DEPARTMENT OF INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETICS

Gymnastics SID: Liza David For Immediate Release: SID Phone: (310) 206-8140 February 12, 2001 UCLA Web Site — www.uclabruins.com #1 UCLA GYMNASTS TRAVEL TO #21 OREGON STATE Bruins, Beavers clash in Fox Sports Matchup

THIS WEEK - The top-ranked UCLA gymnastics team (11-1) will travel to 2001 UCLA Gymnastics Schedule Corvallis, OR this weekend for a Friday, Feb. 16 matchup against 21st-ranked Oregon State (2-5) at Gill Coliseum at 7:00 pm. The meet will be televised Date Opponent Time/Result on a tape-delayed basis by Fox Sports Northwest on Feb. 20 at 8:00 pm and 1/5 @Maui Invitational 1st, 196.2 by Fox Sports West 2 on Feb. 21 at 1:00 pm. - Nebraska, Arizona State FORMER BRUIN STAR FACES OLD TEAM - Former UCLA All-Ameri- 1/14 @Cal State Fullerton 1st, 196.825 can Tanya (Service) Chaplin will face off against her old team as head coach 1/19 @Stanford 1st, 196.925 of the Oregon State Beavers. Chaplin earned six All-America honors from 1/21 UTAH 1st, 197.5 1986-1989 and was the 1987 and 1989 Pac-10 Gymnast of the Year. In her career, she won five Pac-10 individual titles. Chaplin is in her fourth year as 1/26 @ Arizona State 2nd, 196.0 head coach of the Beavers and is assisted by her husband, Michael, who was 1/28 ALABAMA, 1st, 197.5 a two-time All-American and member of UCLA's 1987 men's national cham- CAL STATE FULLERTON, pionship team. SOUTHERN UTAH A LOOK AT THE COMPETITION - Oregon State enters the week ranked 2/11 UCLA INVITE 1st, 196.85 21st nationally. The Beavers have been beset with injuries this season, losing - Arizona, Washington, CSUF All-American Tanya Ricioli and junior Jerra Lopez for the season with rup- 2/16 @Oregon State 7:00 pm tured achilles tendons. However, Oregon State has persevered and recorded 3/4 BRUIN CLASSIC 2:00 pm a season-best score of 195.575 Jan. 28. Katrina Severin ranks third nation- - Cal, Utah State, UCSB ally on vault with a 9.892 average. She has a season-best score of 9.975, which leads the Pac-10. Lara Degenhardt also ranks in the Top 25 on vault, 3/9 @Michigan 7:00 pm checking in at No. 20 (9.821 average). 3/11 @Michigan State 1:00 pm BRUINS RETURN TO CORVALLIS - Corvallis has been kind to the Bru- 3/18 GEORGIA 2:00 pm ins in recent years. Two years ago, UCLA competed at Gill Coliseum three 3/24 Pac-10 Championships 6:00 pm times and won each time - in a very close dual meet that was decided by .125, 4/7 NCAA REGIONALS 6:00 pm at the Pac-10 Championships and at the NCAA Region 1 Championships. Oregon State also hosted last year's Regional meet, which UCLA again won. 4/19 NCAA Championships TBA UCLA holds a 21-12 all-time advantage over the Beavers. 4/20 NCAA Championships TBA BRUIN GYMNASTICS A PERFECT 10! - UCLA gymnasts are rewriting 4/21 NCAA Championships TBA the record books nearly every week, recording nine perfect 10s already this season. Entering the season, only 12 perfect 10s had ever been scored in Home meets in BOLD FACE CAPS UCLA history, and the 2001 Bruins are only three more 10.0s away from Home meets held at Pauley Pavilion matching that all-time mark in just one year. In four out of five weeks of All times local to meet site competition this year, a UCLA gymnast has recorded at least one perfect 10. Senior and freshman each have four 10s this year and hold the school record for most 10s in a career, in a season and in a meet (Dantzscher scored two on Jan. 5 on bars and , and Bhardwaj matched that feat on the same two events Jan. 28). Dantzscher's other 10s came on floor Jan. 19 at Stanford and on bars Feb. 11 at the UCLA Invita- tional. Bhardwaj has two additional 10s on floor - Jan. 5 and Jan. 21 - and is averaging a 10.0 in her three competitions on floor. Sophomore Kristin Parker joined in on the fun, recording her first 10 on floor Feb. 11. One other Bruin has scored a perfect 10 in her career, Onnie Willis on vault a year ago. p. 1 of 3

J.D. MORGAN CENTER • P.O. BOX 24044 • LOS ANGELES, CA 90024-0044 • PHONE: (310) 825-8699 • WEBSITE: WWW.UCLABRUINS.COM are Doni Thompson Bruins In The Top 25 National Rankings (15th, 9.875 average) Top 25 Rankings (as of 2/11) Gymnast V UB BB FX AA and Onnie Willis (24th, (by season avg.) Antolin — — — 21st — 9.862 average). UCLA 1. UCLA 196.811 Bhardwaj 6th 6th — 1st 1st has scored 49.55 or 2. Alabama 196.608 Dantzscher — 1st — 3rd 3rd higher three times this 3. Utah 196.408 Jones — — 22nd — 21st 4. Georgia 196.104 Maloney — — — 2nd 13th year. 5. Stanford 196.100 Parker — — 7th 13th 9th ALL-AROUNDERS 6. Nebraska 195.962 Thompson — 15th — — — ALL AROUND - 7. Florida 195.621 Tousek — — — 7th — 8. Michigan 195.446 Willis — 24th 10th 21st 2nd Given UCLA's depth, 9. Iowa State 194.865 it is no surprise that the 10. Minnesota 194.821 Bruins have six ath- 11. Arizona State 194.785 BRUINS ATOP NATIONAL RANKINGS - UCLA maintains letes ranked in the Top 12. Penn State 194.779 the No. 1 position in the national rankings with a team average 25 all-around stand- 13. LSU 194.775 14. Ohio State 194.679 of 196.811. UCLA has been No. 1 all season, except for one ings. The Bruins boast week when an early reporting deadline precluded UCLA from 15. BYU 194.556 the nation's top three entering its Jan. 14 meet score of 196.825, which was the high- 16. West Virginia 194.521 all-arounders in No. 1 17. Oklahoma 194.412 est team score in the nation at the time. The Bruins also rank Mohini Bhardwaj 18. Denver 194.300 first nationally on bars (49.382 average) and floor (49.468) (39.42 average), No. 2 19. Iowa 194.279 and are fourth on vault (49.011) and beam (48.95). 20. Illinois State 194.245 Onnie Willis (39.6) 21. Oregon State 194.204 FLOORING THE JUDGES - The Bruins have an amazing and No. 3 Jamie 22. Kent State 194.175 seven athletes ranked in the Top 25 on floor - and only six Dantzscher (39.55), as 23. Kentucky 193.990 athletes are allowed to compete on one apparatus during a meet. well as No. 9 Kristin 24. Michigan State 193.862 Three Bruins rank 1-2-3 - No. 1 Mohini Bhardwaj (10.0 aver- Parker (39.267), No. 25. Geo. Washington 193.817 age), No. 2 Kristen Maloney (9.937) and No. 3 Jamie 13 Kristen Maloney Dantzscher (9.925). Also ranked are No. 7 Yvonne Tousek (39.225) and No. 21 Malia Jones (39.131). In addition, UCLA (9.904), Kristin Parker (9.886) and Nos. 21 Jeanette Antolin has three other all-around standouts in Doni Thompson (sea- (9.875) and Onnie Willis (9.875). The Bruins, who have scored son-high 39.425), Yvonne Tousek (season-high 39.1), Jeanette 49.5 or higher four times this year, set a new school record Jan. Antolin (season-high 39.05) and Valerie Velasco (career-high 28 on the floor exercise, tallying a team total of 49.675. UCLA 38.85). had scores of 9.925 or better from Willis (9.925), Maloney BRUINS WIN 10TH CONSECUTIVE UCLA INVITE - (9.95), Tousek (9.925) and Bhardwaj (10.0). The Bruins won their 10th consecutive and 15th overall UCLA UCLA SETS BAR HIGH - The Bruins are nearly as success- Invitational team title, defeating Washington, Cal State Fuller- ful on bars as they are on floor. In the season opener Jan. 5, the ton and Arizona. UCLA never trailed in the meet and went on Bruins set a new school record with a team score of 49.75 and to a team total of 196.85. (Note: This score is adjusted from came close to breaking that Jan. 28 with a 49.7. Jamie what was previously reported due to a scoring error. Also, Dantzscher remains atop the national rankings on bars with a Yvonne Tousek's floor exercise score has been brought up to a 9.975 average. She has posted two perfect 10s on bars this year. 9.925. In the adjusted placings for the Invitational, Tousek Defending NCAA bars champ Mohini Bhardwaj is sixth with moves up to third place, and her season average of 9.925 should a 9.906 average and scored a 10 her last time up. Also ranked move her up to third place in the rankings.) WILLIS SETS UCLA INVITATIONAL RECORD - In her UCLA Career High Scores first all-around performance of the season, Onnie Willis set a Gymnast V UB BB FX AA new career high and a new UCLA Invitational meet record with Antolin 9.9 9.85 9.85 9.925 39.05 an all-around score of 39.6. She also tied the meet record on Beckerman 9.875 Bhardwaj 9.95 10.0 9.925 10.0 39.8 floor for the second time in her career with a 9.95. The sopho- Dantzscher 9.825 10.0 9.825 10.0 39.55 more All-American won the vault with a 9.95 and tied for sec- Dong 9.85 9.475 ond on beam with a career-high 9.85. Erickson 8.975 Johnson 9.625 9.125 DANTZSCHER SETS MORE RECORDS - Freshman Jamie Jones 9.875 9.925 9.875 9.875 39.425 Dantzscher continues to work her way through the UCLA record Maloney 9.85 9.9 9.95 9.95 39.475 books. The 2000 U.S. Olympian's latest conquest has been the Parker 9.925 9.975 9.925 10.0 39.675 UCLA freshman all-around mark, which she broke with a 39.55 Raab 9.725 last weekend. Other freshman records Dantzscher holds are on Thompson 9.85 9.925 9.875 9.875 39.425 Tousek 9.8 9.975 9.9 9.95 39.1 bars (10.0), floor (10.0) and most perfect 10s by a freshman Velasco 9.75 9.775 9.85 9.85 38.85 (four). Also last weekend, Dantzscher broke the UCLA Invita- Willis 10.0 9.975 9.85 9.95 39.6 tional record on bars with a 10.0 and tied the meet's floor record

p. 2 of 3 with a 9.95. She also tied the Pauley Pavilion record on bars. In addition to those records, Dantzscher has laid claim to the 1ST PLACE LEADERS UCLA bars and floor records (10.0) and to the career, single- BHARDWAJ - 8 DANTZSCHER – 11 season and single-meet perfect 10 marks with four this year All-Around – 2, last 1-28 All-Around – 1 Vault – 1, 1-28 Vault - 1 and two in a meet. Bars – 1, 1-28 Bars – 5 PARKER ADDS NEW SKILLS TO REPERTOIRE - Beam – 1, 1-21 Floor - 4 Sophomore Kristin Parker pushed the envelope skill-wise in Floor – 3, last 1-28 TOUSEK - 11 her last meet, adding new difficult skills to her vault and floor DANTZSCHER - 7 Vault - 1 routines. On vault, she successfully completed a handspring Bars – 4, last 2-11 Bars – 2 front layout with a half-twist, a vault that few gymnasts do at Floor – 3, last 2-11 Beam – 3 the elite level and a vault that only a small handful of colle- Floor - 5 giate gymnasts have ever attempted. On floor, she increased PARKER – 6 All-Around – 1, 1-19 MALONEY – 9 the difficulty of her tumbling by opening with a double pike Vault – 3, last 1-28 All-Around – 1 and then doing an Arabian double front for her second pass. Beam – 1, 1-28 Vault – 1 Parker has had a very successful season, recording a career- Floor – 1, 1-19 Bars - 1 high 39.675 in the all-around Jan. 28. The score puts her in Beam – 4 fifth place in the UCLA record books for all-around scorers WILLIS – 5 Floor - 2 All-Around – 1, 2-11 and is the third-highest all-around total in the nation this year, Vault – 2, last 2-11 JONES - 8 behind only teammate Mohini Bhardwaj. Bars – 1, 1-26 All-Around – 3 BHARDWAJ SETS SCHOOL AA RECORD - Senior Floor – 1, 2-11 Vault – 2 Bars - 1 Mohini Bhardwaj set a new school record in the all-around TOUSEK – 4 Beam – 2 Jan. 28, scoring a 39.8. Two perfect 10s, on bars and floor, Bars – 1, 1-14 helped her attain the nation's highest score of the year. Bhardwaj, Beam – 1, 1-14 WILLIS – 7 who became the first athlete ever to earn UCLABruins.com Floor – 2, last 1-26 All-Around - 1 Student-Athlete of the Week honors two consecutive weeks, is Vault – 2 MALONEY - 3 Bars – 1 ranked first nationally in the all-around and floor and sixth on Beam – 3, last 1-26 Beam - 1 vault and bars. Floor - 2 Very few collegiate or even elite gymnasts can match THOMPSON – 2 All-Around – 1, 1-14 THOMPSON – 7 Bhardwaj's skill difficulty, let alone her precision on those dif- Floor – 1, 1-26 All-Around – 1 ficult skills. On vault, she became the first collegiate gymnast Bars – 3 ever to complete a double-twisting Yurchenko layout. On bars, JONES – 1 Beam – 1 she dismounts with a full-twisting double layout. On beam, All-Around – 1, 1-26 Floor - 2 she is the only collegiate gymnast competing a backhandspring ANTOLIN – 5 to three consecutive layouts. On floor, her first tumbling pass TOP 3 FINISHERS Vault – 1 is a double layout, and her second is a full-in. BHARDWAJ - 15 Bars – 1 Also hard to match is Bhardwaj's consistency. She has hit all All-Around - 3 Beam - 1 Vault - 4 Floor - 2 14 routines this year and has hit 37 consecutive routines, dat- Bars – 3 ing back to last season. Beam - 2 VELASCO – 1 MULTI-TALENTED BECKERMAN - Freshman Alyssa Floor - 3 Beam – 1 Beckerman pulled double-duty at the UCLA Invitational last PARKER – 11 BECKERMAN – 1 Sunday, first wowing the crowd with her rendition of the na- All-Around - 2 Beam - 1 tional anthem and then wowing the crowd with her 9.8 perfor- Vault – 3 mance on beam in her home debut. Bars – 2 Beam - 2 BRUIN BYTES - Freshman Jeanette Antolin recorded a ca- Floor – 2 reer-high of 9.85 (second place) as the leadoff on beam at the UCLA Invite … Antolin and her sister Katie, who competes for Cal State Fullerton, recorded identical scores of 9.825 on nastics. Not only has she consistently recruited the top talent bars … Junior Valerie Velasco recorded a season-high 9.8 on in the world, but she has produced the results. In the past five floor and also scored a 9.775 in an exhibition bars routine … years alone, Kondos Field has led UCLA to two NCAA titles Doni Thompson's increased difficulty on bars paid off, as she and one runner-up finish, four Regional titles and three Pac-10 scored a 9.9 to place second after adding a second release move Championships. She has been voted the national coach of the to her routine. year by her peers three times in the past five years. HEAD COACH - In her 11th DEAR DIARY - Head coach Valorie Kondos Field will share season as head coach of the Bruins, Valorie Kondos Field has her thoughts with readers in an online diary published by positioned her team as the premier program in collegiate gym- CNNSI.com. Kondos Field's diaries will run on Wednesdays. p. 3 of 3