UCLA had what it needed to win the National Collegiate Women's Gymnastics Championships April 13-15 at Boise State, and the Bruins proved it by hitting all of their routines in the two days of team competition.

UCLA scored 197.30 points to win the team title with strong efforts on the floor, vault and beam. The battle was tight for second, with Utah besting two-time defending champion Georgia by less than a tenth of a point. Nebraska finished fourth, Alabama fifth and Michigan, which wasn't able to recover from two beam falls early in the meet, rounded out the Super Six.

UCLA started the final competition on the floor and went straight to work. Malia Jones and Kristin Parker hit the first two routines and both posted 9.85 scores. Mohini Bhardwaj and Heidi Moneymaker followed with 9.9s.

Four Bruins posted 9.9s in the vault. And the Bruins' team score on the uneven bars led all contenders with a total of 49.350. Bhardwaj led the way for her squad by earning a 9.950 in the event. The Bruins finished the evening on the beam where Lena Degteva scored a 9.850 and Bhardwaj followed with a 9.875 to seal the Bruins' victory.

UCLA head coach Valorie Kondos gave credit not only to the upperclassmen, but she also acknowledged the strong routines posted by her freshmen.

"Everybody performed like I expected, and the freshmen carried us for the second night in a row," she said. "That's a lot to ask for kids that young."

The UCLA seniors also recognized the efforts of the freshmen.

"They're amazing," said Degteva. "I'm not sure that's how I felt as a freshman. They are so confident."

Bhardwaj didn't rest after leading her team to the national title and tying with Nebraska's Heather Brink for the all-around championship with a score of 39.625. She also took home first-place honors on the uneven bars, scoring a 9.950 after performing no less than a 9.85 in all of the events of the all-around competition on Thursday and Friday and in three events in the individual finals on Saturday.

"On the first day, you have so much energy that you have to fight just to control it," Bhardwaj said. "On the second day, you have less energy, you're not as nervous. You almost have to pump yourself up to get the adrenaline going. The third day, you're absolutely dead. You have no energy. You have to dig down and finish hard," said Bhardwaj.

Nebraska's Brink wasn't satisfied with her share of the all-around title either, so she went on to win the vault with her 9.95 score. The 2000 national competition was Brink's third attempt to win the event, having also competed as a freshman and a junior. This year was the first time Brink performed two vaults with 10.0 start values. Her top performance wiped out a majority of the other competitors, since few had two vaults with 10.0 start values. Her 9.95 edged out Alabama's Andreé Pickens, who posted a 9.90.

UCLA's Degteva also soared in the individual-event finals, winning the beam competition by scoring a 9.9120.

"My dreams have come true," the Ukrainian native said. "It's cool to have it happen on my last meet, my last chance."

Georgia didn't go home empty handed, thanks to the efforts of Suzanne Sears, who won the floor exercise crown with a score of 9.95 to beat Utah's Denise Jones.

Another highlight for Georgia was Kristi Lichey's score of 10 on the vault during the team championship. Lichey's score not only tied her for first in the event but also tied the vault score her sister, Karin, posted during the 1998 championships.

TEAM RESULTS

(Note: Scores for the top six teams are from the team-final session. Scores for all other teams are from the team-preliminary session.)

1. UCLA, 197.300; 2. Utah, 196.875; 3. Georgia, 196.800; 4. Nebraska, 196.725; 5. Alabama, 196.500; 6. Michigan, 195.725; 7. Penn St., 195.350; 8. Iowa St., 195.325; 9. LSU, 194.950; 10. Oregon St., 194.750; 11. Brigham Young, 194.500; 12. West Virginia, 194.175.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

All-around: 1. (tie) Mohini Bhardwaj, UCLA, and Heather Brink, Nebraska, 39.625; 3. Andreé Pickens, Alabama, 39.575; 4. Heidi Moneymaker, UCLA, 39.525; 5. (tie) Lena Degteva, UCLA, and Sarah Cain, Michigan, 39.500.

Vault: 1. Heather Brink, Nebraska, 9.9500; 2. Andreé Pickens, Alabama, 9.9000; 3. Janessa Grieco, Michigan, 9.8440; 4. Heidi Moneymaker, UCLA, 9.8375; 5. (tie) Onnie Willis, UCLA; Mohini Bhardwaj, UCLA; and Sarah Cain, Michigan, 9.8065.

Uneven bars: 1. Mohini Bhardwaj, UCLA, 9.9500; 2. Heather Brink, Nebraska, 9.9250; 3. (tie) Lena Degteva, UCLA, and Andreé Pickens, Alabama, 9.8880; 5. Jenny Schmidt, Utah, 9.8750; 6. Kathleen Shrieves, Georgia, 9.8630.

Balance beam: 1. Lena Degteva, UCLA, 9.9130; 2. Mohini Bhardwaj, UCLA, 9.9000; 3. Katy Herbert, Stanford, 9.8630; 4. Denise Jones, Utah, 9.8500; 5. Kristi Lichey, Georgia, 9.8380; 6. Talya Vexler, Georgia, 9.8130.

Floor exercise: 1. Suzanne Sears, Georgia, 9.9500; 2. Denise Jones, Utah, 9.9130; 3. Sarah Cain, Michigan, 9.9000; 4. Talya Vexler, Georgia, 9.8880; 5. (tie) Heidi Moneymaker, UCLA, and Kristen Sterner, Alabama, 9.8750.