Gym falls off-balance in Pac-10 competition

Published: Monday, April 1, 1996

Monday, April 1, 1996

By Esther Hui

Daily Bruin Staff

What began as one of the most hyped competitions of the season for the UCLA women's gymnastics team turned into a nightmare almost immediately at the Pacific 10 championships held at Oregon State on March 23.

After the first rotation, the defending champion Bruins were in last place with three falls in their opening event, the balance beam, and finished the evening in fourth place (194.625) behind Oregon State (196.775), Arizona State (195.525) and Arizona (195.175). It was UCLA's lowest Pac-10 finish ever. The all-around was won by Heidi Hornbeek from Arizona with a 39.50.

"It was a huge loss," Leah Homma said. "Beyond disappointment. We won it last year and there was no question last year whether we were going to lose. This year we knew that Oregon State and the Arizonas were stronger than they had been, but we knew we'd win if we hit. It was a question of putting it together that one night, and we didn't."

"On beam you have to sharpen your focus subdue your energy a little," UCLA head coach Valorie Kondos said. "We misguided our energy and anxiety."

Kiralee Hayashi and Luisa Portocarrero were the only Bruins who managed not to fall and the damage done on beam was too much to overcome, despite no UCLA gymnast scoring lower than 9.80 the rest of the meet.

UCLA performed solidly on floor (48.875) and they eclipsed 49.0 on vault for the first time this season (49.05), with senior Dee Fischer coming in second with a 9.95. The Bruins put together a stellar bar set (49.45, the highest total this season), which included Homma's first place 9.975, and Umeh's 9.95, but it was too late for the team title.

"We started on beam," Stella Umeh said. "And we couldn't quite get all of the kinks out. We didn't really show the authority the UCLA Bruins have on beam. We came back like you wouldn't believe, but it wasn't enough."

***

The No. 9 Bruins rebounded after their disappointing performance at Pac-10s by totalling their best team-score of the year in a 195.725-194.600 win against BYU in the last regular meet of the season on Saturday. The Bruins counted no falls on the way to the win, and Homma set the school record and personal best in the all-around (39.700), and won vault (9.950), bars (9.950) and floor (9.900).

The season began to take its toll physically on the gymnasts, with an Achilles injury keeping Umeh from competing floor. The Bruins will have two weeks to rest before the West Regional championships to be held at UCLA. Most likely Oregon State will be seeded first, and UCLA second.

"We were kind of mellow (going into BYU)," Umeh said. "And not just because of Pac-10, but because it was the last meet of the season. This season we've competed best when we're mellow rather than hyped up. It's the best attitude to not think about beating everybody, because you don't end up beating everybody, you end up beating yourself."

Said Kondos: "This was the most relaxed they've been this season. They wanted to finish on a high note, feeling they'd redeemed themselves, and feeling good going into West Regionals. A lot of reporters in Utah were coming up to me and asking, 'What's been going on this year? How come UCLA isn't in the top rankings?' It's the way it's always been we peak at nationals; it's a rough road getting there."

JUSTIN WARREN/Daily Bruin

Leah Homma set a school all-around record with 39.700.

Comments to webmaster@db.asucla.ucla.edu