Jan. 15, 2013

Pac-12 Interview with Gymnast of the Week Vanessa Zamarripa

For the second consecutive week, UCLA won two of the three Pac-12 Gymnastics Weekly Awards, with senior Vanessa Zamarripa capturing Gymnast of the Week honors for a record seventh-time in her career, and junior Olivia Courtney earning her first Special Performance of the Week award.

Zamarripa, who also won Gymnast of the Week honors last week, won the all-around and three events to lead No. 2 UCLA to a 197.425-195.300 victory over No. 5 Utah. This was her second all-around victory of the season, and she has totaled seven individual wins in just two meets. Against the Utes, she totaled 39.675, tied for the highest all-around total in the nation so far this season. On bars, she tallied a 9.975 to tie her career-high, and she also set a season-high with a 9.925 on beam. The O'Fallon, Ill., native scored a season-high tying 9.825 on vault, which was good for seventh place. The Bruins achieved national-best scores for team total (197.425) and floor total (49.55).

Olivia Courtney

Courtney tied for first place on vault (season-high 9.9) and floor exercise (career-high tying 9.95) over the weekend. The two-time defending Pac-12 vault champion has now achieved two victories in two competitions on vault this season, and this was her first floor victory of the year. Courtney is averaging a team-high 9.888 on vault to rank 15th in the nation, and she ranks third in the nation on floor with a 9.938 average.

Oregon State's Hailey Gaspar, a senior transfer from Boise State, was selected as the Freshman/Newcomer of the week after scoring 9.875 on vault to tie for first on the event in a dual meet win over Ohio State.

This is Zamarripa's seventh Gymnast of the Week honor and UCLA's 43rd all-time. Zamarripa is the first gymnast in conference history to earn seven Gymnast of the Week honors in her career. She earned one in 2009, three in 2010, one in 2012 and has won both honors so far this season.

This is Courtney's first Specialist of the Week honor and UCLA's 21st all-time.

Now ranked No. 1 in the nation, the Bruins have a bye week and will resume competition on Jan. 25 at Arizona State.

Also Nominated:
Gymnast of the Week: Aubree Cristello, ARIZ; Brianna Gades, ASU; Alicia Asturias, CAL; Ivana Hong, STAN; Georgia Dabritz, UTAH.

Special Performance of the Week: Kristin Klarenbach, ARIZ; Natasha Sundby, ASU; Dallas Crawford, CAL; Makayla Stambugh, OSU; Kristina Vaculik, STAN; Tory Wilson, UTAH.

Freshman/Newcomer of the Week: Lexi Mills, ARIZ; Serena Long, CAL; Melissa Chuang, STAN; Danusia Francis, UCLA; Breanna Hughes, UTAH.

2013 Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week
Jan. 8: Vanessa Zamarripa, UCLA; Jan. 15: Vanessa Zamarripa, UCLA

2013 Pac-12 Special Performance of the Week
Jan. 8: Nicole Dayton, Stanford; Jan. 15: Olivia Courtney, UCLA

2013 Pac-12 Freshman/Newcomer of the Week
Jan. 8: Sophina DeJesus, UCLA; Jan. 15: Hailey Gaspar, Oregon State