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Sophomore Kate Richardson and the Bruins defeated Minnesota, 197.55 to 195.325, Sunday in Minneap

After Sunday’s gymnastics meet at the University of Minnesota, throngs of little girls lined up to get autographs from the gymnasts. The young fans, though, were not only waiting for autographs from their hometown heroes. 

They were also waiting for the Bruins, who had readily agreed to sit down alongside the Minnesota team for an autograph session following the competition. 

Besides leaving its mark on T-shirts and posters, the Bruins left their mark on the Golden Gophers in a 197.55 to 195.325 performance. 

There were plenty of aspects of Sunday’s meet that the Bruins could have used as excuses had they faltered. However, in keeping the same lineup on Sunday as she did against Georgia last Monday, coach Valorie Kondos Field received a similar performance to Monday’s high marks. 

“It was important for us to go and put in the same lineup we put in at Georgia, and one reason for that was to let them improve on their performances from Monday,” Kondos Field said. “It was important to prove to ourselves and everyone else that Georgia wasn’t a fluke.”

One thing that stayed the same was the performances of some of UCLA’s top gymnasts – including Kate Richardson, Jeanette Antolin and Kristen Maloney. 

Following Maloney’s 9.925 on the vault, Richardson and Antolin received back-to-back perfect 10s in the same event, receiving a warm ovation from the crowd.

“No (scoring a perfect 10), doesn’t mean as much to us as the team score, but it’s fun,” Richardson said.

Maloney competed in every event except floor, recording a 9.9 on beam and a 9.850 on bars in addition to her high vault score. 

“I didn’t warm up so well, so it felt really good to go in and be able to pull it out for the team,” Maloney said. “We were really excited to come here and compete, but we were looking for a really good score so we could bring up our average and our standing.”

The Bruins entered the meet ranked No. 10 in the nation. Their standing should increase dramatically after strong performances at both Georgia and Minnesota.