UCLA gymnasts are peaking at the right time

While reflecting on the youth movement that defined UCLA’s gymnastics team, Coach Valorie Kondos Field paused before bursting out in laughter.

“It’s been like watching little cubs grow up,” she said.

The No. 7 Bruins (17-3) enter the NCAA championships today in Lincoln, Neb., with seven freshmen and six sophomores on the 16-member team.

Kondos Field appreciated her team’s gratitude when many of her gymnasts individually thanked her for the experience following an opening-meet loss to Utah. She appreciated her team’s hunger when she thought UCLA’s mistakes rooted more in nervousness than complacency. And she appreciated her team’s growth when the Bruins clinched a Pacific 10 Conference championship against Stanford by scoring a season-high 49.325 on beam in the final rotation.

“That showed them you never know what’s going to happen,” said Kondos Field, whose team lost twice this year because of balance beam issues. “We realized that night we can contend for a championship. It solidified in the girls’ minds that we’re as good as everybody else.”

As Pac-10 freshman of the year Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs said, “We peaked at just the right time.”

UCLA ranks first in vault (49.430), seventh in both bars (49.220) and beam (49.15) and 11th on floor (49.200).

And the Bruins excelled in those areas, even among their youth.

Six of UCLA’s eight gymnasts on the All-Pac-10 team are underclassmen. Kondos Field said “this has been one of the most rewarding years” in her 19 years at UCLA, during which the team has won five national championships.

“Everyone is acting like veterans,” senior Ariana Berlin said. “We’re competing like veterans and everyone has been mature in working together.”

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mark.medina@latimes.com