UCLA Not Beaming as Georgia Takes Title

It was a turnabout worth a national championship.

Three falls from the beam meant a free fall for defending NCAA gymnastics champion UCLA Friday night at Pauley Pavilion, and a dominant Georgia team won the fourth NCAA gymnastics title in its history.

Georgia walked in through the same door that slammed shut last season, when Georgia gymnasts fell from the bar three times in the opening rotation, allowing UCLA to sneak in.

This time, disaster struck for the Bruins when Heidi Moneymaker, Kiralee Hayashi and Stella Umeh all fell on the first rotation, forcing the Bruins to count scores of 9.175 and 9.2 after throwing out Umeh’s 8.975.

“We knew it was over,” UCLA Coach Valorie Kondos said. “But you don’t do gymnastics or any sport just to win. If you can’t win, you don’t stop playing.”

Umeh, known for her comeback from a neck injury at the NCAA regionals, came back from her mistakes on the beam to score her first perfect 10 in the floor exercise, also setting a Pauley Pavilion record.

Umeh’s 10 came only seconds after Florida’s Susan Hines’ 10 on the vault--her second perfect vault in two days.

Georgia’s Karin Lichey added a 10 on the vault on the final rotation, topping off a title for the “Gym Dogs.” Georgia also won the title in 1987, ’89 and ’93.

Georgia scored 197.725 points Friday to beat second-place Florida by 1.375 points, followed by Alabama, Utah, UCLA and Arizona State.

Umeh, who won the NCAA floor title as a freshman in 1995, will try to do it again tonight when the individual event champions are crowned. She’ll also compete on beam, the trouble spot.

“Tomorrow will be a new day,” Umeh said. “I had a rough time on beam. We all know that. I just went on.”

Hines will defend her 1997 title on the vault, as will Georgia’s Jenni Beathard (bars) and Arizona State’s Elizabeth Reid (beam).