University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA Gymnastics Wrap-Up
April 17, 2000
BRUINS WIN SECOND NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP:
UCLA entered the NCAA Championships as the favorite to win the title and
disappointed nobody, hitting 24 for 24 routines two nights in a row to win
its second NCAA team championship with a final team score of 197.3. Utah
placed second with a 196.875, followed by Georgia (196.8), Nebraska
(196.725), Alabama (196.5) and Michigan (195.725). The Bruins counted no
score lower than 9.775 during the team finals and clinched the meet with a
49.125 beam set in their final rotation.
BHARDWAJ WINS BARS TITLE:
Junior Mohini Bhardwaj won her first individual NCAA title by scoring a 9.95
to capture the uneven bars crown. Bhardwaj, who barely missed out on the
all-around title two days earlier and finished second by .025, also placed
second on beam with a 9.9 and fifth on vault with an average of 9.8065. In
all, Bhardwaj brought home a team title and four individual trophies. "I'm
ecstatic," Bhardwaj said. "All of my dreams have come true. If this is all I
could have from my college gymnastics experience, I'll take it."
DEGTEVA WINS BEAM TITLE:
Senior Lena Degteva capped an outstanding career with a second NCAA team
title and her first individual title on the balance beam. Degteva's nearly
flawless routine merited a 9.913 and gave UCLA two consecutive NCAA beam
champions. Degteva also placed third on bars and fifth in the all-around.
"It's a very nice way to end my career," Degteva said. "I've been here four
years and haven't won an individual title, but I've seen my teammates do it.
I've dreamed of doing it myself, and it's really cool to do it in my last
meet, my last chance."
FIVE BRUINS EARN RECORD 18 ALL-AMERICAN HONORS:
Mohini Bhardwaj, Lena Degteva, Heidi Moneymaker, Kristin Parker and Onnie
Willis combined to earn 18 All-American honors at the 2000 Championships,
the most ever in school history. UCLA had 11 first-team All-America honors,
the most amongst all teams at the Championships. Bhardwaj, a junior from
Cincinnati, OH, earned first-team honors in the all-around, vault, bars and
beam. Degteva, a senior from Mississauga, Ontario, earned first-team honors
on bars and beam and second-team honors in the all-around (fifth place),
vault and floor. Moneymaker earned first-team honors in the all-around
(fourth place), vault, bars and floor. Parker earned second-team honors in
the all-around and bars. Willis earned first-team acclaim on vault and
second-team honors on bars and floor. Degteva ended her career with a
school-record 13 All-America honors, followed closely by Moneymaker's 12.
Bhardwaj ups her ante to nine.
MONEYMAKER ENDS CAREER WITH A CHAMPIONSHIP EACH YEAR:
Senior Heidi Moneymaker closed her successful UCLA career with yet another
NCAA title - this one the most coveted team championship. In her four years
at UCLA, the 12-time All-American has won an NCAA title each year. In 1997,
she won a team title. In 1998, she captured UCLA's first-ever NCAA bars
title. In 1999, she won the vault, and in 2000, she won her second team
title.
KONDOS, LANE EARN NATIONAL COACHING HONORS:
The National Association of Collegiate Gymnastics Coaches (NACGC) voted UCLA
head coach Valorie Kondos and Iowa State's Amy Pyle the National Co-Coaches
of the Year. The honor is Kondos' third in the last five years. She was
previously awarded in 1996 and 1997. In addition, assistant coach Randy Lane
was voted the National Assistant Coach of the Year for the first time in his
career.
A DYNASTY BRUIN?:
Although UCLA loses two all-time greats in Heidi Moneymaker and Lena
Degteva, the future looks extremely bright for the Bruins. Head coach
Valorie Kondos not only retains the services of all-around runner-up Mohini
Bhardwaj and an outstanding freshman class of Malia Jones, Kristin Parker,
Carly Raab, Doni Thompson and Onnie Willis, but also gains potential
Olympians in Jeanette Antolin, Alyssa Beckerman, Jamie Dantzscher, Kristen
Maloney and Yvonne Tousek.
BRUINS ACHIEVE IN AND OUT OF GYM:
Not only are the Bruins standouts in the gym, but they are also standouts in
the classroom. During the winter quarter (January-March), the UCLA
Gymnastics team recorded a team GPA of 3.5 and had each member of the squad
earn a 3.0 or higher GPA.
UCLA STREAKS AND RECORDS:
- UCLA qualified for its ninth consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championships this season. It was UCLA's 17th appearance in the 19 NCAA Championships.
- The Bruins qualified for the NCAA Super Six for the eighth consecutive year. UCLA and Georgia remain the only two schools to compete in the Super Six every year since its inception in 1993.
- Two Bruins won individual event titles for the third consecutive season - Mohini Bhardwaj on bars and Lena Degteva on beam.
- Five UCLA gymnasts earned a school-record 18 All-America honors.
- Degteva set a school record with 13 career All-America honors.
- Heidi Moneymaker earned Region 1 Gymnast of the Year honors for the second consecutive year.
- UCLA won the Pac-10 Championship for the ninth time in 14 years.
- A Bruin gymnast was named the Pac-10 Gymnast of the Year for the fourth consecutive year and fifth in the last six years when the Pac-10 coaches selected Moneymaker.
- Doni Thompson became the first-ever Pac-10 Freshman of the Year.
- Bhardwaj became the first gymnast ever to earn All-Pac-10 honors on all four events and the all-around.
- UCLA remained the only winners of the annual Bruin Classic, winning for the fourth straight year.
- The Bruins won the UCLA Invitational for the ninth straight year in 2000.
- UCLA set school records in team total (197.8), vault total (49.65), bars (49.7) and floor (49.625).
- Moneymaker recorded school records on vault (10.0) and in the all-around (39.775).
- Moneymaker became the first UCLA gymnast ever to record two perfect 10s on the same apparatus when she had two 10.0s on vault this season.
- When Degteva and Moneymaker hit back-to-back 10.0s on vault Mar. 5, they became the first Bruin duo to score perfect 10s in the same meet.
- Onnie Willis set freshman school records in the all-around (39.525), vault (10.0) and bars (9.975).
After sweeping the individual titles and team title at the Pac-10 Championships, the accolades kept rolling in for the Bruins- UCLA swept the Pac-10 awards as well, with head coach Valorie Kondos earning Coach of the Year honors for the second time in her career, senior Heidi Moneymaker becoming UCLA's fourth consecutive Gymnast of the Year, and Doni Thompson winning the inaugural Freshman of the Year award.
UCLA ACCOLADES:
Mohini Bhardwaj
All-Pac-10 team (AA, V, UB, BB, FX)
Pac-10 Gymnast of the Week (Jan. 18)
UCLA/Sarah Leonard Fine Jewelers Female Athlete of the Month (January)
MET-Rx/UCLA Student-Athlete of the Week (Mar. 27-Apr. 2, Apr. 10-16)
Lena Degteva
All-Pac-10 team (AA, V, UB)
Pac-10 Gymnast of the Week (Mar. 7)
MET-Rx/UCLA Student-Athlete of the Week (Apr. 10-16)
Heidi Moneymaker
Region 1 Gymnast of the Year
Pac-10 Gymnast of the Year
All-Pac-10 team (BB, FX)
Pac-10 Gymnast of the Week (Feb. 15)
UCLA/Sarah Leonard Fine Jewelers Female Athlete of the Month (February)
MET-Rx/UCLA Student-Athlete of the Week (Feb. 7-15)
Doni Thompson
Pac-10 Freshman of the Year
Onnie Willis
Pac-10 Gymnast of the Week (Feb. 8)
MET-Rx/UCLA Student-Athlete of the Week (Feb. 16-21)
Head Coach Valorie Kondos
National Co-Coach of the Year
Pac-10 Coach of the Year
Assistant Coach Randy Lane
National Assistant Coach of the Year