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Maloney Readies for Last Stand With Bruins

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Times Staff Writer

Each time she sticks a dismount or lands after a tumbling exercise, Kristen Maloney can feel it.

Even after five surgeries, the pain is occasionally intense.

But, the UCLA gymnast adds, “Mostly my leg feels pretty good. ... I’m conscious of it. But it’s a lot more fun now, knowing that I’m not in that much pain and worrying so much about my leg. It allows me to enjoy myself out there more.”

Maloney, 24, is nearing the end of a competitive gymnastics career that began at 5, and she is closing it on her terms -- in top-level competition.

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The fifth-year senior will lead the Bruins into the NCAA West Regional on Saturday night at the University of Washington’s Bank of America Arena in Seattle, where they are favored to win their seventh consecutive team title.

With a first- or second-place finish, the Bruins will qualify for the NCAA championships at Auburn, Ala., in two weeks in search of a third consecutive national title. This, however, would be the first time Maloney would be the lead performer.

Nearly pain-free for the first time since she was a freshman, she has had a stellar season highlighted by a dominating performance two weeks ago at the Pacific 10 Conference meet, where she won the vault, beam, floor exercise and all-around titles.

On March 6, in a home meet against Florida, the native of Pen Argyl, Pa., scored a 10 on the uneven bars, becoming the first Bruin gymnast and fourth in NCAA history to achieve perfect scores on all four disciplines during her college career.

Before competing for UCLA, Maloney enjoyed a decorated career at the national level.

At 17, she won the all-around title at the U.S. national championships in 1998, then repeated as champion the next year.

In 2000, she made the Olympic all-around final and placed 19th. But around that same time injuries to her leg began to take a toll.

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To compete in Sydney, she had a titanium rod inserted when a stress fracture in her right shin wouldn’t heal. Then she had a second surgery to insert a thicker rod, but a third procedure became necessary because the rod was putting stress on her knee.

Maloney was undeterred. She sat out of college competition for two full seasons but continued to come to every practice session, often working out on the side.

“You could see how much she loved gymnastics,” junior Kate Richardson said. “She was just itching to come back. Her motivation never stopped.”

UCLA Coach Valorie Kondos Field said that’s when Maloney’s greatest attribute, toughness, began to show. When another surgery was needed after an infection ate away at her tibia, Maloney became even more resolute about returning to competition.

“There are many athletes that, if they had been in her position with the injuries, would have simply quit,” Kondos Field said. “Especially when the doctor says you may not walk again, let alone do gymnastics.”

To Maloney, stepping away wasn’t an option.

“To get to that point and just give up kind of didn’t make sense to me,” she said. “I didn’t come to college to just fix my leg and be there. I wasn’t going to give up that easily.”

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Maloney views her career in two realms. Being a top U.S. gymnast -- and the years of work leading to that -- now “seems so long ago,” she said. Now she is happy to be performing at a high level again, even if she finishes college without having won an NCAA individual title.

Those around her say she has already left a lasting mark.

Richardson said her roommate is an inspiration to the Bruins. Kondos Field went further, saying Maloney is the toughest athlete she has had in her 15 years as coach.

“She never lost focus of that dream,” Kondos Field said. “She wasn’t ready to be done.”

*

Women’s Gymnastics

* What: NCAA West Regional.

* When: Saturday, 5 p.m.

* Where: Bank of America Arena, Seattle.

* Teams competing: UCLA, Penn State, Central Michigan, Washington, Stanford, Boise State.

* Fast facts: UCLA, two-time defending NCAA champion, is seeking its seventh consecutive regional title, its 16th overall. The Bruins, ranked second in the nation behind Utah, recorded a season-high and nation-best score of 197.85 on March 6 to defeat Florida.

* Note: The top two teams from six regional meets advance to the NCAA championships, April 21-23 at Auburn, Ala. Cal State Fullerton’s Brittany Hoffman is competing as an individual.

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