February 22, 1999
THIS WEEK - The 11th-ranked UCLA women's gymnastics team (10-4) have the week off.
NEXT WEEK - UCLA will host the Third Annual Bruin Classic on Sunday, Mar. 7 at Pauley Pavilion at 2:00 pm. The Bruins will face California (3-5), Kentucky (6- 4) and Michigan State (8-7). UCLA has won both previous Classics. Bruin juniors Lena Degteva (all-around) and Heidi Moneymaker (bars) return to defend their Bruin Classic titles. Senior Luisa Portocarrero will try to reclaim the beam title she won in the inaugural Classic.
SENIOR SEND-OFF - Four UCLA seniors will be honored in their last home meet next week - 1998 All-American Susie Erickson, five-time All-American Kiralee Hayashi, Lisa Hiley, and 1996 All-American Luisa Portocarrero. The four seniors have been a part of an NCAA Championship team, a Pac-10 Championship team and two West Regional Championship teams.
"WATCH" THE BRUINS ON THE INTERNET - UCLA will post meet results from the Bruin Classic live on the internet at www.uclabruins.com. Results will be updated after each rotation.
UCLA WINS EIGHTH STRAIGHT INVITE TITLE - The Bruins ran away with their eighth consecutive and 13th overall UCLA Invitational title by posting a score of 194.275 to Arizona's 192.575, Florida's 190.475 and Cal State Fullerton's 187.375. Junior Lena Degteva won the all-around with a season-high 39.25 and also placed first on bars (9.85, tied with Kiralee Hayashi), beam (9.775) and floor (9.825). Heidi Moneymaker and Luisa Portocarrero rounded out the Bruin event sweep by tying for first on vault with 9.85s.
PORTOCARRERO VAULTS TO THE TOP - Senior Luisa Portocarrero made a dramatic return to the Bruin vault lineup at the Invitational, tying for first on her first vault in a year. The 1992 Olympian from Guatemala performed her first and last collegiate vault Feb. 7, 1998 at the UCLA Invitational and sprained her foot in the process, keeping her out of competition for two months. Prior to that vault last season, her last vault occurred at the 1993 World Championships. Last weekend, Portocarrero unveiled a new vault, a sky-high Yurchenko layout with a half twist (10.0 start value), and scored a 9.85.
BHARDWAJ RETURNS FROM INJURY - UCLA sophomore All-American Mohini Bhardwaj (Cincinnati, OH), out since Jan. 10 with torn ligaments in her elbow, returned to competition on beam at the Invitational. Bhardwaj nailed her front tuck mount as well as her back-handspring/three layout series (the only such series being done in collegiate competition) but fell on a side somersault to score a 9.35.
HEIDI IS MONEY ON VAULT - Junior All-American Heidi Moneymaker (Santa Rosa, CA) showed her worth by winning her fifth-straight vault title (9.85) at the UCLA Invitational. She has now won a team-best 13 individual titles this year. Moneymaker now averages 9.825 for the season.