Feb. 8, 2011
Complete Release in PDF Format 
This Week - The 10th-ranked UCLA gymnastics team (6-4) travels to Chicago, IL for the IGI/Chicago Style Classic on Friday, Feb. 11. The meet will take place at Navy Pier, Exhibition Hall A-B at 7:30 pm CT. Competing against the Bruins in the meet are second-ranked Stanford and sixth-ranked Oregon State. This will be UCLA's third meeting already this season against both schools. The three teams all met on Jan. 9 in Pauley Pavilion at the Pac-10 Showcase, with Stanford coming in first, UCLA placing second and Oregon State finishing third. Stanford won the second showdown against UCLA on Jan. 23 at Stanford, 196.2-194.825, and UCLA defeated Oregon State on Jan. 28, 196.675-196.625.
Rotation Order - UCLA will begin the meet on uneven bars, followed by balance beam, floor exercise and vault. Oregon State starts on vault, and Stanford begins on floor.
In The Rankings - While on a bye last weekend, the Bruins dropped in the national rankings to No. 10 overall with a season average of 195.430. The Bruins rank eighth on vault (49.015), ninth on bars (48.945), 14th on beam (48.575) and tied for 11th on floor (48.895). Individually, the Bruins have four gymnasts ranked in the Top 25 in the all-around - Olivia Courtney (11th, 39.263), Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs (16th, 39.208), Brittani McCullough (21st, 39.133) and Sydney Sawa (22nd, 39.125). Three Bruins are ranked on bars - No. 13 Monique De La Torre (9.844), No. 22 Sawa (9.831) and No. 25 Aisha Gerber (9.825). Two are ranked on floor - No. 16 Hopfner-Hibbs (9.85) and No. 25 McCullough (9.833). Tauny Frattone is tied for 22nd on vault (9.845), and Courtney is tied for 11th on beam (9.838).
Homecoming For Bruin Coaches Waller, Foody - UCLA assistant head coach Chris Waller and assistant coach Jim Foody will be returning to their home state of Illinois this weekend with their Bruin team. Both are from the Chicago area. Waller is from Mt. Prospect and trained at American Academy of Gymnastics before enrolling at UCLA and becoming a three-time NCAA champion (1987 team, 1989 pommel horse, 1990 high bar) and 1992 Olympian. Foody is from Addison and attended Addison Trail HS before coming to UCLA, where he won the 1994 NCAA high bar title.
Peszek Expected To Make Collegiate Debut - Freshman Samantha Peszek is expected to see her first collegiate action this weekend, as she is slated to do an exhibition on uneven bars. Peszek, who suffered a foot fracture just before the season started, was a member of the U.S. team that won the silver medal at the 2008 Olympic Games, as well as the 2007 U.S. squads that won gold medals at the World Championships and Pan American Games.
Bruins Beat Beavers For First Dual Meet Win - UCLA hit all 24 of its routines to defeat Oregon State on Jan. 28 with a season-high score of 196.675, edging the Beavers by .05 with a fourth rotation rally on the balance beam. Trailing by .05 going into the last rotation, the Bruins scored a season-high 49.175, led by a career-high tying 9.9 by Brittani McCullough. The victory was UCLA's first in a dual meet this year. The Bruins had 18 of 24 scores of 9.8 or higher and no score under 9.725. The team achieved season-highs on bars (49.275), beam (49.175) and floor (49.25) and surpassed its overall team season-high by 0.75. Four Bruin all-arounders scored above 39.0, with freshmen Olivia Courtney and Sydney Sawa recording matching marks of 39.225 and McCullough and Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs each scoring 39.4.
McCullough Named UCLA/Muscle Milk Student-Athlete Of The Week - After leading her team to a road win over Oregon State on Jan. 28, senior Brittani McCullough was named the UCLA/Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week. McCullough scored a career-high 39.4 in the all-around, a season-high 9.9 on floor and a career-high tying 9.9 to win beam in the final rotation and lead UCLA in its comeback efforts against the Beavers.
Gerber Takes Lead On Beam - Junior Aisha Gerber has taken over the all-important leadoff position on beam the last three meets. At Southern Utah, her 9.775 leadoff score led the way towards a season-high 49.1 team mark. At Stanford, she led off with a 9.8, and at OSU, her 9.75 leadoff led to a season-high team score of 49.175 and a final rotation comeback win. Gerber had been fifth in the lineup in the first two meets of the season and scored 9.875 and 9.85. She holds a season average of 9.810, second-best on the squad.
Oh Canada - UCLA's Canadian trio of Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs, Aisha Gerber and Sydney Sawa have been amongst the team's standouts so far this season. Hopfner-Hibbs won the all-around at the Pac-10 Showcase with a nation-high score of 39.55 and also placed first on beam (9.95) and floor (career-high tying 9.95). She also tied for first on bars at Utah with a 9.8. Gerber won beam at Utah with a 9.875 and has placed first on uneven bars at two of the Bruins' last three meets. At Stanford, she placed second in the all-around with a 39.225, her highest all-around total since 2009. Sawa has been extremely consistent all season, hitting all 17 of her routines without a fall and averaging 9.7 or better on all four events. She has highs of 9.85 on vault, 9.9 on bars, 9.825 on beam and 9.85 on floor.
Consistent Bruins - UCLA ended its 2010 season with amazing consistency, hitting 95 of 96 postseason routines without a fall. Three returning Bruins missed just one routine all of last year (all on beam) - Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs and Brittani McCullough, who each went 40-for-41, and Aisha Gerber, who hit 30-for-31. Vanessa Zamarripa, who is redshirting this season, hit 52-for-53, and graduated senior Anna Li was a perfect 47-for-47. This season, McCullough is 13-for-14 on the year and has hit 103 of 108 career routines. Gerber has hit 44 of her last 46 routines and is 14-for-15 on the year. Hopfner-Hibbs is 12-of-13 in 2011 and has hit 67 of her last 69 routines. Freshmen Sydney Sawa (17-for-17) and Olivia Courtney (14-for-14) have hit all of their routines without a fall so far this season.
Heart Of A Champion - UCLA's Feb. 21 home meet against North Carolina State will be dedicated to helping raise money and awareness for Camp del Corazon, which is a camp for youngsters with heart disease. Fans purchase a t-shirt for $10 at the Camp del Corazon website (campdelcorazon.org) will receive free general admission to the meet. All proceeds from the t-shirt sales will go to the camp. Campers from the Camp del Corazon will be singing the national anthem, and iCarly star Noah Munck, who has worked extensively with Camp del Corazon, will be in attendance to give more information about the camp and how to help its cause. Munck and the Bruin team will also sign autographs after the meet. Visit campdelcorazon.org for more information.
Making The Grade - Fifteen UCLA gymnasts made the UCLA Director's Honor Roll (3.0 GPA or higher) for Fall 2010: Kaelie Baer, Monique De La Torre, Aisha Gerber, Danielle Greig, Tiffany Hyland, Talia Kushynski, Rachel Luba, Brittani McCullough, Samantha Peszek, Alyssa Pritchett, Mizuki Sato, Courtney Shannon, Allison Taylor, Niki Tom and Lichelle Wong.
UCLA Signs Three Standouts For 2012 - UCLA head coach Valorie Kondos Field announced another standout recruiting class in November with the signings of national letters-of-intent by U.S. national team member Cassie Whitcomb (Cincinnati Gymnastics Academy), Canadian national team member Christine Peng Peng Lee (Oakville Gymnastics), and former Junior Olympic national team member Dana McDonald (Novato Gymnastics).
Season Tickets On Sale Now - Tickets for the 2011 season are on sale now. For just $45, fans can purchase a UCLA season ticket which includes a lower-level seat at three upcoming regular season home meets (Feb. 21 vs. North Carolina State, Feb. 27 vs. Denver and Minnesota and Mar. 6 vs. Georgia and Arizona) and the Pac-10 Championships on Mar. 19. All home meets take place in legendary Pauley Pavilion. Tickets can be purchased online at uclabruins.com or by phone at 310-UCLA-WIN.