University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Lena Degteva
June 21, 1999 | Gymnastics
Sophomore
Mississauga, Ontario
Gymnastics Mississauga/Silverthorn HS
1997 -- Earned first-team All-American honors on the vault after scoring a career-high 9.9 in the leadoff position at Day One of the NCAA Championships ... Placed fifth in vault finals at NCAAs by scoring a 9.825 on a handspring front pike and a 9.8 on a pike front with a half twist (9.8125 average) ... Had never previously competed a pike front with a half twist until then ... Learned a handspring front pike (10.0 start value) just days before Regionals and scored a then-season-best 9.8 ... Had previously been competing a handspring front tuck (9.9 start value) ... Also earned second-team All-American honors in the all-around by placing 11th overall with a 39.25 ... Had her best overall meet at the Magical Classic, scoring a career-best 39.4 in the all-around to place third ... Also hit then-career-highs on vault (9.8), bars (9.925) and floor (9.9) ... Won the beam title at Regionals with a career-best 9.95 ... Joins fellow Canadians Leah Homma and Stella Umeh as the only Bruin gymnasts to ever score a 9.925 or higher on beam ... Made a smashing collegiate debut at Fullerton, winning the all-around (38.5), placing second on bars and beam and placing third on vault ... Had six Top 5 finishes on bars, including four second place showings ... Averaged over a 9.7 on vault and floor.
Club -- Senior all-around champion at the 1996 and 1995 Canadian National Championships ... Placed second in 1994 ... Won the balance beam championships in 1994 and also placed fifth on vault and floor ... Placed sixth on bars at the 1995 nationals ... Narrowly missed making the three-member 1996 Canadian Olympic squad by just two-tenths of a point at the Olympic Trials ... Represented Canada in two World Championships (1995 and 1994) ... Placed third in the all-around, first on beam and second on vault at the 1995 Elite Canada meet ... Led Canada to a fifth place team finish at the 1995 Pan American Games ... Won the junior nationals in the Soviet Union at age 12 before immigrating to Canada in 1990 ... Became a citizen of Canada in 1994 ... Trained with mother Svetlana Degteva and Alex Bard at Gymnastics Mississauga ... Former club teammate of Bruin teammate Stella Umeh.
Personal -- Speaks fluent Russian and English ... Hobbies include music and dancing ... Lists uneven bars as her favorite apparatus ... Greatest athletic moment was representing Canada for the first time ... Father Pavel is also a gymnastics coach at Winstonettes in Ontario ... Full name is Elena Degteva ... Born December 3, 1976 in Lvov, Ukraine ... Undeclared major.
Career Highlights *First-team All-American on vault *Second-team All-American in the all-around *West Region beam champion *Two-time Canadian national all-around champion (1996, 1995)Degteva's Best Marks: V 9.9, 1997 UB 9.925, 1997 BB 9.95, 1997 FX 9.9, 1997 AA 39.4, 1997
