April 28, 1999

UCLA junior Heidi Moneymaker (Santa Rosa, CA) was selected as one of four nominees for the 1998-99 Honda Award for gymnastics. Other nominees are Theresa Kulikowski of Utah, Karin Lichey of Georgia and Andree Pickens of Alabama.

Moneymaker, UCLA's team co-captain, won the vault and placed third in the all-around at last week's NCAA Championships. Her vault title was the second individual title of her career - she won the bars title in 1998. Moneymaker also became the first UCLA gymnast to earn the maximum five first-team All-America honors at a NCAA Championship. She now has eight career All-America awards, third-most in school history.

Also in 1999, Moneymaker was selected as the Region 1 Gymnast of the Year and won the Pac-10 (with a career-high 39.675) and Regional all-around titles. She set a school record by earning four All-Pac-10 selections in one year (all-around, vault, bars and beam).

Moneymaker will represent the U.S. for the first time in her career this summer at the World University Games in Spain.

In addition to her athletic accolades, Moneymaker is a member of the Bruin Athletic Council and is involved in the student-athlete mentor program at UCLA.

The Honda Award annually recognizes the top female collegiate athlete in each of 11 sports. The Honda Award winners are then candidates for the Honda-Broderick Cup, which recognizes the outstanding Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year.

UCLA has had two Honda Award recipients for gymnastics - Sharon Shapiro in 1980-81 and Jill Andrews in 1989-90.