University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Stella Umeh
June 21, 1999 | Gymnastics
Senior
Mississauga, Ontario
Gymnastics Mississauga/Silverthorn C.I. HS
1997 -- Increased her All-American stash to seven, one shy of the school record, with a first-team honor on the uneven bars ... Placed 11th in event finals on bars ... Had no score lower than 9.9 at the NCAA Super Six, including a pair of 9.925s on bars and beam ... Placed second in the all-around with a 39.05 versus Georgia Jan. 12 ... Also placed first on floor with a career-high tying and Pauley Pavilion record-tying 9.95 ... Accomplished all this versus Georgia despite injuring her back on vault warm-ups ... The injury forced her out of competition for a full month ... Shortly after her return, she tied for second on beam (9.925) and floor (9.9) at the Magical Classic ... Won her first all-around title of the season at the Shanico Inn-vite with a season-high 39.325 ... Also recorded a career-high 9.825 on vault at that meet ... Earned Pac-10 Gymnast of the Week honors Mar. 11 ... Battled more injuries (ankle) at Pac-10s, where she only competed on bars but scored a career-high 9.975 to place first ... Performed only on vault and bars (9.9, tied for second) at Regionals ... Averaged a 9.87 on floor, 9.815 on bars and 39.067 in the all-around ... Academic All-Pac-10 selection with a 3.04 GPA.
1996 -- Earned first-team All-American honors on bars and beam ... Runner-up on beam at the NCAA Championships for the second consecutive season ... Also tied for fourth on bars ... Came back from a fractured foot and inner ear infection that kept her out of Regionals to compete all-around at the NCAAs ... Earned Pac-10 Gymnast of the Week honors for the week of Mar. 11 ... All-Pac-10 team selection for uneven bars ... Hit career highs on floor (9.95 to win the UCLA Invitational floor title and set the Pauley Pavilion floor record), bars (9.95) and vault (9.8) ... Had three first place showings on floor ... Averaged a 9.838 on bars and placed first at the UCLA Invitational and second at the Pac-10s ... Placed first on beam twice ... Won five of seven all-around competitions she entered during the regular season.
1995 -- Topped an outstanding rookie season by winning the NCAA floor exercise title ... Became the first Bruin since Kim Hamilton and Jill Andrews in 1989 to win a national title, scoring a career-high 9.95 to tie two others ... Was the first UCLA freshman to win a national title since Kim Hamilton in 1987 ... Earned first team All-American status on bars, beam, floor and the all-around ... Tied for third place in the all-around, sixth on bars and second on beam at Nationals ... Captured four of the five individual titles (bars, beam, floor and all-around) at the Pac-10 Championships ... At Regionals, she finished first on beam and floor (tied), second in the all-around and third on bars ... Opened her collegiate career with a first place showing on beam and all-around against CS Fullerton ... Placed in the Top 3 in all but one meet she competed in the all-around ... Placed first in the all-around on three occasions ... Finished first on beam five times.
Club -- A six-year Canadian national team member, she competed for her native country at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, where she finished 16th in the all-around ... Placed first in the all-around and vault and second on bars to help lead Canada to a second place finish at the 1994 Commonwealth Games ... Competed at the 1991, '92, '93 World Championships, placing 17th, 16th, and 15th respectively in all-around competition ... At the '92 Worlds, she placed eighth on vault and fifth on beam, the highest placing of a Canadian female on beam in history ... Finished eighth on floor and 10th on vault at the '93 World Championships ... Crowned the Canadian National Vault Champion in 1992 and 1993.
Personal -- Lists her biggest thrill as competing in the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand ... Favorite apparati are beam and floor ... Enjoys designing clothes and dancing ... Says she was "born to shop" ... Father David Umeh was a prominent Nigerian soccer player ... Interested in becoming an events coordinator in the arts and entertainment industry ... Full name is Stella Ngozi Umeh ... Born May 27, 1975 in Toronto, Ontario ... Sociology major.
Career Highlights * 1995 NCAA FX Champion * Seven-time All-American * 1995 Pac-10 Champion on UB, BB, FX, AA * 1992 Olympian * 1994 Commonwealth Games AA ChampUmeh's Best Marks: V 9.825, 1997 UB 9.975, 1997 BB 9.95, 1995 FX 9.95, 1997 AA 39.475, 1995
