NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Meet : Bruins Face an Uphill Struggle in Title Bid

SALT LAKE CITY — Jerry Tomlinson, UCLA women’s gymnastics coach, showed up for practice last Monday wearing a University of Georgia T-shirt. Georgia is the defending national champion, and Monday’s practice was one of the more important ones the Bruins held before the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. championships beginning tonight at the University of Utah.

The gimmick wasn’t lost on the team.

Two months ago, the Bruins had traveled to Georgia for their toughest meet of the season. UCLA was seeded No. 1 in the country at the time, Georgia No. 3. Even so, Georgia was considered the favorite, since it was shooting for its 50th straight victory and was undefeated at home.

The Bruins decided to perform as if they had nothing to lose--and they won.

Tomlinson is hoping that strategy will work again here.

The Bruins, however, have two major problems to overcome. They are without All-American Tanya Service, who dislocated her elbow in the West Regional April 9, and they are seeded 7th in a 12-team meet, which means that they will perform in the first group.

No team from the first rotation has ever won the championship.

Team and all-around competition will be held tonight, and individual titles will be determined Saturday night.