Photos by COURTNEY STEWART An exuberant UCLA gymnastics
squad proudly displays its second consecutive NCAA championship
trophy. NCAA Championships 1. UCLA
197.575 2. Georgia 197.400
By Eli Karon
Daily Bruin Contributor
ATHENS, GA. “”mdash; The big-shot directors in Hollywood
couldn’t have written a better script. Friday night’s
team competition came down to the last competitor, and Saturday
night’s individual competition closed out a storybook season
for UCLA gymnastics.
On Friday UCLA captured its second consecutive NCAA
women’s gymnastics championship, squeaking by host Georgia
197.575 to 197.400.
UCLA entered the final rotation leading Georgia by one-tenth of
a point. The Bruins’ final apparatus was beam, their weakest
event, while Georgia would finish up on vault, its strongest.
Sophomore Doni Thompson, who has been UCLA’s rock all year
leading off on the beam, started the crucial exercise with a solid
9.90.
An ensuing fall by sophomore Malia Jones put the pressure
““ and the meet ““ on the shoulders of the next four
competitors.
Freshman Yvonne Tousek, sophomore Onnie Willis, freshman Kristen
Maloney, and senior Mohini Bhardwaj were forced to hit their
routines. After strong performances by Tousek (9.95), Willis
(9.90), and Maloney (9.95), UCLA looked to its only senior to bring
home the title.
 Freshman Yvonne Tousek recorded a
team-high 9.95 on the beam Friday. Carrying the weight of her team
on her 4-foot-10 inch frame, Bhardwaj needed a 9.75 to clinch the
Championship.
With Georgia finished on vault and watching anxiously from
across the arena, Bhardwaj confidently stuck a 9.90, giving UCLA
its second highest beam score in school history with a 49.575.
“I didn’t want to look back on my career and see
that I messed up,” Bhardwaj said. “I knew it was crunch
time and I had prepared all year long for this type of
situation.”
Everybody in the arena knew it, including Georgia Coach Suzanne
Yoculan, who told her team she would bet a million dollars that
Bhardwaj would not fall.
“They (UCLA) are a very good team,” Yoculan said.
“Their execution is flawless.”
One Bruin who exemplified that fact was Tousek, whose execution
was good enough for a Super Six best of 39.650 in all-around
competition.
Another notable UCLA gymnast was Maloney. Projected to compete
solely on beam, if at all, Maloney turned in gutsy performances on
floor, vault, and beam, defying trainers who thought she was unfit
to compete due to a leg injury.
“Kristen’s heart is much larger than her
body,” Head Coach Valorie Kondos Field said. “She told
the trainer this morning that she didn’t work this hard all
year not to compete.”
Maloney will undergo surgery this Friday at the UCLA Medical
Center to remove a rod from her shin and replace it with a thicker
one.
“At first it was really frustrating because I was hurting
so much,” Maloney said. “They didn’t want me to
do a lot, but I kept pushing it.”
UCLA also dominated the individual competition Saturday.
Bhardwaj won the individual floor title with an emotion-packed
routine. Before her final pass, the senior winked at her father,
sending ripples of laughter through the crowd.
The judges ate it up, awarding her a 9.963 and her second
consecutive individual title (she won bars last year).
Bhardwaj barely edged out fellow Bruin freshman Jamie
Dantzscher, who scored a 9.500. Willis, who tied with
Michigan’s Elise Ray for the all-around title on Thursday,
added to her weekend’s accolades with a fifth-place finish on
floor (9.900).
Tousek continued her hot streak, giving UCLA its second
consecutive individual uneven bars champion. That dethroned
Bhardwaj, who won the event last year.
“It was unexpected but I’m thrilled,” Tousek
said. “It’s really special to me on a personal note.
It’s just been an exciting weekend.”
UCLA had five gymnasts competing for the individual bars title,
with Willis (second), Bhardwaj (fifth), and Thompson (sixth) also
placing for UCLA.
On beam, Maloney notched a third-place finish with a 9.900
despite an increasingly sore leg. Sophomore Kristin Parker came
away with fourth place on the vault after scoring 9.8315.
UCLA fans showed their support throughout the weekend. The Bruin
cheering section made up a small fraction of the 5,526 fans, but
they came complete with their faces painted and with flags to
wave.
Even a chihuahua named Bet, owned by UCLA’s massage
therapist Judson Rothschild, got into the act with blue and gold
bear claws painted on her forehead. The dog has witnessed the last
two UCLA National Championships.
Throughout the weekend Bruin gymnasts donned shirts with this
season’s slogan: “Win with our hearts.”
That’s exactly what they did.