March 29, 1999

NEXT WEEK - UCLA (20-5, ranked No. 15) will attempt to qualify for the NCAA Championships when it competes Saturday, Apr. 10 at the NCAA Regionals. The Bruins will compete in Region 1 at Corvallis, OR against (competitors are unofficial until they accept the regional bid) No. 3 Utah, No. 12 Oregon State, No. 18 Boise State, No. 34 Washington and No. 47 Sacramento State. Only the top two finishers at the Regional will advance to the NCAA Championships Apr. 22-24 at Salt Lake City, UT. The meet takes place at OSU's Gill Coliseum at 7:00 pm.

ROTATION ORDER - In a blind draw conducted by the NCAA, the Bruins drew a favorable bye-bars rotation order. UCLA will have a bye in the first rotation and will begin the meet on bars in the second rotation. The Bruins will end the meet on vault, where they rank fifth nationally with an RQS of 49.1125. Below is the complete rotation order for Regionals:

 V Bye UB BB Bye FX
I Sac St. UCLA OSU Wash. BSU Utah
II Utah Sac St. UCLA OSU Wash. BSU
III BSU Utah Sac St. UCLA OSU Wash.
IV Wash. BSU Utah Sac St. UCLA OSU
V OSU Wash. BSU Utah Sac St. UCLA
VI UCLA OSU Wash. BSU Utah Sac St.

UCLA AT NCAA REGIONALS - The Bruins have won nine regional championships, including five in the last six years. UCLA's last regional victory came at Boise State in 1997, the year it also won the national championship. Three current Bruins have won individual titles at Regionals - Heidi Moneymaker (bars, 1997), Lena Degteva (beam, 1997) and Luisa Portocarrero (beam, 1996).

BRUINS FIND SUCCESS IN CORVALLIS - UCLA will be making its third trip to Corvallis, OR this season. Corvallis has been kind to the Bruins in 1999. On Jan. 22 at Gill Coliseum, the Bruins defeated Oregon State 194.575-194.45, and on March 20, UCLA won the Pac-10 Championships there with a school record 197.775.

BRUINS REGAIN PAC-10 TITLE - UCLA won its eighth Pac-10 title Mar. 20 by scoring a school and Pac-10 Championship record 197.775. The Bruins utilized a school record 49.6 on floor to move ahead of Oregon State, which placed second with a school record 197.4. In all, 13 career-highs were set in this meet. Heidi Moneymaker won the all-around (career-high 39.675) and tied for first on vault (9.925), while junior Lena Degteva placed third in the all-around with a career-high 39.575. The Bruins now have a Pac-10 high 34 conference individual titles (including a record nine all-around champions), 11 more than Oregon State (23). Moneymaker's all-around win gave UCLA six all-around crowns in the last seven years.

HAYASHI NAMED PAC-10 GYMNAST OF THE YEAR - Senior co-captain and five-time All-American Kiralee Hayashi became UCLA's third consecutive and eighth overall Pac-10 Gymnast of the Year when she was given the honor after the Championships. Hayashi, who follows 1997 winner Leah Homma and 1998 winner Stella Umeh, sat out vault and bars at Pac-10s due to a racing heartbeat, but she returned to score career-highs on beam (9.9) and floor (9.95).

HEIDI IS MONEY - For the seventh time in her last eight meets, Heidi Moneymaker placed first on vault, this time scoring a 9.925 at the Pac-10 meet. The junior All-American also scored career-highs of 9.925 on beam and floor Moneymaker now has 17 event titles to her credit this season.

MS. RELIABLE - Senior Susie Erickson increased her "hit" streak on beam to 20 straight routines without a fall. At Pac-10s, Erickson, UCLA's leadoff performer, scored a 9.775 to help lead UCLA to its season-best team total of 49.425, the third-best beam score in school history. She also helped the Bruins on bars, scoring a career-high 9.9 to place fourth.

BHARDWAJ BACK ON THREE EVENTS - Sophomore standout Mohini Bhardwaj made her first appearance on vault since Jan. 10, scoring a 9.875 at the Pac-10s. She also recorded career-highs on beam (9.925) and floor (9.95). Bhardwaj, who was out for nearly two months with an elbow injury, hopes to return to the all-around by Regionals.

THE IRON WOMAN - Junior All-American Lena Degteva has displayed her strength and fitness all year, competing 43 of 44 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 12 event titles and averaging 9.802 on vault. She scored a career-high 39.575 in the all-around to place third at the Pac-10 Championships.

PORTOCARRERO VAULTS TO NEW HEIGHTS - Senior Luisa Portocarrero (Guatemala City, Guatemala) had her fourth straight strong showing on vault at Pac-10s, scoring a career-high 9.9. Portocarrero, who now averages a 9.863 in four vault attempts, made a dramatic return to the Bruin vault lineup at the UCLA Invitational Feb. 20, tying for first on her first vault in a year with a 9.85. The 1992 Olympian from Guatemala performed her first collegiate vault Feb. 7, 1998 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. She performs a Yurchenko layout with a half twist (10.0 start value).

BRUIN VAULTERS INCREASE DIFFICULTY - With the return of Mohini Bhardwaj to the vault lineup, UCLA now has six vaulters with 10.0 start values. Freshman Lindsey Dong upgraded her vault to a 10.0 start value, throwing a Phelps and scoring a career-best 9.85 at the Pac-10 Championships. Although Bhardwaj did not compete her Yurchenko one-and-a-half (10.0 start value) vault at Pac-10s, it is a vault on which she was competing and averaging a 9.892 prior to her elbow injury. 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).

Regional Assignment (unofficial)

Region 1 (Corvallis, Ore.): No. 3 Utah, No. 12 Oregon State (host), No. 15 UCLA, No. 18 Boise State, Washington and Cal State-Sacramento

Region 2 (Logan, Utah): No. 1 Georgia, No. 10 Florida, No. 13 Denver, No. 16 Iowa State, No. 17 Utah State (host), No. 19 Minnesota

Region 3 (Lincoln, Neb.): No. 4 Michigan, No. 7 Nebraska (host), No. 21 Oklahoma, No. 25 Illinois-Chicago, Illinois-Champaign, Arizona

Region 4 (Baton Rouge, La.): No. 5 LSU (host), No. 9 Stanford, No. 24 Kentucky, Central Michigan, Auburn, Ball State

Region 5 (University Park, Pa.): No. 6 Penn State (host), No. 8 Arizona State, New Hampshire, Pittsburgh, Rhode Island, Massachusetts

Region 6 (Morgantown, W.V.): No. 2 Alabama, No. 11 Ohio State, No. 14 Maryland, No. 20 West Virginia (host), No. 22 N.C. State, Towson University

Top 25 Team Rankings
(by regional qualifying score)

Rank School RQS
 1 Georgia 197.4437
 2 Alabama 197.0875
 3 Utah 196.8000
 4 Michigan 196.7000
 5 LSU 196.1562
 6 Penn State 196.0375
 7 Stanford 195.8687
 8 Arizona State 195.7437
 9 Nebraska 195.6812
 10 Florida 195.6375
 11 Ohio State 195.6125
 12 Oregon State 195.5312
 13 Denver 195.4187
 14 Maryland 195.3187
 15 UCLA 195.2937
 16 Iowa State 195.1875
 17 Utah State 195.1312
 18 Boise State 195.0750
 19 Minnesota 195.0000
 20 West Virginia 194.9125
 21 Oklahoma 194.8125
 22 NC State 194.7250
 23 BYU 194.6375
 24 Kentucky 194.5937
 25 Ill-Chicago 194.5625

 *as of Mar. 28