March 18, 1998

THIS WEEK - Defending NCAA and Pac-10 Champions UCLA (13-3, ranked No. 10) will seek its second consecutive and eighth overall Pac-10 Championship when it hosts the 1998 Pac-10 Championships March 21 at 6 pm in Pauley Pavilion. Fox Sports West will broadcast the meet delayed on Sunday, March 29 at 1:30 pm, with Barry Tompkins, 1984 Olympic gold medalist Julianne McNamara, and Alyson Seden calling the action.

TICKETS - Tickets for the Pac-10 Championships are on sale now at the UCLA Central Ticket Office (310/UCLA-WIN or www.cto.ucla.edu/). Ticket prices are $10 for reserved seats and $5 for general admission. ROTATION ORDER -

 Bye V UB Bye BB Bye FX
I ASU ARIZ CAL OSU STAN WASH UCLA
II UCLA ASU ARIZ CAL OSU STAN WASH
III WASH UCLA ASU ARIZ CAL OSU STAN
IV STAN WASH UCLA ASU ARIZ CAL OSU
V OSU STAN WASH UCLA ASU ARIZ CAL
VI CAL OSU STAN WASH UCLA ASU RIZ
VII ARIZ CAL OSU STAN WASH UCLA ASU

BRUINS, BEAVERS LOOK TO MAINTAIN STRANGLEHOLD ON PAC-10 SUPREMACY - In the 11 years of the Pac-10 Gymnastics Championships, only two schools have ever won the team title - UCLA (seven times) and Oregon State (four times). In addition, UCLA (28) and Oregon State (18) hold the most number of conference individual event champions.

THE PAC-10 IN THE RANKINGS - Proof that the Pac-10 is one of the toughest conferences in the nation, six of the seven Pac-10 schools are ranked in the Top 25, a number matched only by the Big Ten. Washington (14-3) leads the conference with a No. 6 ranking, followed by No. 7 Arizona State (20-2), No. 10 UCLA, No. 14 Oregon State (11-4), No. 17 Stanford (8-4) and No. 21 Arizona (6-9). California (8-9) is ranked sixth in the West region. Washington holds the most individual event rankings in the Pac-10 with six, followed by UCLA and Arizona State with five apiece.

PAC-10 NOTES - UCLA holds the record for most individual event champions (28), most uneven bars champions (9) and most all-around champions (7) and is tied with Oregon State for most floor champions (5) . Current UCLA undergraduate assistant coach Leah Homma holds the Pac-10 Championship records in the all- around (39.725) and bars (10.0) . A UCLA gymnast has won the uneven bars title three consecutive years and five times in the last six years . Previous Pac-10 Champions looking to recapture more individual titles are UCLA's Stella Umeh (1995 all-around, bars, beam and floor), Arizona State's Lisa Vincijanovic (1996 beam) and Washington's Tiffany Simpson (1997 vault) and Klara Kudilkova (1997 floor, 1996 vault).

LAST YEAR AT THE PAC-10s - UCLA senior Leah Homma dominated the 1997 Pac-10 Championships, held at Arizona, setting meet records with wins in the all-around (39.725) and on bars (10.0). Homma led the Bruins to their seventh Pac-10 crown in 11 years with a team total of 196.55 and was also named the Pac-10 Gymnast of the Year. Fellow senior Amy Smith won a share of the floor title. UCLA was able to hold off Stanford, which finished with a 196.325, by scoring a meet-high 49.275 on its last event, beam.

BRUINS PLACE SECOND AT SHANICO INN-VITE - UCLA ran into a hot Oregon State team and placed second to the Beavers at the Shanico Inn-vitational last Friday. The Bruins scored a 194.5 to Oregon State's season-high 195.45. George Washington was third with a 187.925, followed by Seattle-Pacific (185.625). Senior Stella Umeh won UCLA's only event title with a 9.85 on vault. Fellow senior Andrea Fong set a new career-high in the all-around with a 38.675, as did Heidi Moneymaker on the beam (9.875).

ATHLETE UPDATES
STELLA UMEH - Stella Umeh has been more than stellar in 1998, averaging a 38.888 in four all-around performances, with a season-high of 39.4 set at the UCLA Invitational Feb. 7. That all-around performance earned her Pac-10 Gymnast of the Week honors. Umeh tied her career-high and Pauley Pavilion record with a 9.95 on the floor exercise at the UCLA Invite and has scored a 9.9 or better on that event four times this year. Umeh set a season-high on beam to place first at Cal with a 9.9. On vault, she has a season-best score of 9.875 on a vault worth a 9.9. Umeh has placed first in each of her last three meets competing on vault. 1998 Highs: V-9.875, UB-9.875, BB-9.9, FX-9.95, AA-39.4 HEIDI MONEYMAKER - Sophomore team co-captain Heidi Moneymaker has enjoyed a strong 1998 season. She has established herself as UCLA's best bars performer, as evidenced by her 9.8 average and near-perfect score of 9.975 at Arizona. She has placed first on bars in five meets. Moneymaker has scored career-highs of 9.925 on floor and 39.375 in the all-around in two meets and is the 11th-ranked all-arounder in the nation, with a regional qualifying score (RQS) of 39.075. The Pac-10 Gymnast of the Week Feb. 17, she also ranks 11th on floor (9.9) and seventh on bars (9.894). 1998 Highs: V-9.875, UB-9.975, BB-9.875, FX-9.925, AA- 39.375.

KIRALEE HAYASHI - Junior team co-captain Kiralee Hayashi has one of UCLA's top all-arounders the last two seasons. In 1998, she averages a 38.721 with a season-high of 39.075 set in the season opener. Hayashi averages a 9.718 on the beam, with a career-high tying 9.9 set at Washington Feb. 27. She has scored UCLA's highest score on beam five times with two first-place finishes. The Hawaii native tied her career high on floor at the UCLA Invite with a 9.925 and averages a 9.786. Hayashi was named a first-team Pac-10 All-Academic with a 3.01 GPA in Neuroscience. She was an honorable mention selection a year ago. 1998 Highs: V-9.9, UB-9.875, BB-9.9, FX-9.925, AA-39.075 LENA DEGTEVA - The two-time Canadian national champion has been on fire as of late. At the Bruin Classic Feb. 22, she won the all-around for the first time since January of last year, scoring a 39.15. She also scored a season-high 9.85 on beam. She improved on that all-around mark at Cal Feb. 13, with a 39.175 and also hit season-bests on vault (9.75) and beam (9.825). At Washington Feb. 27, she one-upped both of those performances by scoring a 39.325 and tying for first place. She is averaging a 9.822 on floor. 1998 Highs: V-9.825, UB-9.825, BB- 9.875, FX-9.925, AA-39.325

ANDREA FONG - Senior walk-on Andrea Fong has evolved from infrequent performer her first three years to a regular in the lineup her final season. She has performed 25 routines in 1998, two less than she had performed throughout her previous three years combined (14 routines in 1995, 9 in 1996 and 4 in 1997). At Arizona Jan. 23, Fong thrilled the Bruins with her first-ever all-around competition. In that meet, Fong finished in third place with a score of 37.5 and hit career highs on bars (9.65) and beam (9.35). She had an even more impressive performance at the UCLA Invitational, scoring career highs on beam (9.625) and floor (9.8) and a season-high 9.7 on vault. At Cal, she improved upon both of those performances with a career-high 38.525 all-around mark that included a career-best 9.75 on the beam and then set another career-high all-around total at Oregon State with a 38.675. Fong this season earned honorable mention Pac-10 All-Academic honors. 1998 Highs: V-9.7, UB-9.65, BB-9.75, FX-9.8, AA-38.675 MOHINI BHARDWAJ - In limited action freshman Mohini Bhardwaj has impressed in her first collegiate season. In her debut at Georgia Jan. 9, she scored a pair of 9.875s on bars and floor. Bhardwaj took first place honors in the Bruins' season opener on the vault (9.8) and floor (9.825) and placed second on bars (9.85) and in the all-around (38.325). She has placed first on vault in two meets. Bhardwaj performs some of the most difficult skills in the nation, including a laid-out Yurchenko one-and-a-half vault, worth a 10.0, and a full- twisting double layout dismount on bars. Bhardwaj injured an ankle Feb. 5 and is starting to get back into more events. In her first meet back Feb. 27 at Washington, she scored a team-high 9.85 on bars. 1998 Highs: V-9.825, UB-9.875, BB-9.75, FX-9.875, AA-38.325

SUSIE ERICKSON - Junior Susie Erickson has returned to action after suffering a broken foot prior to the season. UCLA's "Rock of Gibraltar" averages a 9.706 in the leadoff spot on beam. In her season debut at Cal, she scored a 9.65 and led the Bruins to their best score of the season on that event (48.975). She scored a season-best 9.8 in the leadoff position at the Bruin Classic to tie for fourth. Erickson earned honorable mention Pac-10 All-Academic honors for the second consecutive year. 1998 Highs: BB-9.8 LISA HILEY - Junior walk-on Lisa Hiley has quickly become one of UCLA's best vaulters with her new vault, a pike front with a half twist, worth a 10.0. Since learning that vault, she has scored a 9.6 or better three times, including a career-high 9.775 to place second at the Bruin Classic, her highest placement ever on any event. On bars, Hiley averages a 9.604, with a season-best 9.825 set a Washington Feb. 27. 1998 Highs: V-9.775, UB-9.825 ALEXIS NORMAN - The freshman from Fairfax, Virginia has competed on floor in UCLA's last seven meets and scored a season-high 9.675 at UCLA's last meet at Oregon State. 1998 Highs: BB-9.45, FX-9.675 CARMEN TAUSEND - After returning to the team in October after a brief retirement in April of 1997, Tausend made five appearances, mostly on bars, where she scored a career-high 9.75 in her season debut Jan. 23 and averaged a 9.64. Her retirement was short-lived, however, as she tore her ligaments in her knee on her bars dismount Feb. 27 at Washington. 1998 Highs: V-9.225, UB-9.75, FX-8.425

LUISA PORTOCARRERO - 1992 Olympian and two-time World Championships competitor Luisa Portocarrero suffered a foot injury Feb. 7 at the UCLA Invitational and continues to be out of action. In the Bruins' first three meets this year, she averaged a 9.758 and placed first on beam twice. Portocarrero had also broken into the bars lineup, scoring a season-best 9.7 in the Bruins' home opener. 1998 Highs: UB- 9.7, BB-9.825

HEAD COACH VALORIE KONDOS - Now in her eighth year as head coach, Valorie Kondos has solidified UCLA Gymnastics as one of the top collegiate programs. In the process, Kondos has established herself as one of the top gymnastics coaches in the nation, earning National Association of College Gymnastics Coaches (NACGC) Coach of the Year honors in 1997 and 1996. Under her guidance, the 1997 Bruins won the first ever NCAA title in UCLA Gymnastics history. In her 15 years of coaching (eight as an assistant coach), she has guided 24 athletes to 74 All- American honors.

UCLA TO HOST 1998 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS - UCLA will defend its 1997 NCAA title when it hosts the 1998 NCAA Championships April 16-18 in Pauley Pavilion. All-session tickets are priced from $14-$30. Single-session tickets range in price from $6- 10. Tickets are available now at UCLA's Central Ticket Office by calling 310/ UCLA-WIN.

UCLA ON THE WEB - Updated information on the UCLA gymnastics team and all of UCLA's athletic teams can be found on the World Wide Web at www.uclabruins.com. NCAA Championship tickets can also be purchased online at www.cto.ucla.edu/