• printer friendly
• mail this article
• iPod format
• digg

Photo

Freshman Tasha Schwikert placed first all-around in UCLA’s win over Arizona State. The top-

Stricken with illness and injury, and having fallen a total of four times on the floor exercise and two times on the beam, the UCLA gymnastics team still managed to stumble its way to a victory on Friday as it defeated Arizona State, 194.275-193.4.

“We didn’t compete like the normal UCLA gymnastics team competes,” said freshman Tasha Schwikert, winner of the overall competition with a score of 39.625. “We just had an off night as a team. We had quite a bit of falls, which isn’t characteristic of us.”

Also uncharacteristic of previous meets for the No. 1 Bruins was their lineup, which featured several athletes not accustomed to seeing competition this year. Ten of the team’s available 13 gymnasts contributed on Friday, a lineup which featured two more competitors than in any of the Bruins’ (6-1) previous four meets this season.

“The lineup wasn’t our traditional lineup,” Schwikert said. “We didn’t have our ‘A-team’ up. (Coach Valorie Kondos Field) is very smart with what she does to the lineup and she has a reason for everything. She wanted to give everyone on the team a chance to compete and a chance to prove themselves.”

There was no better time for that than on Friday against the No. 17 Sun Devils.

The combination of an ailing squad and a relatively low-ranked competitor gave both senior Kisha Auld and sophomore Michelle Selesky a chance to compete.

The two filled in the gaps left by freshman Lindsey Vanden Eykel, who competed only on bars due to soreness in her back, and freshman Jordan Schwikert, an all-around competitor who has been limited to a total of three events in the team’s past two meets because of an aggravated toe injury.

“My toe is slightly getting better,” Jordan Schwikert said. “It’s a slow process but I should be ready to go for the rest of the year. Tape it and I’ll be good to go.”

Despite referring to her team’s performance as “ugly,” Kondos Field was still encouraged by what she saw on Friday night.

“The past few weeks I’ve had to talk to them about not letting a bad performance get in their way,” Kondos Field said. “They did a good job of staying in the moment and performing despite their mistakes this time.”