to beat, reeling off five straight scores of 9.900 or higher in the final round to hold off Utah and Florida.
“You can never count a Bulldog out,” Georgia’s Katie Heenan said. “We fought for everything tonight. Not many teams can lose two seniors right before nationals and still come out and win. We won with team chemistry and upheld the great Georgia Bulldog tradition.”
Top-ranked Florida finished in a disappointing third-place with a score of 197.225, while the Utah Utes took advantage of the home crowd support to place second with 197.250.
The Bruins once again had a tremendous meet, hitting 23 of their 24 routines despite having several of their best gymnasts struggling with injuries.
But on a night when every team was executing with perfection, the team’s best effort was not enough to keep up with the competition.
Junior Tasha Schwikert led the Bruins with an all-around score of 39.575. She hit three routines that earned more than a 9.900 and she finished with the fourth-highest score in the meet. Senior Ashley Peckett, competing for UCLA for the last time, also was in action on all four events, scoring a 39.325.
“I was pretty solid tonight and it was an amazing way to end it all,” Peckett said. “I know we came in fourth but to me it still feels like we won the championship tonight.”
Both Ariana Berlin and Jordan Schwikert also participated in the all-around, overcoming their ailments and playing through the pain to help their team.
Schwikert has been struggling with a high hamstring injury and was unable to train over the past few weeks in order to allow for recovery. Nonetheless, she connected on all four routines and earned a 9.850 on floor and a team-high 9.900 on vault.
Berlin, who has been dealing with pain in her leg due to a surgically inserted rod, was competing in her first ever national championships and also gave the team a big boost with her energetic leadoff performances.
“My leg has no pain,” Berlin said. “You have a goal and if you want to get it, you just go and get it no matter what. I’m happy with my performance and it’s the best feeling in the world.”
However, perhaps the most amazing performances of the night were turned in by two of the team’s backups, who came in late in the season to help fill the gaps and give the team some much-needed depth.
Sophomore Melissa Chan, who has only competed in the postseason, landed her roundoff/two-footed layout on beam and stuck her dismount to score a 9.9.
Sophomore Janelle Dantzscher followed this up on floor, displaying a new middle pass of double tuck and finishing strong to earn a 9.875. Dantzscher was also coming off of an injury-filled season.
“I’ve just been working a lot with my coaches and doing what they told me,” Dantzscher said. “I stayed confident and I thought we did the best we could tonight. I hope to keep working hard over the offseason and be back next year.”
UCLA got off to a slow start and fell behind early. Opening up on bars, the Bruins hit all of their routines, but small flaws kept their scores low as they posted a team score of 49.100.
The beam was much the same story, as the team overcame a fall by freshman Anna Li and finished with 49.150.
By the time the teams were done with their first two rounds, the Bruins found themselves behind the leaders by 0.5 points.
“I told the team you have to take it one event at a time and one skill at a time,” Kondos Field said. “You can’t win with 9.8s, so everyone has to go for 9.9s and higher. You have to dig deep, use your brain and believe.”
After its bye, however, the team came out fired up and responded well. On their final two events, the Bruins competed with passion and scored 49.275 on floor and 49.400 on vault. But the effort was too late, and Georgia’s lead proved to be insurmountable.
“Floor and vault are our really good events,” senior Michelle Selesky said. “We told ourselves that we wanted to leave it all on the floor so we went out and put everything on the line.”
Although the team did not bring home the long-awaited 100th national title, the girls were proud of their performance and could not have asked for any more.
“Actually this was the ending we wanted,” Selesky said. “We couldn’t have finished the season any better.”
With a championship experience under its belt and a long offseason to heal and rehab, the Bruins know that a return trip is almost certain. Given all the circumstances, the team achieved all that they could and hopefully this will be a learning experience that will help them bring home the championship next year.
“I have been a part of teams that have won the national championship and it was not this rewarding, so I could not be more proud of them,” Kondos Field said. “It was great to know that we can come out and compete with the big guns even when we’ve got a lot of our guns sitting on the bench. We got a lot to build on for next year.”