University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA Heads to NCAA West Regionals Apr. 4
June 21, 1999 | Gymnastics
UCLA SEEKS SIXTH STRAIGHT REGIONAL TITLE -- The 13th-ranked and second-seeded UCLA Bruins (16-6) will compete in the NCAA West Regionals Saturday, April 4 in Seattle, Washington at 6 pm. The Bruins will be seeking their sixth consecutive West Regional Championship as well as a berth in the NCAA Championships April 16-18, held at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion.
REGIONALS INFO -- The winner of each of the five NCAA Regionals will automatically advance to the NCAA Championships. The next seven best teams, based on the team score at Regionals, will also advance.
UCLA REGIONAL HISTORY --
* UCLA has won five straight and nine overall West Regional Championships, including eight of the last 11
* The last time Washington hosted a West Regional (1987), UCLA won the title over the second-place Huskies by over three full points
* A fact that bodes well in UCLA's favor this year: The host team has only won 6 times in the meet's 16-year history
* Twenty different Bruins have won 40 regional individual titles, with Jill Andrews holding the school record with seven
* Current Bruins who have won individual titles are: Stella Umeh (1995 floor and beam), Luisa Portocarrero (1996 beam), Lena Degteva (1997 beam), and Heidi Moneymaker (1997 bars)
LAST YEAR AT REGIONALS -- UCLA won its fifth consecutive regional title at Boise, Idaho, thanks to strong performances on vault (49.275), bars (49.35) and beam (49.475). The Bruins scored a meet record 196.3 to outdistance second-place Washington (195.725) and Oregon State (195.075). Amy Smith followed her 1996 floor title with a vault title thanks to her score of 9.95. Heidi Moneymaker won the bars title with a 9.95, and Lena Degteva became UCLA's third consecutive regional beam champion with a 9.95.
THE WEST REGION IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS -- Five of the seven teams competing at Regionals are nationally ranked in the Top 25 -- No. 7 Washington, No. 13 UCLA, No. 15 Oregon State, No. 16 Stanford and No. 19 Boise State. Sixth-seed Cal and seventh-seed UC Davis are unranked.
THE FIELD -- The Bruins will face stiff competition in three teams who have beaten them in meets this year -- Washington Feb. 27 at Seattle; Stanford at the Pac-10s, which it won; and Oregon State at the Shanico Inn-vite and at the Pac-10s. However, UCLA has beaten Stanford and Oregon State in the regular season - Stanford at the UCLA Invite Feb. 7 and Oregon State at the Bruin Classic Feb. 22 - and also defeated Cal Feb. 13 at Berkeley.
DEJA VU? -- UCLA, which placed fourth at the Pac-10 Championships after suffering three falls on its first rotation, will be the No. 2 seed at Regionals and will start on bars and end on vault. Flash back to 1996. UCLA has a disastrous start to the Pac-10 Championships and finishes in fourth place. The Bruins enter Regionals as the No. 2 seed, beginning the competition on bars. UCLA overtakes No. 1 seed Oregon State on its final rotation (vault) to win the Regional title. Could it happen again?
UMEH WINS THREE PAC-10 TITLES -- In the performance of her career, senior Stella Umeh won the Pac-10 all-around, beam and floor titles. Umeh scored a career-high 39.6 to easily win the all-around crown and also tied her career-high and tied the Pauley Pavilion record on floor with a 9.95. Her 9.925 on beam was a season-best. Umeh has now won seven Pac-10 titles in her career.
DEGTEVA WINS VAULT CHAMPIONSHIP -- Sophomore Lena Degteva won her first-ever Pac-10 title by placing first on vault with a career-high 9.925. Degteva, a first-team All-American on vault a year ago, nailed a Yurchenko Arabian to win the title.
UMEH NAMED PAC-10 GYMNAST OF THE YEAR -- In addition to her three Pac-10 crowns, Stella Umeh was voted the Pac-10 Gymnast of the Year in a coaches' vote. It is Umeh's first such honor and the third by a UCLA gymnast in the last four years.
BRUINS PLACE FOURTH AT PAC-10 CHAMPIONSHIPS -- UCLA finished in fourth place at last weekend's Pac-10 Championships with a score of 194.7. Stanford won the meet with a 195.275 to become the first school other than UCLA or Oregon State to win the Championship. Oregon State was second, followed by Arizona State.
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/
1998 UCLA Gymnastics Schedule
Date Opponent Time/Score
1/9 at Georgia (195.675) L 194.025
1/18 ASU/UCSB/Denver* W 193.15
1/23 at Arizona (191.55) W 192.875
2/7 UCLA Invitational 1st (195.5)
-Stanford, Michigan, Cornell
2/13 at California (188.7) W 195.4
2/22 Bruin Classic 1st (194.55)
-Oregon St., Penn St., CSUF
2/27 at Washington (195.9) L 194.425
3/6 at Shanico Inn-vite 2nd (194.5)
-Oregon St., GW, SPU
3/21 Pac-10 Champs. 4th (194.7)
4/4 at NCAA Regionals 6:00 pm
4/16 NCAA Championships 1:00 pm
7:30 pm
4/17 NCAA Championships 7:30 pm
4/18 NCAA Championships 7:30 pm
Home meets in bold face
Home meets held at Pauley Pavilion
* Meet held at John Wooden Center
All times local to meet site
UCLA In the Top 25 Rankings ...
(Rankings from Mar. 24, by regional qualifying average)
Team - West Region Nat'l Rank 2nd - 194.762 13th
TeamVault - West Region Nat'l Rank 2nd - 48.731 10th
TeamBars - West Region Nat'l Rank 4th - 48.812 16th
TeamBeam - West Region Nat'l Rank 2nd - 48.656 16th
TeamFloor - West Region Nat'l Rank 3rd - 48.862 18th
All-Around - West Region Nat'l Rank
3. Heidi Moneymaker, 39.075 14th
8. Kiralee Hayashi, 38.856 --
9. Lena Degteva, 38.694 --
Vault - West Region Nat'l Rank
4t. Stella Umeh, 9.837 16th-T
8t. Heidi Moneymaker, 9.8 --
10. Kiralee Hayashi, 9.775 --
11. Lena Degteva, 9.762 --
16. Andrea Fong, 9.681 --
Bars - West Region Nat'l Rank
1. Heidi Moneymaker, 9.894 10th-T
8. Stella Umeh, 9.844 --
11. Kiralee Hayashi, 9.812 --
13t. Lena Degteva, 9.8 --
Beam - West Region Nat'l Rank
3. Kiralee Hayashi, 9.837 --
7. Heidi Moneymaker, 9.8 --
14. Lena Degteva, 9.769 --
Floor- West Region Nat'l Rank
1. Stella Umeh, 9.925 6th
3. Heidi Moneymaker, 9.9 14th
12t. Lena Degteva, 9.837 --
15. Kiralee Hayashi, 9.819 --
UCLA Individual Career Highs
Gymnast V UB BB FX AA
Bhardwaj 9.825 9.9 9.85 9.875 38.325
Degteva 9.925 9.925 9.95 9.925 39.4
Fong 9.8 9.65 9.75 9.8 38.675
Erickson 9.8 9.85 9.6
Hayashi 9.9 9.9 9.9 9.925 39.4
Hiley 9.775 9.875
Moneymaker 9.925 9.975 9.875 9.925 39.375
Norman 9.45 9.825
Portocarrero 9.55 9.775 9.9 9.725
Tausend 9.85 9.75 9.75
Umeh 9.875 9.975 9.95 9.95 39.6
