Aug. 15, 2004
Athens, Greece - UCLA had a fantastic showing in day two of the 2004 Olympic Games. Among the highlights were gymnasts Mohini Bhardwaj and Kate Richardson qualifying for the floor exercise event finals, Lisa Fernandez pitching a one-hitter against Australia in softball, and Brandon Brooks leading the U.S. men's water polo team to a 7-6 victory.
Women's Gymnastics
UCLA's Kate Richardson and Mohini Bhardwaj qualified for the floor exercise event finals after stellar performances in the team preliminaries. Richardson was the No. 6 qualifier on floor with a 9.562. Bhardwaj qualified in the No. 8 position with a score of 9.525.
Richardson, who became Canada's first-ever floor exercise qualifier at the Olympic Games, also qualified for the all-around finals with the No. 12 qualifying score. She was 14th overall with a score of 37.224. Bhardwaj would have qualified for the all-around as well based on her eighth-place all-around score (37.699), but only two athletes from each country can qualify, and two U.S. teammates placed just ahead of her.
For a complete recap, click HERE.
Softball
UCLA softball legend Lisa Fernandez tossed a one-hitter as the USA dominated Australia on Sunday, 10-0, in five-innings. Former Bruin catcher Stacey Nuveman launched a three-run home run to help Team USA achieve its second consecutive mercy-rule victory.
For a complete recap, click HERE.
Men's Water Polo
Former Bruin goalkeeper Brandon Brooks led the U.S. men's Olympic water polo team to a 7-6 win over Croatia at the Olympic Aquatic Centre Indoor Pool on Sunday night in Athens. In the first half, Team USA pitched a defensive shutout behind a determined stand from Brooks (Honolulu, HI/UCLA/Los Angeles WPC), who was playing in his first-ever Olympic Games along with nine other members of Team USA. Croatia battled back in the second half before two-time Olympian Tony Azevedo (Long Beach, CA/Stanford/Long Beach Shore) fired in a buzzer-beating bullet to give the U.S. the crucial first win in its grueling Olympic schedule. .
For a complete recap, click HERE.
Women's Swimming
Incoming freshman Nicolette Teo (Singapore) placed sixth in her qualifying heat for the 100m breaststroke with a time of 1:12.87. She did not qualify for the semifinals. Teo will race in the 200m breaststroke on Wednesday, Aug. 18.
Men's Beach Volleyball
In the longest match of the Beach Volleyball competition of Athens 2004 Olympic Games, Dax Holdren and Stein Metzger were able to comeback from a "disappointing" first set loss to win the next two sets over Australia's Andrew Schacht and Joshua Slack. The 80-minute Pool A match saw Schacht and Slack rally from a 19-17 first set deficit to defeat the Americans 24-22. Holdren and Metzger captured the next two sets 24-22 and 15-13 to gain the win.
For a complete recap, click HERE.