Head coach Valorie Kondos, the NACGC Coach of the Year the past two years, returns four All-Americans from last year's championship squad, including 1992 Olympians Stella Umeh (Canada) and Luisa Portocarrero (Guatemala) team co-captain Kiralee Hayashi and two-time Canadian national champion Lena Degteva. UCLA also has an outstanding freshman class, led by 1997 World Championship competitor Mohini Bhardwaj, who placed third at the 1997 U.S. Championships.

The Georgia Gym Dogs, which placed third at last year's NCAA Championships, are led by two 1997 NCAA champions --Kim Arnold (all-around) and Jenni Beathard (bars). Georgia boasts an impressive roster which also includes Karin Lichey, the first collegiate gymnast ever to score a perfect 40.0 in the all-around; 1997 World University Games competitors Kristi Lichey and Kathleen Shrieves; and 1992 Canadian Olympian Stacey Galloway.

UCLA's first home meet will be Sun., January 18 against UC Santa Barbara, Denver and NCAA runner-up Arizona State. The meet will take place at the John Wooden Center at 2:00 pm. Tickets are available at the UCLA Central Ticket Office. Prices are $5 adult general admission and $3 youth general admission. UCLA students are free. In addition, season tickets are available for $50. Each season ticket includes an all-session ticket for the NCAA Championships, which will beheld Apr. 16-18 at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion. For ticket information, please call: 310/UCLA-WIN.