W. gym breaks team score record in meet against 'Zona

Published: Monday, March 6, 1995

Bruins win twice over weekend in meets with

Gauchos and Wildcats

By Esther Hui

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

At the start of the weekend the UCLA women's gymnastics team felt frustrated.

The roster was filled with gymnasts with twisted ankles and aching muscles, and the Bruins had lost two consecutive road-meets, one to top-ranked Utah, the other to No. 15 Nebraska.

But something sparked the Bruins Friday night in Arizona, and again yesterday afternoon against UC Santa Barbara at theWooden Center. Despite the grueling two-meet weekend, the Bruins put together four solid events at both competitions, and the result was a school-record 195.425 win over the Wildcats, and a 194.175 win against the Gauchos.

"We wanted to show what we could really do," UCLA senior Megan Fenton said. "The word in the gymnastics community is, 'UCLA is a great team, but they have to put it together'. We wanted to prove ourselves this weekend."

Friday's competition was highlighted by the return of senior Kareema Marrow, after sitting out the Nebraska meet with sore ankles. Marrow won the all-around with a 39.225 and sucessfully performed her first- ever front handspring pike with a half-twist on vault for a 9.9. The vault was the Bruins' best event, with Marrow, Leah Homma, Amy Smith, and Dee Fischer all scoring 9.85 and above.

Also standing out was the 38.700 personal best all-around performance of Fenton, which included a 9.85 on bars, and a dramatic floor set.

The moment on floor came when, despite suffering from back spasms provoked by an off-landing on vault, Fenton stepped up and scored a 9.75, which overrode an 8.60 scored by a teammate.

"We had falls," Fenton said. "We needed one more score to count. I thought, 'This is my last year. It won't make a big difference to me physically, but it will make a big difference to the team.'"

Said UCLA head coach Valorie Kondos: "In that much pain, Megan went out and hit the routine. When you lose a senior like that, you hope there'll be someone who steps up like that someone who will give whatever it takes."

Sunday's competition was the last home meet for the Bruins and was the sentimental last home appearance for seniors Fenton and Marrow.

Freshman Stella Umeh won the all-around with a 39.075 and placed second in uneven bars (9.850) and beam (9.850). Umeh's beam set included a floating roundoff layout step out mount and a back-handspring, layout, back-handspring, layout combination which she stuck solidly. The only routine to outdo Umeh was Homma's, which included a flawless handspring punch layout handspring, and a layout step out to full twist off the side dismount for a 9.90.

The Bruins finished on floor, where Smith stuck all three of her passes to win the event with a 9.825. The crowd gave a fare-well standing ovation to Marrow at the finish of her routine.