UCLA club team takes title at international competition

Published: Tuesday, March 2, 1999

Tuesday, March 2, 1999

UCLA club team takes title

at international competition

GYMNASTICS: Program lacks funding but Bruins still challenge top squads

By Steve Kim

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

The Peter Vidmar men's gymnastics invitational had UCLA marked all over it.

The four day event held at the John Wooden Center gathered UCLA gymnasts together with NCAA, club and age group gymnasts from six different countries.

Though UCLA no longer has a NCAA team, the club version trains nationally ranked gymnasts and competed against Division I teams like Brigham Young University, Stanford and Cal in the college invitational. The Bruins came away as the winners in multiple events.

BYU won the overall team title, but Bruin Jim Foody won the all-around.

"Tonight's meet was a little different because it was under the college scoring system, as opposed to the international rules," Foody said. "So I was able to water down and take things out of routines here and there. I had a good time."

Foody may have "watered down" his routines, but they were difficult and executed well enough to earn him ample points.

Along with his all-around, Foody ended up taking the high bar title and a third place finish on the pommel horse. Foody's Sukahara (double layout, full twisting vault) scored 9.9 to earn him yet another individual title.

But lacking depth in members, the Bruin club enlisted former trainees such as Olympian Chris Waller. Even though Waller had not trained regularly for this meet, he managed to pull off a difficult high bar routine as well as exhibition performances.

"We didn't have that many guys, so some of the alumni came to help out," coach Doug Macey said. "It was good, and all around it was a fun team effort."

Another Bruin alumnus success story, Peter Vidmar, was present to give validity to the invitational's name. The 1984 Olympic gold medalist and former Bruin student athlete said although he didn't have much to do with the event planning, he was nonetheless thrilled to be passing out medals and encouraging young gymnasts.

"It's flattering," Vidmar said of the event that is named after him. "I've got a lot of great memories going to school here, so it's nice they found a home for this meet here at UCLA.

"There's no Division I men's program here anymore," he continued, "but it's nice there can be at least some sort of good quality men's gymnastics event on campus, even if it's only once a year."

Bruin gymnasts won the team title in another day of competition with international athletes. The quartet of Foody, Steve McCain, Alex Chansky and Andy Miller outscored their counterparts from Iceland, Finland, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico.

Falling on several of the six apparatus, Foody settled for third in all-around this time. His teammate Chansky placed second while a gymnast from Iceland placed first.

Chansky excelled in individual events as well. He placed first in high bar and third in both vault and parallel bars. McCain then won the floor exercise while Foody followed in second place.

If they hadn't proved it before, they proved it here. The Peter Vidmar invitational gave these Bruins another chance to show that although the lack of Division I funding has put financial constraint on the squad for several years, they can still be competitive gymnasts and nationally ranked athletes.DERRICK KUDO/Daily Bruin

Jim Foody won the individual all-around at the Peter Vidmar Invitational held in the John Wooden Center this weekend.

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