November 24, 1998

LOS ANGELES - UCLA gymnastics has signed what is considered to be the greatest recruiting class in the history of the sport. Four current or past national champions highlight head coach Valorie Kondos' recruiting class of 1999-2000.

Current U.S. national all-around champion Kristen Maloney (Allentown, PA/ Parkettes/Pen Argyl HS) heads the list of future Bruins. Maloney, USA Gymnastics' Gymnast and SportsWoman of the Year the past two years, is the USA's leading candidate for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. This year, Maloney has won nearly every competition she has entered, including the Pacific Alliance Championships, the International Team Championships, the USA Championships and the American Classic. She also won a gold medal on the balance beam at the Goodwill Games. Maloney will defer college until after the Olympics.

Nineteen-ninety-seven Canadian national all-around champion Sarah Deegan (Oshawa, Ontario, Canada/Eastdale Collegiate/Gemini Gymnastics) will becomes the latest Canadian athlete to compete at UCLA. Deegan, another candidate for the 2000 Olympics, has competed well in various international competitions, including the 1998 Sagit Cup, where she tied for third on floor and placed eighth on beam; the 1998 Visa American Cup, where she placed 13th all-around; and the 1997 Gymnix International, where she won the vault title and placed third in the all-around, bars and floor.

One of the USA's top gymnasts through the middle 1990's until slowed by injuries, Donielle Thompson (Olympia, WA/Black Hills Gymnastics/Capital HS) will make her comeback in the sport at UCLA. Thompson, nicknamed "Doni", was the 1995 USA national balance beam champion and a bronze medalist at the 1995 World Championships. Thompson won three gold medals (all-around, beam, bars) and two silvers (team, floor) at the 1994 U.S. Olympic Festival and placed second on vault, beam and all-around at the 1994 Junior National Championships.

UCLA's fourth national champion is Leoandra Willis (Tacoma, WA/Puget Sound Gymnastics/Wilson HS), the 1998 Level 10 all-around, vault and bars champion. Willis, nicknamed "Onnie", is one of gymnastics' rising stars, who made the U.S. junior national team in 1996.

The Bruins will have another top prospect for the 2000 Olympics in Alyssa Beckerman (Middletown, NJ/Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy/Wyoming HS). Beckerman placed eighth in the all-around and beam, second on bars, and seventh on floor at the 1998 USA National Championships. She has been a Top 10 all-arounder in the last two U.S. Classics. Like Maloney, Beckerman will likely defer college until 2000-2001 to train for the Olympics.

Also signing with UCLA are three top Level 10 competitors, Malia Jones (Sparks, NV/Flips Gymnastics/Reed HS), Kristin Parker (Hanford, CA/Central California Gymnastics Institute/Hanford Union HS) and Carlin Raab (Seattle, WA/Cascade Elite Gymnastics/Seattle Preparatory School).

Jones, who placed fifth on beam at the 1998 L10 Championships, is considered one of the top five gymnasts available on the West Coast this year. Parker placed ninth on bars at the 1998 Level 10s and second on vault at the 1997 Level 10s and also won the all-around, vault, bars and floor titles at the 1998 Spring Spectacular. Raab, who goes by her nickname "Carly", placed ninth all-around and fourth on bars at this year's Level 10s. She placed seventh on bars at the 1995 and 1997 USGF Nationals.

Said Kondos, "I am so excited about this year's recruiting class. This is the greatest collection of student-athletes gymnastics has ever seen."