March 1, 1999
THIS WEEK - The 11th-ranked UCLA women's gymnastics team (10-4) will host the Third Annual Bruin Classic on Sunday, Mar. 7 at Pauley Pavilion at 2:00 pm. The Bruins will face California (4-10), Kentucky (5-5, prior to its meet Mar. 5 vs. Georgia) and Michigan State (8-7 prior to last weekend's meet and its meet Mar. 5 at Oregon State). 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 in 1997.
"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.
SENIOR SEND-OFF - Four UCLA seniors will be honored in their last home meet this week - Susie Erickson, Kiralee Hayashi, Lisa Hiley, and 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.
Susie Erickson: UCLA's "Rock of Gibraltar" on the balance beam, Erickson has led off UCLA on this event since she was a freshman and has twice led her team to school record totals. Her career-high 9.85 in the leadoff position at the 1996 NCAA Championships helped UCLA set the NCAA Championships record on beam. In 1998, this two-time Pac-10 All-Academic gymnast earned her first All-America nod on beam and was voted UCLA's team MVP. Erickson currently has hit 17 consecutive beam routines.
Kiralee Hayashi: A two-time team co-captain, Hayashi has become one of the top gymnasts in the nation. She placed fifth in the all-around with a career-high 39.4 at last year's NCAA Championships and went on to earn four All-America honors to go along with her 1997 honor on beam. She has earned All-Pac-10 first- team honors in the all-around twice and is a two-time Pac-10 All-Academic selection.
Lisa Hiley: A walk-on to the team who did not start competitive gymnastics until she was 16 years old, Hiley has given performances worthy of seasoned veterans. A 9.775 on vault at the 1998 Bruin Classic gave Hiley her highest finish on any event in her career (second) and also gave her a career-high mark on vault. On bars, her leadoff career-high score of 9.875 in 1997 helped UCLA set what was then a school record on bars.
Luisa Portocarrero: This 1992 Olympian started her UCLA career as a beam specialist but has since competed on every event and is now firmly entrenched in UCLA's vault, bars and beam lineups. Portocarrero earned first-team All-American honors on beam as a freshman and also won the West Regional beam crown in 1996 and the Bruin Classic beam title in 1997. At the Bruins' last home meet, she won the UCLA Invitational vault title on just her second ever collegiate vault. Portocarrero is one of the few collegiate gymnasts to have a moved named after her in the international code of points - the Portocarrero on beam and the Portocarrero on bars.
LAST MEET - 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 (Guatemala City, Guatemala) 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.
THE IRON WOMAN - Junior All-American Lena Degteva has won the "Iron Woman" award this season, competing 31 of 32 possible routines so far this season. The only time this year she was held out of an event was on beam at the Bruins' season opener at Cal State Fullerton. Despite her lack of rest throughout the season, Degteva has been spectacular, winning nine event titles and averaging 9.778 on vault and 9.725 on bars. She scored a season-high 39.25 in winning the all- around at the UCLA Invitational Feb. 20.
BRUIN VAULTERS INCREASE DIFFICULTY - With the addition of Luisa Portocarrero to the vault lineup, UCLA now has five vaulters with 10.0 start values. Freshman Lindsey Dong upgraded her vault to a 10.0 start value at the Bruins' last meet, throwing a Phelps and scoring a career-best 9.675. UCLA's other 10.0 vaults include a Yurchenko layout with a half-twist (Portocarrero, Degteva, Hayashi) and a handspring front pike with a half-twist (Moneymaker). When Mohini Bhardwaj returns to the vault lineup with her Yurchenko one-and-a-half, the Bruins will have six vaulters with 10.0 start values.
UCLA IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS - In last week's national rankings (by season average), UCLA ranked 11th for team average (193.4594), ninth on vault (48.5906), ninth on bars (48.5125), 18th on beam (48.0406) and 24th on floor (48.3156). Kentucky ranks eighth nationally on vault (48.6125) and 24th on bars (48.1375), and Michigan State ranks 23rd on vault (48.2542).
Individually, Kiralee Hayashi is the Bruins' top all-arounder at 18th (38.9400). She also ranks 14th on floor (9.8375). Mohini Bhardwaj ranks third on vault with a 9.9 average, followed by seventh-ranked Luisa Portocarrero (9.85) and 12th-ranked Heidi Moneymaker (9.8250). Kentucky's Kristin Hoeferlin ranks 25th in the all-around (38.8050), and Mila Chitwood ranks 18th on floor (9.8208). Michigan State's Carolyn Hecht ranks sixth on beam (9.8542).
BRUINS SIGN GREATEST RECRUITING CLASS IN HISTORY - UCLA 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.
Signing with UCLA in November were current U.S. national all-around champion Kristen Maloney (Allentown, PA/Parkettes); 1997 Canadian national all-around champion Sarah Deegan (Oshawa, Ontario/Gemini Gymnastics); 1995 USA balance beam national champion Doni Thompson (Olympia, WA/Black Hills Gymnastics); and 1998 Level 10 national all-around, vault and bars champion Onnie Willis (Tacoma, WA/ Puget Sound Gymnastics).
Maloney will defer college until after the 2000 Olympics, as will another Bruin signee, Alyssa Beckerman (Middletown, NJ/Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy). Beckerman placed eighth in the all-around and beam, second on bars and seventh on floor at the 1998 USA National Championships.
Also signing with UCLA are three top Level 10 competitors, Malia Jones (Sparks, NV/Flips Gymnastics); Kristin Parker (Hanford, CA/Central California Gymnastics Institute); and Carly Raab (Seattle, WA/Cascade Elite Gymnastics). Said Kondos, "I am so excited about this year's recruiting class. This is the greatest collection of student-athletes gymnastics has ever seen."
SILVER ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATED - The UCLA Athletic Department will celebrate the Silver Anniversary of UCLA Women's Intercollegiate Athletics on May 1, 1999. "A Celebration of Champions" dinner will honor the accomplishments of the UCLA Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Program and its athletes over the past 25 years.