MARY HOLSCHER Though UCLA placed third as a team in the
NCAA Championships, sophomore Jamie Dantzscher
earned first place in vault and floor.
By Adam Karon
Daily Bruin Contributor
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. “”mdash; A three-peat wasn’t in the stars.
The top-ranked UCLA gymnastics team was defeated in its bid for a
third consecutive NCAA national championship Friday evening at
Coleman Coliseum. The Bruins were facing much adversity heading
into Friday’s Super Six finals, including harsh judging, a
volatile crowd, and a difficult draw.
Host Alabama won the meet with a 197.575, Georgia was runner-up
with a 197.250 and UCLA came in third with a 197.150. It was a
bittersweet ending for the Bruins, who started the season off
slowly only to improve rapidly and reach their 10th Super Six
final.
UCLA’s draw placed them in a position to start on bars and
end on a bye. Alabama drew the familiar position of starting on
floor ““ the same pattern they’ve followed at home meets
all year long.
“It doesn’t really affect us at all,”
sophomore Bruin Yvonne Tousek said. “We have the same mindset
going in no matter what event we’re starting on or ending on.
We just like to know, and from then on in it’s a competition
just like any other competition.”
The statement was typical of the Bruins, who all weekend long
refused to point to anything other than themselves as reasons for
the meet outcome.
Sophomore Jamie Dantzscher, who had the team’s highest
score on three of the four events in which she competed, once again
led the Bruins. Dantzscher received a 9.50 on both floor and vault
and a 9.900 on bars, tying with Yvonne Tousek for team-high.
UCLA had only five scores of 9.900 or above. Dantzscher earned
three of those. In contrast, host Alabama proved home-gym advantage
is a reality with nine scores over 9.900, nearly twice as many as
UCLA.
“We did the best that we could do today,” Tousek
said. “We went out there and we hit our routines. That is all
we could ask for. The rest is out of our hands.”
In addition to the pressures of the national championship
hanging over their heads, the Bruins were forced to cope with the
rowdy Alabama crowd. With everything from imitation Village People
singing “YMCA” to a fanatic with a big red
“A” shaved in the back of his head, the Bruins were
anything but the fan favorite.
“It’s a fun place to compete, but at the same time,
it’s tough because they’re loud,” said Onnie
Willis. “They’re good fans and they cheer for us as
well. Not as loud, but”¦”
The Bruins refused to use the scoring as an excuse for losing,
expressing nothing but positive sentiments about the season-ending
meet. Instead, many of them looked forward to Saturday’s
individual competition.
“Finals is our time to shine individually because the
first two days are really concentrating on the team,” Tousek
said.
And shine they did. Dantzscher won two of the four individual
titles, winning the vault title outright with a 9.957 average and
tying for first on the floor routine with a 9.950.
In a showing that surprised both herself and the rest of the
NCAA gymnastics community, junior Doni Thompson placed second on
the uneven parallel bars. Thompson’s feat was especially
impressive considering she was the first competitor to perform in
the final round.
“It was all out. I could not hold back at all. I was first
up, and it’s very hard to be first,” Thompson said.
“My coaches told me to swing as big as I could, and
that’s what I did.”
This much is certain: the Bruins left a strong foundation on
which to build their bid for another championship in the coming
year.
UCLA graduates zero starting gymnasts and will add two top
prospects to their lineup next year.
“This is a great way to end the season and go into next
year for our entire team,” Thompson said.