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UCLA Has Sights on Title

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The UCLA women’s gymnastics team will begin its quest for a fifth national title in seven years tonight.

Since the NCAA began holding women’s gymnastics championships in 1982, four teams have won national titles: Utah (nine), Georgia (five), UCLA and Alabama (four). Those four teams will be joined by eight others in today’s qualifying sessions. The top three teams from each session will advance to Friday’s team finals, with individual event finals held Saturday.

For the first time, the gymnasts will compete on a podium. Each apparatus (uneven bars, floor exercise, balance beam and vault) will be situated on a raised podium, a format most often used for national and world championships and Olympics.

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The advantage of the podium is that fans have an easier time focusing on each performance. College gymnastics has traditionally favored a more team-oriented format where gymnasts can stand close to the equipment and give teammates vocal support.

Top-ranked UCLA, which has former U.S. national team members Jamie Dantzscher, Kristen Maloney and Jeanette Antolin as well as Canadian national performers Kate Richardson and Yvonne Tousek, and Michigan, with 2000 Olympian Elise Ray, could have an advantage because of their familiarity with the podium.

Favored to win the individual all-around title will be UCLA senior Antolin, the Sports Illustrated On Campus National Gymnast of the Year. She has scored seven consecutive perfect 10s on vault.

Antolin’s toughest competition will probably come from Maloney, Ray and Richardson.

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The Facts

* What: NCAA women’s gymnastics championships

* Where: UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion

* When: Today, team qualifying sessions at 1 p.m. (Stanford, Florida, Iowa, Oklahoma, Georgia, Nebraska); and 7 p.m. (UCLA, Arizona State, Utah, Louisiana State, Alabama, Michigan); Friday, 7 p.m., team finals (top six teams); Saturday, 7 p.m., individual event finals.

* Tickets: All-event session tickets, $16-$30, at UCLA’s Central Ticket Office or at www.tickets.ucla.edu.

* TV: Tape-delayed coverage on CBS Saturday, May 1, 10 a.m.-noon PDT. Live scoring available on the Web at uclabruins.collegesports.com/sports/w-gym/spec-rel/2004-ncaa-champ-ce ntral.html.

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