UCLA Bruins: Women’s Gymnastics Team Set For Another Great Season

Apr 19, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins gymnast Danusia Francis competes on the balance beam during semifinals of the 2013 NCAA Women’s Championships at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion

On Sunday night, as the Seattle Seahawks’ Richard Sherman was dissing San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree after helping his team clinch a spot in the Super Bowl, rather than watching that incident on TV I was at Pauley Pavilion on the UCLA campus watching a team that I’ve enthusiastically supported for over a decade.

These weren’t big, strapping guys by any means, but the stuff they did would greatly challenge any NFL player – or pretty much any other male athlete for that matter.

In fact, the young ladies I was watching did things that would boggle any mind, things such as leaping and flipping their bodies on a piece of wood that’s four inches wide and four feet off the ground.

Not to mention doing similar things on two bars that were uneven, and on a vault after running at top speed.

“Wait a minute,” one may be asking right about now. “You’re talking about a gymnastics team!”

Guilty as charged – I was watching UCLA’s Women’s Gymnastics team at a meet against Oregon State, and handling their business against those Beavers quite nicely as those Lady Bruins beat them confortably.

As was the case for the over ten years that I have gone to watch these young ladies, I had a great time as not only are they entertaining, these UCLA gymnasts are also very good as they have six national championships and 16 Pac-12 Conference titles to their credit.

Four of those NCAA titles came in a five-year span from 2000-2004, signifying a dynasty that may not have been as long as their basketball counterparts in the late 60s and early 70s, but was quite the dynasty all the same.

Those six crowns are tied with Alabama as only Georgia, with, ten championships, and Utah, with nine, have won more.

When one looks at the leadership and personnel of this program, it’s crystal clear why UCLA has been so top-notch on the uneven parallel bars, vault, balance beam and floor exercises for so long, starting with their coach, Valorie Kondos Field.

Currently in her 24th season in Westwood, the UCLA alum has been – and still is – a dynamic force in building and shaping this program, which shows in the gymnasts that she has this year.

The Bruins have an excellent core of veterans, led by seniors Olivia Courtney and Sydney Sawa and junior Samantha Peszek, who won a team silver medal in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

In fact, UCLA has had many Olympians on their squad over the years, boasting big names such as Tasha Schwikert, Kristen Maloney, and Jamie Dantzscher.

And this year has perhaps an ever bigger name among its ranks as Jordyn Wieber, the reigning team gold medal winner from the 2012 London Olympics and the 2011 World Champion, is a team manager only because as a gold medal Olympian, she is considered a professional and cannot compete for the Bruins.

Apr 19, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins gymnast Olivia Courtney competes on the balance beam during semifinals of the 2013 NCAA Women

But getting back to this year’s active squad…

The freshmen have been stellar with Angi Cipra and Hallie Mossett leading the way so far, Cipra getting a 9.95 (out of ten) in the floor exercises against OSU while Mossett scored in the high 9.8s on the beam and the floor.

Sadiqua Bynum and Sophina DeJesus have also stood out, Bynum getting a 9.90 on vault against Oregon State and DeJesus scoring a 9.95 on the bars, but there’s one Bruin gymnast from Great Britain that has done nothing but dazzle everyone with her balance beam routine in particular.

Danusia Francis, a sophomore, has become a true fan favorite as she brought the house down with her 9.925 performance on the beam on Sunday; her other scores, a 9.85 on bars and a 9,90 on the floor, likewise excited the crowd.

What about their chances for a seventh NCAA title – I’m sure folks are asking that right about now.

As is always the case with these young ladies, in my view their chances are as good as their health will take them.

As an illustration of that, when they won their last national championship in 2010 UCLA stayed healthy with no bad injuries.

That wasn’t the case in the three years since as the Bruins suffered from ACL and Achilles tendon tears from key gymnasts, including Peszek with her torn Achilles in 2013.

Not coincidentally, they fell short of being able to hang a banner, finishing second in 2011, third in 2012, and fourth in 2013.

If they can stay healthy this year, even though top-ranked and defending champion Florida – who UCLA lost a close meet to in their opener on January 11 – is considered the favorite, these Bruin ladies have just as good a chance as Florida and anyone else to win the title.

In the meantime, I urge everyone to check out this team.

Save for football and men’s basketball, they have the best attendance of all the Bruin sports, and for good reason as like I’ve said, they are very entertaining with their routines, their energy, and their team camaraderie.

Their next home meet is on Saturday, February 9 against Arizona State at 12:30 p.m.

Trust me on this – you won’t be disappointed.

As a little enticement, here’s a video of Sawa’s floor routine: